It is interesting to see that Google brought the refreshed Nexus smartphones in India within a few days of their global announcement. India is one of the hot markets for OEMs. At an event happened on October 12, the company launched the Nexus 5X along with the Nexus 6P smartphones in India.

Speaking of the Nexus 5X, this is the refreshed variant of the LG Nexus 5 that was launched back in 2013. LG's all new Nexus 5 is a smaller Android phone, which brings new features and upgraded specifications.

LG touts this phone to be the best ever Nexus device from LG, which is thinner, lighter, brighter and better. The phone indeed seems to be quite interesting refreshment in Nexus's smaller range of smartphones. It flaunts a lighter frame and is loaded with beefed up specs including Android Marshmallow, faster processor, FHD display, USB-C port, Fingerprint scanner.

Most importantly, the phone brings a 12.3MP shooter that boasts superior camera quality, which was the need of the hoir specially considering that this has been one low feature in previous Nexus phones.

With such specs, the Nexus 5X looks to be an awesome device, however, its price might not seem exciting enough!

The Nexus 5X has been launched for Rs. 31,999 for the 16GB version, and Rs. 34,999 for the 32GB version. The price might disappoint those who were hoping that the new Nexus smartphone would come for comparatively cheaper, though some of you may not mind spending more for this phone for its features and specs.

We went hands on with the Nexus 5X smartphone at the Google launch event, and here are our first impressions:

Design

We know that the Nexus 5X is the successor of the Nexus 5. Being an upgraded version, the smartphone does bring some nice improvements in design department as well. The phone is smaller, without compromising on specs. Ergonomically, it sits comfortably on hand and is easy to use for single-handed operations. Weighing in at 136g, the phone is pretty light on hand. The weight loss is due to the plastic chassis, which come in matte finish, painted in Quartz White, Charcoal Black and Ice Blue colour option.

Up front, there is a snapper, dual speakers, and a 5.2-inch display. The right ride has the volume rocker and power key, and the left gets SIM and microSD card slot.

The Nexus 5X has a USB Type-C port which is another highlight of its design. The USB Type-C is a reversible port and the company is offering the cable and adopter in the pack.

Fingerprint scanner

The major highlight lay on the back of the smartphone. It adorns a fingerprint sensor right below the camera. The camera has its own good points, which we will reserve for later. As for the finger impression scanner, Google says that it has used Imprint sensor on the phone which can be used to unlock the device as well as other services like Android Pay. The sensor works on touch basis, so you simply have to tap on it to wake up the device. During our brief time with the device, we did manage to test the scanner. It worked pretty well, and was fast and accurate.

Display

The 5.2-inch display offers full HD resolution and is topped with Corning Gorilla Glass protection. It is bright and reproduces colour well, though we found it a but reflective. The dispaly offers good viewing angles.

Software

One delightful thing about Nexus smartphones is the software. Nexus 5X runs Google's latest Android OS iteration - the 6.0 Marshmallow, which is loaded with new features and noticeable improvements and upgrades. For instance, with the Marshmallow update, you get features like Google Now on Tap, third party app support for fingerprint scanner, and the Doze mode for battery.

Processor and memory

The phone is powered by Snapdragon 808 SoC with a 64-bit hexa-core CPU, paired with Adreno 418 GPU. However, the phone comes with just 2GB of RAM instead of the 3GB. The phone is available in 16/ 32GB variants, and sadly the native storage cannot be expanded on microSD card. The Nexus 5X lacks a microSD slot, hence you have to rely on the internal storage of the phone or on cloud services to save data.

Camera:

The Nexus 5X has a 12.3MP rear canera which as per the company is the best camera so far on any Nexus smartphone. During our brief time with the phone, the camera worked well and looked promising to us. This is also because of the 1.55micron pixels that are larger than the regular pixels, and improves photography even in low light, that the photos taken even in the ambient lighting conditions came out well.

Moreoevr, it is capable of recording 4K resolution videos at 30 frames per second. The camera is supported with Google's Photo apps.

fpr the selfie lovers, there is a 5MP front facing snapper with 1.4microns and f/2.0 aperture.

Conclusion

The Nexus 5X does seem to be promising device. We liked it's camera and are looking forward to test it out for detailed review.

The phone has its high and low side. On one hand it has new features and upgraded specs, on the other it lacks dual-SIM support, microSD card slot and a removable battery.

As far as Android Marshmallow is concerned, the Nexus phones do have an advantage but Google's OS version will anyway be rolled out to previous gen Nexus 5 and other Nexus devices, sooner than later.

The Nexus 5X is good for those want to buy a smaller, yet powerful Nexus smartphone.

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Story first published: Thursday, October 15, 2015, 14:25 [IST]

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