Today it seems clearer than ever that LG will make the next Nexus device. New regulatory documents released by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reveal a trove of photos detailing a new smartphone that looks very similar to the device accidentally leaked in a video published by Google last week. A fully assembled version of the so-called Nexus 5 is detailed in the filing, and it exhibits the same large camera module as the device leaked in Google's video. The Nexus branding itself is missing from the device in question, however, but that isn't unusual for hardware going through testing.

Grid View





























The filing itself, first spotted by Phone Scoop, was submitted as a "class 2 permissive change" for the LG's latest flagship Android device, the G2. It's very likely that the Nexus 5 will be based on the G2, just like the Nexus 4 before it was a modified version of the LG Optimus G. In fact, the Nexus series has a long history of being built off of flagship devices. The Nexus S was a modified Samsung Galaxy S, and the Galaxy Nexus was based off of the Samsung Galaxy S2, for instance. Specifications may differ for the final Nexus 5, but for reference, the LG G2 shipped with a top-of-the-line Snapdragon 800 processor clocked at 2.26GHz. It also had 2GB of RAM.

An earlier FCC filing revealed that the Nexus 5's radio could support LTE bands used by AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint (see update below), and it noted that the device had a 4.96-inch screen. It also said that new phone would support dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi and will have a 2,300mAh battery as well. Additionally, it stated that the device came in at 5.19 inches in height and 2.69 inches in width. For comparison, the Nexus 4 is 5.27 inches tall and 2.7 inches wide even though it has a smaller, 4.7-inch screen. While there's no word when we might expect the device to ship, it'd be safe to assume it'd arrive sometime this fall alongside Android 4.4 Kitkat.

Update: Leaks so far suggest there will be at least two different Nexus 5 models. The model leaked last week (called LG-D820) had wireless radios that could support AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile LTE. The Nexus 5 photos above are part of a separate, updated filing for the LG G2 (LG-VS980), which mention support for LTE band 13, which is used by Verizon in the US. If the Nexus 5 photos weren't mistakenly included as part of the G2's older filing, the new Google device would appear to be a largely modified version of the G2. For now, it isn't clear what Google and LG's plans are for this new Nexus device, but these filings suggest that there is some possibility that all four carriers could get the smartphone. (Note: This update has been modified from its original version to clarify the relation between the "LG-D820" and the "LG-VS980.")