This year Google has launched two nexus devices Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P. Nexus 6P by Huawei and Nexus 5X with LG, the manufacturer of very successfully nexus device Nexus 4 and Nexus 5. Last year’s release Moto Nexus 6 was a bit disappointing for customers in the sense of size and price.
It was like Nexus fans were not ready to take that much large device at that time. This year Google tried to play safe by releasing two devices of different size and different price range.
Nexus 5X is a reasonable upgrade from Nexus 5 or some other old nexus smartphones. This time Google focused on security by adding fingerprint sensor called Nexus Imprint and made it future proof with USB Type-C. Google finally made an upgrade in camera also which is taking amazing pictures even in low light.
As expected Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P launched with a new version of Android, The Android 6.0 Marshmallow which is more faster smoother and it also has few new features like app permission, Google Now on tap, Doze etc.
Key Features of Nexus 5X:
- 5.2 inch 1080p full HD IPS LCD display with 424ppi.
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 808, Adreno 418 graphics, dual-core Cortex-A57 at 1.82Ghz + quad-core Cortex-A53 at 1.44GHz
- 2GB RAM and 16GB/32GB internal storage without any expandable memory option.
- 12.3 Mega Pixel shooter with 1.55μm Pixel Size, dual-LED flash, laser autofocus and capability of capturing 4K videos
- 5 Mega Pixel front facing selfie camera
- Nexus Imprint – Fingerprint Sensor
- USB Type C with fast charging, LTE Cat6, Bluetooth 4.2 and NFC with Android Pay
- Non-removable Li-Po 2700 mAh battery.
Designs & Built:
Design of Nexus 5x is average, it’s rear part looks decent but from the front, it looks below average. The dimension is 147 x 72.6 x 7.9mm and weight is 136g, so its light in weight and easy in operating. I’m able to operate the device with one hand, power button and volume button placed at right side so it makes more comfortable while using with a single hand either left or right.
A USB Type C and 3.5mm audio ports are placed at the bottom with, on the left side, there is a slot to insert nano-SIM card.
The rear side of the device has one 13MP camera, laser focus and dual LED flash. There is also a fingerprint sensor at back called Nexus Imprint which is just below the camera.
The front face of the phone has two grills which look like it has a dual speaker sadly there is only one speaker at bottom of the screen and another grille at the top is an earpiece.
The notification light is in the middle of loudspeaker inside the same loudspeaker grille which looks cheap and inappropriate place to have a notification indicator.
The device doesn’t look much premium because LG has used plastic body instead of trending metallic body. Overall the design look & the feel is average and build quality is not so solid/strong like other other flagship devices in its range.
Display & FingerPrint:
Nexus 5X has 1080p full HD IPS LCD display with 424ppi, I really appreciate the display quality. These days most of the flagship devices are coming with Quad HD (QHD) display which is obviously very sharp, detailed and vibrant display but QHD also drains more battery. If you have display quality like Nexus 5X you need to be too greedy about QHD what Huawei has used in Nexus 6P. I’ve compared both of the display Nexus 6P has definitely better display because of QHD but that shouldn’t be the only reason for someone to buy Nexus 6P instead of Nexus 5X.
Nexus 6P & Nexus 5X is the first Nexus devices launched with a fingerprint sensor, they have called this Nexus Imprint. The fingerprint sensor is just below rear camera of the device which is very fast and 100% accurate, you just need to place the registered finger over the sensor, your device will get unlocked and it will take you to home screen without pressing any button or tapping anywhere else.
Fingerprint works accurately even if your hands are bit wet or oily. Maybe some users are liking the position of fingerprint sensor but it’s the best place for a fingerprint sensor? No, the answer is No.!!
Devices like iPhone, OnePlus 2 and Samsung placed the fingerprint at the perfect place where you can comfortably use both of your hands and any fingers especially if you are spending more time on your desk if you have will have a fingerprint sensor on the front you don’t even need to lift your phone to unlock it.
Performance & Software:
Nexus devices are known for pure android and smooth performance and Nexus 5X is no exception. Nexus 5X has Snapdragon 808, one of the most successful processors of Qualcomm. 3GB or even 4GB RAM is common in latest flagship devices but Google launched this device with only 2GB RAM and it still giving buttery smooth performance.
Google proved with Nexus 5X that packing 3GB or 4GB RAM is not the only way to make your device perform faster and smoother, smooth performance of any device also depends upon the software. Nexus 5X comes with Android Marshmallow out of the box which has features like app permission, ambient display, doze mode etc.
We have already seen app permission and ambient display in few custom Android ROM. With app permission users can manually control the service access for any app, you can block the app from using your location or any other services if it’s not necessary. Ambient display enabled the features so whenever you will pick your Nexus 5X or some notification will arrive a dark screen will appear with the list of notifications. See the screenshot below.
Doze mode is another new feature which is basically meant to save your battery if you are not using your device or your device is ideal for a long time it will not let your battery drain. I have noticed that Google still needs to work on doze mode because after updating with latest Marshmallow update doze mode is not functioning as it should, I have tested this thoroughly sometimes it works but not always.
I have one screenshot (see below) in which you can see I have kept my device in the ideal mode for a full night and I didn’t even touch it till morning but my battery drained in equally speed, I have noticed this many nights. I hope Google will fix this in the upcoming OS update.
Overall the performance is impressive, apps are opening fast, multitasking is great and I haven’t seen any glitch or bugs in it’s OS yet.
Camera:
For me the camera is an important specification in any smartphone, this is the reason I’m still bearing OnePlus 2. Nexus 5X has 12.3 MP rear and 5-megapixel front facing camera. The rear camera is magnificent, it takes a really nice image even in low light thanks to Sony IMX377 and 1.55μm pixel size. I’m using OnePlus 2 as a daily driver which has similar camera features with added OIS but sometimes Nexus 5X takes a better picture than OnePlus 2.
I’ve noticed !! at certain zoom level images taken by OnePlus 2 getting blurred and pixelated but images were taken by Nexus 5X holding the quality even on high zooming level. This is the first time I felt the impressive camera in any Nexus devices. I’m happy that finally Google took camera feature seriously and made this one of the best features of nexus 5X.
5 MP Front cam is also very good u can take beautiful selfies with front cam but not in low light.
Video quality with rear cam is also very good, it records videos 2160p @ 30fps, 1080p @ 30fps and 720p @ 120fps for recording slow-motion video.
Click on image to see in a larger size or just download all sample image from here.
Battery:-
The battery of the Nexus 5X is also juicier than its predecessor Nexus 5. It has 2700 mAh Li-Po non-removal battery which gives around 20 hours to one day of battery backup. It comes with a fast charging feature which can actually charge Nexus 5X up to 35% percent in just 15 minutes. So even if battery backup seems less, you can consider this device because it takes very less time to charge the device.
What’s In The Box:
In the box, you will have a Nexus 5X Smartphone, earphone, USB Type C cable, adapter and some booklets.
The earphone is from LG which has average audio output but the build quality of the earphone is cheap. The USB cable has Type C at both ends so if you don’t have Type C enabled PC you need to buy extra USB to USB Type C cable. Again the Type-C cable looks very hard and cheap compare with cable provided with OnePlus 2. You can easily see the joint of both type C point. They should have provided premium or at least an average quality cable. The charger is well built, no complaints about charger except the big size.
Pros:
- Amazing camera quality
- Glitch-free android M.
- Buttery smooth performance.
- Fast charging.
- Lightweight and handy.
- The fast and accurate fingerprint sensor
Cons:
- Plastic build
- Poor design
- It should have a more powerful battery.
- No expandable memory support.
- The poor audio output from speaker.
- High Price.
- No dual SIM support.
Final Verdict:
Overall Nexus 5X is a good smartphone with a fantastic camera, fast fingerprint scanner, very smooth performance and handy. It comes in two variant with 16GB and 32 GB internal storage, I’m not able to figure it out why they are still manufacturing device with 16 GB internal memory without any expandable memory option. Anyway if you want to enjoy the pure Android & like taking pictures and you are looking for one light and handy device Nexus 5X can be the right choice.
