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Review: Google Nexus 5X

Hardware Software Wrap-Up Comments 1

No phone is perfect and every phone has compromises. The Google Nexus 5X from LG is a good phone, but not quite a great phone.

The hardware is adequate, but faces steep competition from Motorola and even some Chinese makers such as Huawei and Alcatel in terms of materials and quality. The screen is great, but battery life suffers somewhat; signal performance on AT&T was strong, but voice quality was never better than average; the camera software is often slow and frustrating, but it delivers usable photos.

Android 6.0 Marshmallow is by far the 5X's best feature — and Marshmallow isn't exclusive to the 5X. Google's latest operating system performed flawlessly on the 5X, and the Nexus Imprint fingerprint tool is great.

If you absolutely must own a Nexus handset for the software and prefer a smaller form factor, the 5X is really your only choice. The $379 price tag is nothing to complain about. The Nexus 6P isn't that much more at $499, but it is significantly larger. If you simply want the best phone $400 can buy, the Moto X is a better (if bigger) bet.

Our Ratings

Overall

Reception

Battery Life

Hardware Usability

Hardware Quality

Display

Interface Speed

Audio Volume

Camera

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LG Nexus 5X

5.2" display FHD+ resolution
Snapdragon 808 processor 2 GB RAM
2,700 mAh battery
Headphone Jack (3.5mm), NFC, Fingerprint Reader

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