At this point, after all the leaks and rumors, it’s not much of a surprise anymore, but Taiwan makers are saying LG is likely to be the OEM partner Google used to make the Nexus 5:
The revealed specifications of the Nexus 5 are almost identical to those found in the LG G2, which comes with a 5-inch Full HD display and is powered by a Qualcomm quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU, supporting LTE technology.
The LG G2 is one of the most highly specced devices coming out this fall, and has a great camera with OIS, too, which means that’s what the Nexus 5 will get, too. For once it seems that a Nexus phone will get a decent camera. From what I’ve noticed the LG G2 camera is at least as good as the Galaxy S4 camera in terms of quality and detail (I believe 13MP is the sweet spot between quality and speed/low-light performance) and is also significantly better in low-light (considering the Galaxy S4 has no OIS), and has much better image stabilization for both photos and videos. So if the Nexus 5 is getting that camera, that’s very good news.
This is probably the last time LG will be Google’s partner for smartphones, although there is strong indication that they may help Google build the next Nexus 7 (or Nexus 8, if LG can show them how to build a tablet with very small bezels, but a bigger screen). If that happens, then it’s likely Google will use LG’s hardware in the next 2 generations of budget Nexus tablets.
What we don’t know yet, is who’s going to make the new Nexus 10 (if they will even make it again). Will it be Samsung? LG? Asus? I could see Asus making the new Nexus 10 this time. As for who’s going to make the next Nexus phone, my guess is Sony has a real shot this time. By next year, they should learn how to make phones with tiny bezels, too, or Google can show them, and the next Nexus phone is likely to have an even better camera then. That’s exactly what I’d like to see in the future: even better cameras for the Nexus line.