So, I've had this phone since its release, here's my updated impressions about it, in case someone is still considering this phone but wants feedback from a "long time" user.
It's still pretty fast and battery life on medium to light use is still about two days. I'm rocking the original rom and nothing has been done to tinker with the phone. The positive points are the same as they originally were: it's a fast phone with stock Android and what I think is a nice design.
However, the build quality isn't as nice as I would have liked. The power button is beginning to suck quite a bit, and I can't say if it's because the phone freezes on wake-up, or if it's a "mechanical" issue. Whichever it might be, I think it sucks quite a bit, and I know the two reasons are just as likely: I often have a hard time getting the unlock screen to actually work on wake up, I have to put it back to sleep and then try again.
Other perceived advantages that eventually grew useless are the sphere mode for pictures (I thought its results were flimsy and it took way too much time to use), fast system updates (there aren't that many, and what you get when you get them isn't that mind-blowing yet, of course it can get a lot more useful in the future), wireless charging is a real gimmick (impossible to get an Orb in Europe, at least in France, and chargers are pretty darn expensive) and that's about it really.
So if you're considering buying this phone, keep in mind most of its "strong points" as they are sold by Google aren't really that interesting. However, you still get a very good-performing phone at a really affordable price. Unless you're looking for a premium handset with high-profile bells-and-whistles such as what you get on the HTC One, galaxy S4 or Sony Xperia Submarine edition, I'd still say this is a strong choice.
