As with most upcoming smartphone releases, no one's really sure when the Nexus 5 will actually see the light of day.  Current speculation suggests the device will be officially unveiled at Google's I/O developer conference in May, but even that is unsubstantiated.

Still, the phone is highly anticipated, especially by those who were impressed by the Nexus 4. The Nexus 5 is expected to be a significant step up in quality, so let's take a look at what tech watchers think the phone will be packing whenever it's released.

After dubbing the Nexus 4 "the most exciting phone of 2012," CNET went on to say that despite the lack of consensus regarding Nexus 5 specs, it could give its best guess.

According to CNET, then, the Nexus 5 is likely to sport either a 4.7- or 5-inch screen. Some rumors have suggested that Google will opt to release a phone that's even larger than that, but for those not into the phablet craze it might simply be a turn-off.

As for the resolution, it's almost certain that the phone will either match or outdo the Nexus 4's 720p display, though 1080p might be in the cards to put it on par with the Galaxy S4 from Samsung. In the processor department, if Google wants the Nexus 5 to remain an affordable piece of hardware, it'll probably stick with a quad-core processor.

The camera, meanwhile, has been the subject of a bunch of rumors. The Nexus 5 might sport a Nikon-branded camera with multi-layer sensor technology. As HTC and Samsung try to pack numerous camera features into their own devices, expect Google to go all out with theirs as well.

What about the operating system? Since many expect both the Nexus 5 and Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie to be unveiled at the I/O conference, it's only natural to think that the new phone will be running Key Lime Pie.

As far as price is concerned, no numbers were bandied about, but CNET had an analyst speak to the idea that Google will likely want to keep the Nexus 5 as affordably priced as its predecessor.

You can watch the entire video here.