Google Nexus 5X Review

Display and Multimedia

The 5X packs a 5.2-inch IPS display with full HD resolution. This equates to a crispy 424ppi. Mounted on top of it is Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for protection. Display quality is great as icons and texts are sharp.

It also appears to have no gap between the glass and the screen itself making the whole display pop out and provide great viewing angles. Colors are punchy and vibrant as well but tend to be on the warmer side. Not a big issue though.

The speaker is located at the bottom of the display and is capable of producing loud sounds with good trebles and adequate bass. Watching movies and playing music files and games on the 5X is a joy as it is very audible without compromising on quality.

Camera

When it comes to its imaging department, the 5X features a 12.3 megapixel camera with Laser AF and dual-LED flash. Camera performance is superb as it is fast to focus, even in low-light, shoots quick, and produces sharp images with great colors and dynamic range.

Since it’s a Nexus, the Google Camera app is baked-in with in-camera features like Photo Sphere, Panorama, Lens Blur, and Auto HDR. The 5 megapixel front camera, on the other hand, boasts a wide-angle lens which is good for group selfies. Image quality is decent but not exactly top-notch.

It doesn’t boast much when it comes to in-camera features, unlike ASUS and their Zenfone lineup, but it can shoot videos in 4K resolution at 30fps and HD videos at slow-mo 120fps. Both videos are saved in MP4 format. Watch the videos below.

A couple of things we noticed though when it comes to 4K video recording is, one – it can only record at a maximum of 5 minutes, two – it gets toasty at around 46.2-C.

OS, UI, and Apps

Running the software department is Google’s latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The UI is very similar to Android Lollipop with a bit of aesthetic changes:

* New wallpapers
* Vertical scrolling in app drawer with frequently accessed apps on the top row
* Memory (RAM) monitor inside Settings
* Google Now On Tap – hold Home button to reveal additional info on what is on your screen
* Nexus Imprint – fingerprint scanner

Speaking of the fingerprint scanner, it is sensitive and can store up to 5 fingerprints. However, if your hands are sweaty, it will have a hard time reading your prints.

As expected of a Nexus device, it comes with the basic Google apps. Some of these apps can be uninstalled like Google +, Keep, Google Docs, and News & Weather. The unit we have on hand comes with 32GB of internal storage with 24.89GB as usable. There’s no microSD card slot so you’re limited to that.

Next Page: Performance and Benchmarks, Battery Life, Conclusion