When
I first reviewed the Nexus 5X it was one of the best mid-range phone’s
available. For less than £400 you got a stellar handset that offer all
the perks of Google’s then new
Android Marshmallow operating system, without the bundled bloatware often found on third party skins.
However,
having used it as my primary personal smartphone for over six months I
encountered a number of significant issues.
For starters, the
performance has dramatically dropped. Like the
OnePlus 2,
the Nexus 5X performance has gradually gotten worse the more I’ve used
it. After my first three months the device would on occasion
inexplicably stutter. Another month on it began completely stalling
about once a week.
Four weeks later I found myself having to
restart the phone every other day to get it to run smoothly.
The Nexus
5X’s battery life has also suffered. Smartphone’s battery lives always
gradually deteriorate, but since an early software update at the end of
2015 the Nexus 5X’s has outright bombed.
Overnight the phone
went from lasting between one and a half to two days use off one charge
to struggling to make it through the day. With heavy use I’ve also
managed to wipe the battery within four hours.
Intensive use entailed
listening to music while browsing the web on a 30 minute train journey,
periodically playing games, like Banner Saga, regularly checking my
email, messages and social media feeds and watching a episode of Vikings
on
Amazon Instant Video.
The
issues are a shame, as outside of them, the Nexus 5X remains a great
phone. The fingerprint scanner is one of the fastest and most accurate
around and it’s display is still one of the best seen on a phone in its
price point.
It remains one of the most future proof Android phones
around when it comes to software. Nexus devices always get updates to
future versions of Android as long as their hardware is technically
able.
As a result, the Nexus 5X is one of a select few handsets likely to get upgraded to the final version of
Android N when it launches at an unspecified point later this year.
Nexus 5X – Long term verdict
The
Nexus 5X is a phone that hasn’t stood the test of time all too well.
Deteriorating battery and performance are a noticeable and ongoing
frustration at the moment Hopefully a future Android update will fix the
issues, but for now you’d be better of paying a little more and getting
the larger
Nexus 6P if you want the best unskinned Android experience.
You can read my original Nexus 5X review below.
What is the Nexus 5X?
The Nexus 5X is the smaller and more affordable choice in Google’s current smartphone line-up. It sits behind the Huawei-made
Nexus 6P, which carries a larger 6-inch screen, slightly faster hardware and a higher, £449 asking price.
In contrast, the £339 Nexus 5X is significantly cheaper than the 6P and slightly more affordable than Apple's new
iPhone SE. But, it is more expensive than some competing handsets, such as the £250
OnePlus 2, which on paper match many of its specs. It isn't quite the straightforward bargain the classic Nexus 5 was.
But
the 5X goes a long way to justify its increased price tag thanks to its
completely unskinned, future-proof version of Google’s latest Android
6.0 Marshmallow operating system. In fact, the software makes the Nexus
5X one of the best smaller smartphones on the market.
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