I was using an Xperia ZL most recently before the Nexus 5. That's also a 5" phone, but it felt so much slimmer. I really preferred the physical design of the Xperia. The Nexus 5 feels much lighter, however. The screen on the Nexus is better when viewed at an angle.

I don't like that the Nexus doesn't have a removable battery, but neither did the Xperia. I've had my Nexus since Monday morning and yesterday was the first full day with the phone. Its battery was still in the 60% range when I put it on the charger last night. That's from 7:30AM to about 12:30AM. If it keeps up like that, battery life seems better than the Xperia.

I'm not a fan of this new launcher, but I don't hate the Google Now integration. I don't like that it goes back to the pre-ICS method of adding widgets by long-pressing on a blank area of your homescreen. That's not a big deal when your phone has a menu key. I have four homescreens full. I have to leave a 1x1 section of one of them empty so I can switch wallpaper or add a widget.

The icon size on this launcher is absolutely out of control. They could have added another row and column of icons with such a high-res display. Instead they just made everything jumbo-sized.

Other than those two things, the new launcher and Google-fication is OK with me. If 3rd party launchers come out with a similar style, but fit more icons on the screen, I may take a look at those.

I hate that the signal meters don't change color based on connection to Google. That was an incredibly useful feature, especially when traveling with an unknown SIM on unknown carriers. They really screwed that one up. There's no reason they had to remove that feature. Even if they made the meters dim slightly when no connection, that would be fine.

The phone itself is just a slab. Nothing stands out about it other than the giant protruding camera module on the back. I don't know what they were thinking by not recessing the camera. I have this case mostly to protect the glass over the camera lens from scratching when placed on a flat surface. The camera itself seems far superior to the Nexus 4, which isn't saying a whole lot. However, it is more than acceptable. It's just not crazy-good. The camera app sucks as usual.

The micro USB port is upside down from every other phone I have ever handled. I would love to know the reason because it just seems senseless. I have a qi charger, so it's not a big deal. Just an oddity.

It may sound like I'm doing a lot of bitching, but these are little things. On the whole, the phone is excellent (especially for the price). It has an awesome screen, it's hands-down the fastest phone I've ever seen, the battery lasts longer than I anticipated, and the camera is good. The Kitkat/Nexus launcher is a departure, but I don't mind it. I use a lot of Google services, so it works for me. Overall, I don't wish I had any other phone at this moment. The Nexus 5 hits the sweet spot for price, features, wireless bands, and performance.