Google sells Nexus phones
with the intention of providing a blueprint for other phone makers to follow.
As such, they function more like prototypes, created to highlight new hardware
and software features for Android, than as devices put out to crush phones made
by hardware partners like Samsung.
Nexus
phones exist to act as a catalyst to push Android in a singular, focused
direction (e.g. stock Android, no bloatware, quick software updates, and on and
on), and clamp down on years of "forked" software, which has resulted
in many sub-par Android devices and experiences.
The Nexus 5X is a return to a more reasonable size
and affordable price (starting at $379), after the huge and expensive Nexus 6 failed to meet Google's expectations.
Designed by LG, the 5X is what everyone has been asking for: an updated version
to the beloved Nexus 5. (Those who do want a phablet should consider the larger Nexus 6P made by Huawei.)
LG's phones are at their
best when they're made under the Nexus moniker. The company has a reputation
building winners for Google that started with the Nexus 4. (I bought two, one
for each of my parents, as their first smartphones and they still love them.)
Nexus design honed
Though not made of premium
materials, the 5X's polycarbonate construction feels solid in the hand. The
back cover is a matte finish, which gives it a touch more grippiness and
downplays oily fingerprints. The white (Quartz) model Google provided doesn't
show fingerprints easily, but that may be a different case for the black
(Carbon) and mint green (Ice) colors.
For
a plastic phone, the 5X's quality is great. The pieces all meet flush together
with no seams jutting out where they shouldn't be. The power and volume rocker
on the right side of the phone are flatter than I'm used to; a little textured
pattern on the power button like on the Nexus 6P would have made all the
difference.
The 5X is
really light, too, with good weight distribution; it doesn't feel heavier on
the top where the back camera module protrudes slightly, which is probably why
the phone felt so well balanced in my hand.
The front of the 5X is the neatest it's ever been on a Nexus
phone and shows an attention to the tiniest details that I've only seen on the iPhone. There are a pair of
perfectly symmetrical grilles on the top and bottom of the display (top is the
earpiece and the bottom is a single front-facing mono speaker). The 5-megapixel
front-facing camera is also straightly aligned with the top grille. Stereo
front-facing speakers would have been a real treat for the ears, but I guess we
should be lucky to have any front-facing speaker at all. The mono speaker
produces decent sound, though mids and highs sometimes made me scrunch my face
and lower the volume.
A 5.2-inch
screen spans almost the entire front of the phone. Google went with a full HD
1,920 x 1,080 resolution panel, which is more than sufficient for a smartphone.
Lots of smartphones play the resolution and pixel density game, almost to a
silly degree, at the expense of battery battery life. In that regard, it was
wise of Google not to go with a QuadHD screen. The screen is crisp and renders
most colors accurately without any of the artificial saturation and
color-boosting other phones have. The blacks could be deeper and the viewing
angles could be wider, though.
The bottom of the phone has
a new USB Type-C charging port. Like the iPhone's Lightning port, USB Type-C is
reversible. The only downside is all of your old Micro USB cables won't work
with it. Worse, the box only includes a USB Type-C to USB Type-C cable and the
charger also has a USB Type-C port. It would have made more sense to include a
charging cable with USB Type-C to full-sized USB like the One Plus 2. One thing
is for sure, you're going to need to invest in some new cables if you plan to use battery packs or
charge in more than one location (work, home, etc.).
Fast fingerprint sensor
Right
below the 12.3-megapixel camera on the back is a ring-shaped fingerprint
sensor, or as Google calls it, the "Nexus Imprint." Unlike the iPhone
6S's TouchID home button, the Nexus Imprint is not a button, just a fingerprint
reader. Setting up a fingerprint is quick and easy, and it can recognize up to
10 fingers (or toes — yeah, I tried it and it works, don't judge me).
Apple may have pioneered
the best (not the first) fingerprint sensor starting with the iPhone 5S, but
the 5X surpasses it and even the iPhone 6S's second-gen TouchID sensor, which
is twice as fast. Compared to the iPhone 6S, unlocking the 5X with a fingerprint
doesn't require the screen to be turned on first, just a tap of the finger. The
Nexus Imprint works really fast and is even quicker than the OnePlus 2's
(already very fast) fingerprint sensor.
The back
placement of the fingerprint can be a little awkward if you're used to placing
your phone face up on a table or flat surface. It's much more natural to have
the 5X's screen facedown so that when you go to pick it up, your index finger
goes right to the sensor. I never place my phone with its screen facedown, as
it means exposing the screen to gradual scratching, so it was a little weird
for me.
Unlocking the 5X is what
you'll mostly use the fingerprint sensor for. Android Pay is another feature
that uses your fingerprint as a form of verification. I tested Android Pay at a
Duane Reade drugstore. When I was ready to pay, I placed the locked 5X near the
NFC terminal and expected it to bring up my stored credit card, but it didn't.
Turns out, you need to unlock your phone with your fingerprint first and then
the stored card will pop up and confirm the transaction. Paying with Android
Pay happened in a blink of an eye, I wasn't even sure the transaction went
through, but it did. Apple Pay on my iPhone 6 is a slowpoke compared to Android
Pay on the Nexus 5X
Android 6.0 Marshmallow
Alongside
the new hardware is also a new version of Android, 6.0 Marshmallow. It runs
like a boss and I didn't notice any sluggishness that hindered usage, no doubt
due to the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor and 2GB of RAM.
The
big number version, as opposed to a dot release, may trick you into believing
there are lots of sweeping updates, but there really aren't that many.
Marshmallow is all about squashing all of the bugs and oddities that plagued
and lingered from Android 5.0 Lollipop's rocky release and its subsequent
updates
Most of the fixes are nerdy
stuff you'll gloss right over, like better apps permissions, tweaked
animations, USB Type-C support, and redesigned menus and settings. These are
all small stuff we all take for granted, but make for a more polished Android
experience.
Marshmallow
does have some big new additions. Android Pay is pretty great and so is fingerprint
sensor support. Doze is
another powerful and understated feature, s baked right into the OS, that helps
improve battery life by using the motion sensors to
disable certain settings and app background processes when the 5X is idle. With
Doze, I was able to stretch battery life from a day to almost a day and a half,
when I managed my power savings features properly.
Google Now
On Tap is the most important new Android feature of them all. It's essentially
Google search…in your apps. When you're in an app, you can press and hold the
home button (O) and special cards will appear with related information
For
instance, in Gmail, when I opened up an email for a UPS package tracking
confirmation, it showed options to Google "UPS," go directly to
UPS.com, or look up UPS on Google News. In YouTube, I opened up our
"McLaren 657LT vs. a Bicycle" video and Now On Tap, brought options
for visiting and searching online for Mashable, as well as a McLaren 650S
Now On Tap is very much a
work in progress. Sometimes it works and works well, and sometimes it doesn't
and fails hard. In a third-party app, like Facebook, Now On Tap often failed to
identify the information on the screen, such as a Mashable article about NASA. It brought up
options for NASA, but not Mashable. In another
situation, in Hangouts, it brought up contact and Google Maps info for a Dr.
Stanley when it identified my friend Stanley (who is not a doctor).
It's
a hit-or-miss feature and I can only see it getting better with more time. This
is, after all, Google's vision of creating what is essentially a search engine
based on the apps ecosystem.
iPhone-rivaling cameras
It's
ridiculous how long it's taken for Google to realize cameras matter.
I could
spend an eternity bringing up Google's past blunders, but I won't, simply on
account the 5X
has two of the best cameras on Android. On the
back is a 12.3-megapixel camera paired with a laser autofocus sensor (that
little black pill on the back) and a dual-LED flash. These are the same camera
systems LG puts into its flagship G-series phones, like the G3 and G4, and it shows when you pull the phone out to take pics.
You can see all of the
various camera tests — outdoors, outdoors (action), indoors, selfie, close-ups,
HDR, low-light and nighttime — and the comparisons in our 5X versus iPhone 6S shoot-out.
The
TL;DR is the 5X finally has a pair of first-class cameras that are fast and
take excellent (for a phone) photos indoors, outdoors and in low-light.
Like so many Android phones
powered by a Qualcomm chipset, the 5X's back camera can record in 4K resolution
and the 5-megapixel front-facing camera can record up to 1080p full HD footage.
By default, the back camera is set to 1080p, but you can change that in the
settings. I wouldn't recommend doing so, however, as recording in 4K is a bit
of hog — battery drains quicker, storage gets filled up faster, and the phone
gets warmer (occasionally very hot, even). Sure, 4K gives you four times more
resolution than full HD, but the costs outweigh the benefits.
Skip the base model
I want to see a
"small" phone renaissance. With the Nexus 5X Google and LG deliver a
compelling "small" phone that can easily rumble in the boxing ring
with Apple's iPhone 6S and Samsung's Galaxy S6.
The
materials on the 5X are nowhere as premium as the 6S or S6's metal and glass,
but with a starting price of $379 for a 16GB model, you really can't can't
complain. My advice: Don't even consider
the 16GB model. It's not going to be enough to
future-proof your phone when you'll install more apps and media, especially
since there's no microSD card slot for storage expansion. The $429 32GB model
is the only model anyone should consider buying.
The 5X is a rock-solid
Android smartphone — the closest thing to a Google phone there is — but there's
also a lot of hard-hitting competition in the $400-something space. You could
just as easily get a third-gen
Moto X for $399 with 16GB (and
expand that storage via a microSD card) and you'll get a larger and higher-res
screen, stock Android with Motorola's useful software tweaks, and a fairly
capable camera. The OnePlus 2 is another great option at $389 for a 64GB model.
http://mashable.com/2015/10/19/google-nexus-5x-review/#XHbZ13vvNkqV
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