The Google Nexus 5 is a top-tier smartphone with a mid-range price. For $350 and up you can get a phone with a 5 inch, 1080p display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and Google’s latest software — but while Google promised it would also be a phone that could take excellent photos, real-world reviews have been mixed at best since the phone launched in late October.
Now Google is ready to roll out a software update that should help users take better photos with a Nexus 5, and take them more quickly.
Update: Don’t want to wait for an over-the-air update? Android Police has download links and installation instructions.
The Verge reports the software update offers improvements in these areas:
- Faster autofocus
- Camera app loads a second quicker
- Progress indicator for HDR+ mode
- Exposure and white balance improvements
All told, you should see less motion blur, have an easier time quickly snapping photos of moving objects, and get a bit more color contrast after the update. Google is also starting to tweak the camera user interface so that some of the more important settings aren’t hidden away behind a maze of submenus.
I’ve been using a Nexus 5 as my phone for almost a month, and I’ve been reasonably happy with the camera so far. But I wouldn’t mind an update that helps me take better action shots.
Yes, I am pretty happy with the Camera myself coming from Skyrocket 2. I can’t complained. So any more improvement is just icing on the cake!!