- Update: The Nexus 5X arrived in our hands on Friday and we'll continue to update this review as we spend more time with its camera and battery. For now, here's what we found.
Yes, the new Nexus for 2015 comes in two sizes, and this 5.2-inch phone is for those non-giants out there who literally can't handle a 5.7-inch Nexus 6P and last year's 6-inch Nexus 6 phablets.
Meaty paws need not apply, and neither does a big budget. Nexus 5X is a powerful Android phone for the starting price of $379 (£339). The Nexus 6P costs $499 (£449) and Nexus 6 started at $650 (£499).
The Nexus 5X is more than just a normal-sized phone at a smaller price. Its 12.3MP camera is able to capture quality low-light photos, and the rest of its specs are faster than ever.
Its reversible USB Type C port provides quicker charging, its fingerprint sensor on the back is yet another way to effortlessly unlock a your phone and it's pre-loaded with Android Marshmallow.
Compromises and competition do get Nexus 5X from being for everyone. The more powerful Nexus 6P is meant for two hands, but isn't a literally stretch to hold in one, making the size difference tighter and its all-metal design tempting.
The Nexus 5X, made of plastic, also faces stiffer competition than the Nexus 5 did two years ago, namely from the Samsung Galaxy S6, LG G4 and iPhone 6S, all on our best phones list.
Easy-to-hold, priced right and feature-packed, this is the Nexus 5 reborn as the Nexus 5X. But is it still a worthy choice for anyone who wants stock Android on a smaller phone? Let's dive into the review.
Design
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 barely reach all the way across the screen.It appropriately pushes the limit of a one-handed phone with dimensions of 147 x 72.6 x 7.9mm, making it taller and broader, but ultimately skinnier than the phone from two years ago.
That's exactly what I want. A screen size that's maximized, but still operable in one hand. The 5X strikes the right balance, and it's light, too, at 136g. That's a modest gain from 130g.
I don't exactly want a camera bulge around back due to the center-located rear snapper, but I'd rather have that than a weaker camera. It's a fair trade-off.
Thankfully, the camera protrusion isn't as significant as we saw in leaked prototypes, and it at least gives us a landmark when trying the find the new, oddly-placed fingerprint sensor on back.
The 5X owes its lightweight design to LG sticking to a polycarbonate back and thin metal frame. This bucks the trend of moving away from plastic and going with all glass or strictly aluminum.
For this reason, it doesn't feel different from the hard plastic of the Nexus 5, although you won't find the soft touch coating of the black Nexus 5 here. It's more of an egg shell texture.
There are three Nexus 5X colors again, but this time it's Carbon Black, Quartz White and Ice Blue, doing away with red from two years ago. All three come with a black front, however.
This makes my white Nexus 5X review unit look like a delicious ice cream sandwich more than a phone. While not as stylish as Motorola's curved Moto X design, it's mostly flat and functional.
In fact, the only glaringly impractical design choice here are the power button and volume rocker located on the right side. They're small, feel cheap and the power button isn't riveted.
There is a pulse notification light here. It hasn't been omitted, it's just tucked inside the speaker grill located at the bottom front of the phone and, rudely, turned off in by default.
Whether or not you're ready for USB Type C, the Nexus 5X includes the port on the bottom of the frame instead of micro USB, and it's joined by a never-changing 3.5mm headphone jack.
As future-proof as the this Android phone tries to be, it doesn't take advantage of Gorilla Glass 4 like the Nexus 6P does. Instead, it sticks Gorilla Glass 3 like the curved LG G4.
The LG G4 gets away with this in my book because of its protective, curved design. The Nexus 5X only has a small lip around its display bezel, so you may want to opt for a case.
Luckily, the Google Play Store is ready in this department. I'm more of a fan of the official Nexus 5X cases with a microfiber back and what looks like the Amazon Web Service logo (awkward).
I have this official Nexus 6P case, but got stuck with the Speck CandyShell case for my 5X. It has military grade drop protection, but really drives the point home that it's unflattering rubber.
The average acceptable phone size has increased over the last two years, but I feel as though a 5.2-inch display is the limit for hands. It's not going to change unless we all grow meatier paws.
It's therefore no coincidence that the Nexus 5X keeps up with today's ideal Android phone size, with a 5.2-inch LCD, up from the two-year-old Nexus 5 that was technically 4.95 in.
Little else has changed here. It's uses IPS LCD screen technology, boasts a the 1920 x 1080 resolution and 432 pixel per inch.
Pixels are less densely packed given the increased display size but same exact resolution (duh, math), yet you won't notice a difference. You will, however, notice five apps now fit across the screen instead of just four.
Google and LG vetoed making a quad HD display for the Nexus 5X, which would have been a bit more meaningless given the smaller size of this phone. It would just suck more battery life.
Instead, the duo gets the more important things right: brightness, uniformity and functionality. With the default "adaptive brightness" turned off, it was plenty bright for outdoor use.
Color accuracy is also more on point than the oversaturated Nexus 6 and Nexus 6P AMOLEDs. The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Note 5 remain the best overall displays in brightness and color.
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.
This isn't as effective as the double-tap-to-wake functionality found in the HTC One M9 and LG G4. It would've fit, given the flimsy power button on the side and fingerprint sensor on back.
I'm also a fan of Motorola's Moto Display, which uses IR sensors to detect your presence and shows interactive notifications in a limited state. That's not what does Ambient Display, sadly.
Fingerprint sensor
The Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P introduce Google's first fingerprint sensor, or what it calls the Nexus Imprint. Don't let the fancy name fool you.It works like every other phone-based biometric fingerprint sensor out there, except it's on the back of the device right below the camera, not around front acting as the home button.
There's no physical home button on the Nexus 5X, just extra screen space, so this placement makes sense. It did however take some getting used to, but I now accidentally try to unlock my other Android phones this way.
While Google says that "this is where your finger naturally falls," I still felt like I had to genuflect my index finger to unlock the phone. I also smudged the nearby camera a bunch of times. For this reason, the Sony Xperia Z5 fingerprint sensor, on its side power button, is a better idea.
The good news here is that the Nexus Imprint fingerprint sensor is fast, accurate and easy to set up. It took me 20 seconds to register a finger and half a second for my phone to unlock.
Apple's iPhone 6S Touch ID setup is painstakingly slower and requires too many taps and too many seconds in between taps. I found Nexus Imprint to be just as accurate with six taps.
Android phones and tablets offers a number of different unlock methods, and this my favorite and the most secure so far. It's built for Android Pay and web sign-ins too.
I still found myself needing to use my traditional pattern unlock, however. Whenever the phone is on my desk, it's the only way to bypass the lockscreen without picking up it up to then reach for the back fingerprint sensor.
USB Type C connection
Get ready to retire the dozens of micro USB cables you've collected over the last half decade, because the 5X and 6P also introduce USB Type C to the Nexus line.The advantage here is that the cable connection is reversible on both ends. It's easy to plug in without looking, now that there's no wrong way to do it. It's USB in its finest form yet.
It's more than just a convenience, though. The Nexus 5X USB-C port offers for faster charging (data transfer speeds appear to be at normal pace). Juicing up the phone via the included Type C 15W (5V/3A) charger for just 10 minutes makes it last four hours.
The drawback is that most Nexus 5X owners will have just one USB Type C cable (yet dozens of micro USB cables) and only one charging block. Lose either and you're in trouble.
It's also a pain because your computer likely uses USB, unless you have the new MacBook or Chromebook Pixel, and now you have yet another cable type lying around. It never stops.
Google's Nexus 6P actually includes a USB Type-C to USB Type-A plug, but you won't find that in the box of the Nexus 5X. It's an additional price via the Google Play Store (or anywhere else).
It won't be long before the migration happens, thankfully. The Samsung Galaxy S7 is supposed to feature USB Type C, and that'll give the new standard a kickstart early next year.
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