Google Nexus 5X
Is this finally a replacement for the awesome Nexus 5? Matt Swider a look at the inexpensive and updated Android phone.
What’s the sound of one hand clapping? It’s a Nexus 5X owner giving praise to Google and LG for remaking a palmfriendly Android phone while effortlessly holding it in the other hand. The Nexus 5X looks and feels like the Nexus 5 adapted for modern times. It’s lightweight and, with a 5.2-inch display, my fingers can just reach all the way across the screen.
Little else has changed here. It’s uses the same IPS LCD screen technology and 1,920 x 1,080, and the resolution is now 432 pixel per inch. You will, however, notice five apps now fit across the screen instead of just four. The Nexus 5X inherits the Ambient Display setting of the Nexus 6. It wakes up the phone with a grayscale notification screen whenever the device is picked up or a notification arrives.
The Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P ( reviewedp18) introduce Google’s first fingerprint sensor, or what it calls the Nexus Imprint. Don’t let the fancy name fool you. It works like other phonebased biometric fingerprint sensors out there, except it’s on the back of the device right below the camera, not around front acting as the home button.
The good news here is that the Nexus Imprint fingerprint sensor is fast, accurate and easy to set up. It took me a few seconds to register a finger and half a second for our phone to unlock.
Juicing up the phone via the included Type C 15W (5V/3A) charger for just 10 minutes makes it last four hours. We could also charge via other USB-C devices, like the Nexus 6. But it’s a pain because your computer likely uses USB, and now you have yet another cable type lying around, until more devices appear later in 2016.
The 5X uses a Snapdragon 808 processor with a 64-bit hexa-core CPU that’s a combined 1.44GHz quad-core chip and 1.82GHz dual-core chip. A matching Adreno 418 GPU is also integrated into this processor.
Future-proof?
The main disappointment with the phone is the 2GB of memory; the same as the old Nexus 5 model. We think 3GB would have been more on spec for a phone of 2015 not 2013. It also continues to lack an SD slot too.
Worryingly, Geekbench scores were all over the place, it began well at 3,504 matching the LG G4. Run back to back and speeds dropped to 3,025, then 2,439. In contrast, the LG G4 always stayed steady at around 3,500. This sputtering score carried through to realworld performance, such as a slow loading camera app or when running multiple apps. But the Android Sensor Hub, combined with Android Marshmallow’s battery-saving Doze software tricks, is a bigger benefit down the line than the CPU drawbacks.
Google proclaimed that the Nexus 5X (as well as the Nexus 6P) has the best camera it has ever put into a Nexus. That’s not saying much, given the very average Nexus 5 and Nexus 6 photos. Google says 80% of photos are taken in low-light and has, therefore, selected a sensor to suit with larger than normal pixels. The end result was that we found down the pub snaps turned out better than its competition. It’s also capable of 4K video at 30fps.
The Nexus also contains a 2,700mAh battery, giving it a nice boost considering the 2,300mAh capacity of the Nexus 5 from two years ago. In realworld wear-down tests, we found that the Nexus 5X is able to go a full day because of Google’s software tricks like Doze mode and App standby. As long as you’re not expecting a multimedia powerhouse, it’ll perform just fine.
No, The Nexus 5X isn’t the best phone you can get, or even the best Nexus anymore due to the Nexus 6P being the bigger and faster of the two. It’s more like the perfect fit for one hand and the closest thing to a five-finger discount given the specs. Features Performance Ease of use Value