Oppo Review: Nexus 5X

"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
02/26/2016 at 13:54 • Filed to: Nexus 5X vs iPhone 6

After 9 years of being a fangirl of Apple, I ditched my dying iPhone 6 and dipped my hands into the world of Android. It’s been a little over a week since I’ve owned this phone, and I already have great feedback about it!

Exterior

Interestingly enough, a lot of people seem to dislike this phone’s body. I like it. The plastic is smooth to the touch and doesn’t feel cheap to me. I wish more cars had plastic like this (albeit, thicker). The phone only has two physical buttons (the rocker for the volume, and power) and a fingerprint sensor in the back. To me, this means less things to break, less things to worry about. Buttons are usually the first or second things to break on a phone, so this is good.

The speaker is also up on the screen. While the sound quality is pitiful, it’s fine for whatever silly thing you’re going to be using your phone speakers for...Come on, it’s 2016, get some headphones already. :P Anyway, their location also means that if you’re holding your phone or it’s sitting on a soft surface (blankets, pillows, etc) the speaker won’t be blocked! Neat.

As far as design, I did enjoy the metal of my old iPhone 6, but let’s be honest; all I’m going to do is put a case on it and never see the body again...So it doesn’t matter what the phone is made out of. I never really understood the metal phone craze when most people are just going to buy an Otterbox or similar anyway.

Nuts and Bolts

Inside the phone, it has 32GB of flash memory (only 25GB of it can be used by you) a Snapdragon 808 with a total of 6 thirsty cores. Sitting behind Gorilla Glass 3 is a 1080P screen with a pixel density of 423. The camera in back is 12.3 MP and on front is a 5 MP. Unfortunately, like my iPhone, no memory expansion either.

Performance-wise, this phone crushes my old iPhone 6 at like...everything. It boots faster, is sails through apps faster, it crashes less, and it handles tasking apps and operations with ease. The fluidity of Android 6.0 is insane and it just sort of works. I even love the screen, it’s so full of colour and it’s jussst big enough to fit to still fit in one hand while looking like a big screen phone. And since the phone is a Nexus phone, it has absolutely no bloatware, and you can delete any Google app that comes pre-installed.

My only nitpick is that some of my cross-platform apps worked better one the iPhone...though other apps work better on the 5X...so it’s an equal trade-off.

But all that high performance does come with a penalty...

Battery

It comes with a 2700 mAh battery. On paper, that sounds epic. However, remember that this phone packs 6 cores...and despite having apps that are optimized to save battery, they still suck the battery down pretty fast. When my iPhone was new, it was able to get through a day and three-quarters of my usage before needing to plug in. This phone will last a day to a day and a half...so long as I don’t use the GPS or any app that tasks the phone. The iPhone is a bit better with battery management than the Nexus is...that said, it is running with 4 fewer cores and it noticeably slower at the same tasks.

So to take it at face value: Extra performance = Battery loss. :(

Doubly unfortunately, it looks like swapping the battery out would be a pain...

USB

For whatever unexplained reason, this Nexus came with a double ended USB Type C cable...so charging has been a PITA and I’ve not been able to connect my phone to any computer. I had to buy an adapter, which is still somewhere in the mail.

That said, being an Android, the headaches of syncing are no more. I hated iTunes (and its alternatives) so much, I only ever added media to my iPhone once every six months or so. But with this phone, I can just add things effortless and so easy...As syncing should be. I can add app apis, my favourite audiobooks, photos...anything!

Photos

Despite having a lower MP camera than my old iPhone, it takes significantly better photos:

Even the front camera is awesome! Here’s one of my favourite selfies that I took with my iPhone 6:

And with the 5X, taken this morning:

I’m not sure why, but I just like the 5X’s photos more. With the iPhone, I had to take the same selfie ten times to get it right. With the 5X...one shot, done. I think it’s how the 5X handles light and colours. Colours are bolder, and background light is less intrusive.

Additional Perks

- This phone is Google Fi ready, and I will be signing up for Fi in the next coming months.
- At $400 for the 32GB model, hundreds less than my old iPhone 6 was.
- The fingerprint sensor is more reliable on this phone than it was on my iPhone.
- CUSTOMIZATION!!!!
- There’s a cute little notification light.
- When I flip the phone up from the bed or table, the screen shows me my current notifications.
- The notifications you can put on the notification screen are hilariously awesome.
- You can unlock the phone simply by placing your finger on the fingerprint.

So, to sum this phone up in a TL;DR manner: Nexus 5x vs. iPhone 6.

Pros

- Higher performance.
- Coupled to Marshmallow 6.0
- Almost infinite customization.
- Google Fi ready.
- More accurate fingerprint sensor.
- Ability to set default apps.
- OS doesn’t crash as much.
- Better speaker placement.
- Better screen.
- Bigger screen.
- Better cameras.
- Tougher screen.
- Better notification management.
- Significantly more affordable.
- Can delete out-of-box apps you don’t like.
- No hassle syncing.
- Notification light!
- Charges faster.

Cons

- Less repairable than the old iPhone.
- Can’t easily replace the battery.
- Bad battery life.
- Some apps work waaaay better on the iPhone.
- Have to buy an adapter if your PC doesn’t come with a Type C USB.
- 32GB equals 25GB - 32GB iPhones give you a little more memory.
- Kinda sorta miss the metal finish, kinda sorta not.

VERDICT

If you can afford it, get the Nexus 6P, it’s better than the 5X in every way (unless you want a smaller form factor)...if not, the 5X is a fantastic phone for the price.

DISCUSSION (22)

djmt1 > Mercedes Streeter
02/26/2016 at 14:00

Is it true that the top speaker only works for phone calls?

MonkeePuzzle > Mercedes Streeter
02/26/2016 at 14:02

NO!

oppositelock supports only 1 phone! and it fully charges from dead in 15 minutes!!!

E92M3 > Mercedes Streeter
02/26/2016 at 14:04

Great phone for the price, but I want the Galaxy S7!

Mercedes Streeter > djmt1
02/26/2016 at 14:17

Correct. I’ve only ever owned phones with mono speakers (and never use them for anything other than notifications) so it wasn’t in my grading criteria.

Mercedes Streeter > E92M3
02/26/2016 at 14:18

The Galaxy series are beastly phones! Unfortunately, the new ones are only slightly less expensive than an iPhone, so I couldn’t sell my iPhone for enough money to pay for a new Galaxy.

That, and Galaxy phones aren’t compatible with Fi yet.

djmt1 > Mercedes Streeter
02/26/2016 at 14:20

Weird, I have a 6P and it uses both of them. Also it came with standard USB charger and the USB-C cable. I wonder why Google or LG cheaped out in this area, it couldn’t have saved that much.

Where have all the lightweights gone? > E92M3
02/26/2016 at 14:27

I preordered an S7 Edge. The countdown has already begun.

Mercedes Streeter > djmt1
02/26/2016 at 14:29

Oh yes, the 6P maintains the stereo speakers. Maybe it saved a few dollars on production? lol

The 5X also comes with the USB charger...just it also comes with that cable that has two Type-C ends...which is almost completely useless to me as I don’t have any devices that can accept Type-C.

So I ended up buying a Type-C to Type-A cable on eBay. Ahh...that feels better. :)

Where have all the lightweights gone? > Mercedes Streeter
02/26/2016 at 14:34

The Nexus phones are very solid, but the only way you could have improved your situation is with the Moto X Pure Edition. Like the Nexus phones, it runs pure Android, and Motorola phones have received Android updates faster in some instances than Nexus phones. It also has a solid camera, and it has expandable memory (supporting up to a 128GB card). It also has a lot of customization options (colours, accent colurs, greeting message, etc.)!

The only downside is it would not be supported by Google Fi, and a 32GB option would set you back another $50 over the Nexus phone.

RazoE > Mercedes Streeter
02/26/2016 at 14:49

I’m rocking a Moto X Pure and it kicks significant amounts of ass. Look it up, SD card slot is a plus as well!

Mercedes Streeter > RazoE
02/26/2016 at 14:55

SD CARD SLOT?!?!?!

*Flips table* Damn you Google!

E92M3 > Mercedes Streeter
02/26/2016 at 15:09

They are crazy expensive!

keviiinn! > Mercedes Streeter
02/26/2016 at 15:22

glad you picked a Nexus device. I don’t think there are many people who are dissatisfied with Nexus devices. I’ve got a slightly older Nexus 6 myself. when you hear about lagdroid and all of that crap it’s from people using Samsung and other perhaps low or midrange devices.

RazoE > Mercedes Streeter
02/26/2016 at 15:23

Its a hybrid SIM/SD slot. I didnt even know it had it, until after I ordered it.

Mercedes Streeter > keviiinn!
02/26/2016 at 15:29

Outside of the pretty questionable battery, I don’t know how you can be unhappy with this phone. It’s unbelievably zippy! Better than my computer, that’s for sure! :)

The Powershift in Steve's '12 Ford Focus killed it's TCM (under warranty!) > Mercedes Streeter
02/26/2016 at 15:41

I bought a 5X when they first came out and it’s been an excellent phone. Android 6.0 was rough at first, but most the bugs have been quashed and the OS is extremely stable at this point. The phone still lags occasionally, but closing down recent programs through the app switching screen seems to help and Android itself is pretty good at closing memory-heavy apps that aren’t currently being used. Mine lasts a full day on a full charge, but battery life is very dependent on use. The phone sips battery life when idle, but if you frequently wake it up or run apps such as Pandora constantly, it drains steadily. The quick charge functionality is great, but you’re right that the omission of a USB C-to-USB A cable is a crime. USB C is a brand new format, and when I purchased my phone, Amazon was the only source for USB C accessories. Until USB C becomes the standard, including both cables should be a requirement.

I can’t restate enough how nice it is to have a Pure Google/Nexus device. The steady stream of OS updates as they’re released is a game changer. Waiting 6 months to a year for a minor OS update, like I had to with previous Samsung and HTC devices, sucks when the current release is buggy. It seems like every time the 5X develops an issue, Google has an update out by the next week. This is priceless, IMHO, and I will likely buy Pure Google devices from here on out. That being said, I miss a few of the extra features the OEMs usually add in their Android skins, but not enough to miss out on the regular OS updates.

Mercedes Streeter > The Powershift in Steve's '12 Ford Focus killed it's TCM (under warranty!)
02/26/2016 at 15:57

You know, I’ve noticed that big time. When the phone is idle, it barely even uses the battery. I can put the phone down to go to sleep at night and wake up the next morning: Only 2% of battery lost.

On the iPhone, it would lose 10%-15% to sitting idle.

It seems Google Maps is the biggest battery suck, you can’t really run it in Power Save mode.

The Powershift in Steve's '12 Ford Focus killed it's TCM (under warranty!) > Mercedes Streeter
02/26/2016 at 16:27

As I understand it, there are high power and low power cores on the motherboard in the phone. The low power cores handle idle processes and low end tasks when the phone is active, while the high power cores handle power hungry apps. I’d guess Maps is too much for the lower power cores to handle, so when its running, the phone is in GOTTA GO FAST, SCREW POWER EFFICIENCY mode.

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > Mercedes Streeter
02/26/2016 at 16:27

I’m rocking the original Nexus 5. It is TONS easier to repair/swap parts from the reviews I’ve read about the X and my own experience with the original 5. The standard 5 has crap for ccameras and speakers though.

I’ve wondered if the firmware would handle swapping in a camera from another phone. The LG G4 camera is dimensionally the same, has the same pinout interface and would physically fit. It’s also 12.3 MP as opposed to the 8 MP my Nexus 5 has. They’re about $20 for the cameras on Amazon....

E92M3 > Where have all the lightweights gone?
02/26/2016 at 18:09

Verizon?

Mercedes Streeter > The Powershift in Steve's '12 Ford Focus killed it's TCM (under warranty!)
02/26/2016 at 18:34

That’s how I think it works too. If you use Maps in battery saving mode, it stops working once you turn off the screen, so you have to keep the screen on (which is counterproductive if you’re trying to save battery)...so I just keep it off for when I’m running Maps.

Gosh, I really need that new cable to come in fast lol

shop-teacher > Mercedes Streeter
02/26/2016 at 20:07

I went the other way a couple months ago, from Android to a 6s. I miss Android.