Nexus 5 arrives as Google's new flagship, comes packing Android 4.4

The Nexus 5 is no longer rumour as the smartphone has finally entered the land of official product-dom.

The Nexus 5 was perhaps the most leaked handset on the web in recent months, giving even the iPhone 5S a run for its money.

The key feature of the phone is that it comes equipped with Android 4.4 KitKat, Google's latest mobile operating system. Google paired the unveiling of its new flagship with full details of KitKat.

Made by LG, the Nexus 5 is available today starting at $399 in the Google Play Store in either 16GB or 32GB configurations. The 32GB flavour costs $449. The Play Store is showed a ship date of November 8 for all variants as of this writing.

More Nexus 5 release info

Those hoping to nab a white version can score the snowy tint in either the 16GB or 32GB variant, and both also come in black.

Customers in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan and Korea will be able to purchase the unlocked phone through Google Play.

Nexus 5 specs

The handset is larger than its predecessor, the Nexus 4, sporting a 4.95-inch screen made of Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The Full HD IPS display, as previously reported, has a 1920 x 1080 resolution and houses 445 pixels per inch.

The new Nexus is more compact than the Nexus 4 too, fitting into a 69.17 x 137.84 x 8.59mm frame and weighing nine grams less at 130g, or 4.59 ounces.

On the processor front, users are looking at a meaty 2.26GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 CPU and Adreno 330 450MHz GPU.

RAM reaches 2GB, plenty of space for pictures taken with either the front end's 1.3MP camera or the 8MP snapper positioned on the rear. The back-facing camera comes complete with optical image stabilization.

While not impressive camera numbers, Google said that the "advanced new lens" of the Nexus 5 lets more light in, making for brighter night shots and sharper action pics. The camera features a new HDR+ mode that will automatically take photos in bursts before combining them into an ideal single shot.

And for those of you crossing your fingers for NFC, the new Nexus is indeed equipped with the feature via Android Beam. Bluetooth 4.0 is also on board.

The Nexus 5 can link onto one of three networks - 2G, 3G or 4G LTE.

Nexus 5 battery, ports and sensors

As for the mysterious battery, Nexus 5 owners will find a 2300mAh pack humming inside, with wireless charging built in. Talk time is estimated at up to 17 hours with up to 300 hours at standby. If you use the internet, running it on Wi-Fi will drain the phone in 8.5 hours while LTE will suck it dry in about seven.

There's a fair number of ports and connectors - microUSB, 3.5mm stereo audio jack and a SlimPort slot are all cut in. The Nexus 5 features dual microphones for easy listenin'.

Customers will find a septuplet of sensors awaiting, including GPS, gyroscope, accelerometer, compass and pressure.

Catch the Nexus 5 in action below:

• Get caught up on everything you need to know about the Nexus 5 right here.