As a unit developed in collaboration by two company giants, LG and Google, the Nexus 5 was once a flagship unit designed to be the successor to Nexus 4 which was released at around fourth quarter of 2013. Not surprising to the same unit that was co-developed by Google, the owner of the open-sourced operating system, Android, the Nexus 5 still retains the ability to upgrade its own operating system even with the present Android 5.1.1 update.
If you are, among the many who managed to avail of this wonderful device, chances are that you want to keep abreast with all the updates possible to the unit. Luckily, it may not be as difficult as it may seem to be, even for beginners.
There are three different ways on how you can update your Nexus 5 unit to Android 5.1.1 should you desire on it:
- Option 1: Via OTA
This is possibly the simplest and easiest way on how you can update your Nexus 5 unit to Android 5.1.1 if you have not done so already. Depending on your configuration, the option to update your OS version may be automatic already or something that must be done manually.
- Option 2: Factory Images
This process may be a little too risky knowing that the steps involved in using factory images includes wiping the system clean and installing the factory images corresponding to the unit. This is especially risky for those who may not be aware of the precautions needed with its method. Luckily, however, there is a tutorial that can help you through the process.
- Option 3: Flashing OTA Files
This is basically the same file that you supposedly would have downloaded if you use option 1. But since it may not be feasible with your unit (for some unknown reason) which led you to this option, you will need the proper step to take in order to manually flash the OTA files needed to update your unit.
Regardless of your chosen means of updating / installing Android 5.1.1 to your Nexus 5 unit, there are general practices that must be followed to ensure a smooth and problem-free transition between one version of Android to the latest (5.1.1). Generally, the practices go as follows:
- Maintain a good battery charge to your unit before undergoing any means of flashing or updates (battery charge of at least 75%).
- Your unit must be unrooted before going through the procedure, especially if choosing option 1.
As the latest version of Android available to date, upgrading to Android 5.1.1 Lollipop is a move that ensures for the "full" utilization of the Nexus 5's hardware capabilities which may not be possible for older versions, namely Android Kit-Kat or lower.
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