After much thumb-twiddling and toe tapping (okay, maybe that's putting things a little too lightly) we finally hear the official word from Google that yes, the leaks were true; yes, the Nexus 5 is real; yes, the new Nexus and Android 4.4 KitKat are both here. Praise all things good and wonderful, it's finally here, and on Halloween no less! Which makes sense, given that KitKat is a candy bar, and what do you go trick-or-treating on Halloween for...? Duh. Candy. Why didn't I think of that before? Probably because I'm a little slow on the uptake, but either way, I get it now.

I'm about as equally excited for both. I've already stated that I wanted the Nexus 5, even though I didn't know what it entailed. But, I did put a lot of trust in Google. The Nexus 4 was, in my opinion, a great buy. After the leaks and rumors starting coming out about the Nexus 5, I couldn't help but develop a little spark of hope that this phone would at least live up to the hype and satisfaction that the Nexus 4 provided for the Android community. I've long since decided that it's not a good idea to get excited for new phones that haven't officially been announced yet (case and point with the Moto X - although I do like the device, it's certainly not what we had been hoping to see for the better part of an entire year of rumors) but as my buddy and fellow editor Evan put it, enthusiasm for the Nexus 5 only became harder to contain as more leaks and rumors came about.

As for KitKat, it's hard for me not to get excited over upgraded software. I'm mostly excited that more Android users will get to experience this new upgrade, though. I think it's pretty classy of Google to think of more than just what's hot right now.

So now it's here, and it seems that the leaks were just as close as they could ever get to hitting the nail on the head with the device. Once again the phone is made by LG, the same manufacturer that produced the hardware for the Nexus 4. The Nexus 5 features a 5-inch screen with a 1920x1080 resolution. You have an 8-megapixel shooter  with Optical Image Stabilization on the back with a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. Under the hood you'll find that the Nexus 5 runs on a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, and 2,300mAh battery. You can choose from either 16GB or 32GB of storage. The Nexus 5 supports NFC and 4G LTE, which is something that the Nexus 4 mysteriously didn't. The 16GB version of the Nexus 5 will sell for $349, and the 32GB comes at just $50 more at $399. 

I feel pretty good about this phone. The specs are good, and the pricing is still more fair than just about any other flagship phone released this year even though the price was raised $50. It's also nice to see that this phone will be available for use on Sprint. The Nexus 4 was only available for GSM networks, so it's nice to see the phone branch out to at least one CDMA network. The last time a Nexus was offered on Sprint was the Galaxy Nexus (which just started rolling out to Android 4.3 today), so a much-needed replacement is appreciated. 

I think the only thing I would have really liked to see from the Nexus 5 was an SD card slot, but since that hasn't been a feature of the Nexus line since... well, I don't know if it's ever been a part of the Nexus line. But the point is, it's not something I come to expect anymore. It's clear that Google is focused more towards cloud-based storage at this point, and there's not a whole lot I can do about that. But it good to know that they've at least included 4G LTE this year. I'm not so surprised that they included it in the Nexus 5 as I was suprised that they left it out of the Nexus 4. 

I can definitely see this phone being just as successful as the Nexus 4, if not more. The Nexus 4 certainly set a high bar for the Nexus line in terms of smartphones, but Google and LG did a good job of executing a proper follow-up device, especially with the arrival of KitKat. I think this phone is going to be a big seller this holiday season, barring we don't have any major shortage issues like we did before.

Readers, do you plan on purchasing the Nexus 5? And what about KitKat - are you excited to use this new version of Android? Let us know your thoughts on this exciting news in the comments below!

Image via Droid-Life