Google, now a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. has announced the next Google Nexus 5X in India just days before the launch of the Apple iPhone 6s here. This is the seventh iteration of Nexus devices and Google has partnered again with LG, its most successful Nexus partner. Fortunately, we managed to spend some time on the new Nexus 5X at the launch event in Delhi and our first impressions of the device are as stated below.
The Nexus 5X retains the same plastic construction as of its predecessor and now it has perfect big-enough screen combined with an attractive design. The device is built around a 5.2 inches display panel having symmetrical grilles above and below, while the vent at the top is an earpiece and the speaker is at the bottom. On the right-hand side, you have the power key followed by the volume buttons and on the left-hand side, you have an ejectable tray that can hold a nano-SIM. At the bottom you have a 3.5mm audio interface and a USB-Type C port. The rear panel holds a fingerprint scanner aka “The Nexus Imprint” placed just below the camera module. The fingerprint sensor is placed at an ideal position for your index finger to reach which makes the device unlock in a jiffy. There’s also a slightly excessive three microphone set: one on the front, one on the top and one on the bottom edge.
The LG Nexus 5x sports a 5.2-inch 1080p display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Under the hood, the device has a Qualcomm MSM8992 Snapdragon 808 chipset with a quad-core 1.44GHz Cortex-A53 and dual-core 1.82GHz Cortex-A57 processor, along with 2 GB of RAM. It also has the Adreno 418 GPU. The device has a 12.3MP rear camera with a 1.55µm pixel size and a 5MP front facing camera. The device also hosts a non-removable Li-Po 2700mAh battery. Sadly, there’s no microSD slot, so we would recommend you to plan for the 32GB variant.
The Nexus 5X is one of the reference devices for Android Marshmallow. The best thing about Google Nexus devices is that they offer vanilla (stock or untouched) version of Android which is why they are the first in line for the latest and the greatest updates.
Although Android M was already out in the form of Developer preview earlier this year but this was our first interaction with Android M where we were able to spot some new features in the Marshmallow update. Noticeable ones being – the Doze mode which enables the system to conserve battery by restricting apps access to network and CPU-intensive services, and the new app permissions, which lets you decide which apps can do what. In our brief interaction with the device, the interface was quite snappy and responsive with apps opening and closing instantly.
The Nexus 5X features a full HD display which is pleasing to eyes, produces good colors, sharp images and offers great viewing angle. Talking about the camera, the 13-megapixel shooter camera captures great shots in bright daylight while in low-medium light conditions the quality of images captured is average and similarly for front facing camera, Selfies captured in bright light were impressive but the camera struggles in low-medium light conditions (ta-da!).
This is the first Nexus device (along with Nexus 6P) to feature a fingerprint scanner which can be used to wake and unlock your phone, authorise purchases, and sign in to apps. While testing out the Fingerprint sensor at the event we found out that the sensor is having 90% accuracy unlocking the device in a jiffy 9/10 times.
The handset purred along nicely during my initial tests and I didn’t notice any obvious bugs or performance issues regarding the handset or the operating system it was running.
The LG Nexus 5X will be available in 2 storage options, 16GB and 32GB priced at Rs. 31,990 and Rs. 35,900 respectively. The device is already available for pre-booking in two color options- Charcoal Black and Ice Blue. The device starts shipping out this October 21. The 16GB version will be available online exclusively on Amazon with many tempting pre-booking offers and starting next month the 32GB variant will be available exclusively at offline retail stores.
The Nexus 5X is a worthy upgrade to its predecessor with an improved camera (though lacking OIS), only 2GB of RAM and no expandable memory. We agree that this pricing does not make any sense right now. There are devices like OnePlus Two and Moto X Style which tend to check all the boxes at a lesser price than the Nexus 5x. Yet, there are some areas where we feel apprehensive when it comes to this device – the build quality, Android updates and the display. Being a die-hard Nexus fan I would have nothing to complain about this device but we should still hold our final verdict for detailed review.
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