The new Nexus 5 is finally here. Officially unveiled at Google's press conference in San Francisco this afternoon, the Nexus 5X is the long-awaited successor to Google's excellent Nexus 5, with LG back on board to cover the phone's manufacture.
However, Google isn't releasing just one new Nexus phone this year, as the Nexus 5X will also joined by the Huawei-made Nexus 6P, a large 5.8in handset which takes after Motorola's Nexus 6. You can read all about the Nexus 6P in my shortcoming hands on, but for now, here are my first impressions of the 5X.
Like the old Nexus 5, the 5X won't exactly go down in the history books for its looks, as its slab-like plastic chassis doesn't exactly scream high style. That said, its soft touch finish feels extremely comfortable in the hand, and the protuding camera isn't actually as pronounced as the leaked renders led me to believe. It's certainly no bigger than the protruding cameras Samsung's Galaxy S6 family, so it's unlikely it will become a major annoyance during everyday use.
It may not be the world's most attractive smartphone, then, but it does bring some welcome modern touches, such as a rear-fingerprint scanner, a USB Type-C port which supports fast charging (giving you 4 hours of battery life with just ten minutes on the mains), and front-facing dual stereo speakers on either side of the display. LG has also shifted the position of the power key and volume buttons further down the side to make them easier to reach.
The fingerprint scanner is particularly important, as fingerprint recognition is one of the big new features supported by Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which comes pre-installed on both the Nexus 5X and 6P. It's not the first phone I've seen to put its fingerprint sensor on the back – that honour goes to the Honor 7– but the Nexus 5X's fingerprint sensor, officially titled the Nexus Imprint, has one major advantage: it's designed to work seamlessly with Android Pay, Google's new contactless payment system. Google claims it can unlock your phone in less than 600ms, and its low false rejection ratio means it almost never fails. It certainly seemed very fast when I tried it out for myself, and its metal rings makes it easy to find with your forefinger.
LG has also increased the screen size for the Nexus 5X, stretching up to 5.2in. However, it's kept the same 1,920x1,080 resolution, meaning its overall pixel density is actually a little lower at 424ppi compared to the Nexus 5's pixel density of 441ppi. Still, it's a gorgeous looking screen and colours looked bright and vibrant with deep, inky blacks.
As for the Nexus 5X's internal components, it uses exactly the same chipset as LG's flagship G4: namely, a hexa-core 1.8GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor, and 2GB of RAM. Admittedly, I'm a little disappointed not to see an octa-core 2.2GHz Snapdragon 810 chip here (that's reserved instead for the Nexus 6P), but I suspect LG would rather it didn't outclass its own G4 when it comes to overall performance.
Still, the Nexus 5X certainly seemed very quick when I tried it out for myself on the show floor, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow was beautifully slick and responsive. The new menu animations were a particularly nice touch, and the typing app names into the app tray's new Search bar brought up the relevant apps almost instantly.
One thing I'm hoping the Nexus 5X will improve on over the old Nexus 5 is battery life, because as brilliant as the Nexus 5 was, it's battery life left something to be desired. This time, LG has fitted the Nexus 5X with a larger 2,700mAh battery, but it also has Google's new Android Sensor Hub, which is a dedicated low-level processor that functions in a very similar way to Apple's M9 coprocessor on the iPhone 6S. With the Android Sensor Hub, the Nexus 5X can offload low-level processes from the CPU to the hub to save energy.
Marshmallow also includes a new Doze mode, which lets the CPU go into a deep sleep when the phone is stationary while still being able to respond to real time messages. Google's hoping it will be able to last up to 30% longer than the original Nexus 5, which will be impressive if true. We'll be putting it through our Expert Reviews battery test as soon as we get hold of a review sample.
What's more, much like Apple's M9 coprocessor, the Android Sensor Hub can also track your movements, and automatically detect when you go running on are on a bike ride without even having to turn on the screen.
On the back you'll find the Nexus 5's bulbous 12.3-megapixel camera, which actually uses an identical sensor to the 6P. With 1.55um pixels, Google claims it should be able to capture more light than any other smartphone on the market. It's particularly confident about its low-light performance, but I'll have to wait and see how it fares once I get it in for review. Next to the sensor, you'll find an LED flash and LG's laser autofocus. On the front, meanwhile, is a 5-megapixel sensor with 1.4um pixels.
Google has also enhanced Google Photos for Android Marshmallow. Starting this week, you can cast photos and videos from Google Photos to any Chromecast device, even if you haven't backed them up yet. Later in the year, you'll also be able to pool your photos and videos together and get updates when new ones are added to your collection.
The Nexus 5X will be available in 16GB and 32GB versions and will be available to pre-order from the UK Google Store from today. The phone itself will go on sale later in October with UK prices starting at £339 SIM free.
