Google's latest Nexus smartphone, the Nexus 6, makes some significantly satisfying leaps over its predecessor, the Nexus 5, but comes with a higher price tag as well. Those looking to dive into the Nexus experience at a lower cost can rest easy, however. Reports that Google would discontinue production Nexus 5 seem to have been slightly exaggerated.

A Google spokesperson confirmed to Tech Radar that the company is temporarily halting production of the Nexus 5.

"Once they are gone, they're gone, so we'd suggest people get them while they can," the spokesperson told Tech Radar.

Speculation that the Nexus 5's life was coming to an end began ramping up once Google began removing the white and red models from the Google Play store. As of Monday evening, the Google Play store does still offer the Nexus 5 for sale -- albeit in only black 16GB and 32GB variants. Unlike what some reports floating around are stating, the black 16GB and 32GB Nexus 5s are both in stock should ship out in a couple days.

Although Google is temporarily ceasing the manufacturing of the Nexus 5 (an LG product), this doesn't mean that consumers won't ever be able to pick one up once the Google Play store runs out of inventory (and it probably will given that it's the holiday season). Plenty of other retailers such as Amazon and Best Buy have their own stockpiles, and there's always eBay. On top of all that, Google confirmed to The Verge in an email statement that the device should be on sale throughout the first three months of 2015.

"Nexus 5 will continue to be available for sale on Google Play and through select retailers in Q1 2015," Google wrote to The Verge.

What this means for the popular handset after the first three months of next year remains to be seen. Google doesn't tend to hang on to older devices much, so it is highly likely that the Nexus 5 will be phased out at some point in 2015.

The Nexus 5, with its budget-friendly price tags of $350 for the 16GB variant and $400 for the 32GB model, became a major hit with consumers thanks to its mix of performance, price, and timely updates. Due to the fact the Nexus 5 runs a near-stock version of the Android firmware, it receives its updates directly from Google, making it one of the first devices on the market to run new Android versions. The handset is currently in the process of upgrading to Android 5.0.1 Lollipop.

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