Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I own a Nexus 5 (2013) 32GB (Black) and replaced it with the Nexus 5X 32GB (White) If you’re like me, you’ve read countless reviews from tech blogs comparing the Nexus 5X to the Nexus 5 (2013). They can be summed up thusly: Pros: Great camera, better battery life, fingerprint sensor, fast charging, marginally better screen. Cons: No wireless charging, still only 2GB of ram, Snapdragon 808 isn’t top of the line, no OIS in camera, underwhelming speaker for audio, USB C chargers not plentiful in the wild, USB C is still only USB 2 (not 3.1) These are all true. Initially I was underwhelmed, concerned that I had replaced a perfectly good phone with one that was only marginally better. But after a few weeks with the 5X I am glad I made my purchase and I have some additional insights that might help other people in this situation. 1. 16GB is too little for a phone in late 2015. Hats off to you if you can make it work, but even without porting over my pictures and media from my Nexus 5, I still overran 16GB of usage just by allowing the 5X to install most of the apps that my 5 had, and I don’t play many games. I pay for streaming services (Google Play Music) and download playlists for offline use, so 16GB is definitely a no-go. 2. These phones have the same screen resolution, but the 5X gets a different UI scaling. That means an additional row and column of icons on the home screen (5X5 instead of 4X4) and most other elements are slightly smaller. This means you can use more widgets, also, without taking up so much space on your homescreens. 3. It’s too big for a lot of one handed use, for me. I was able to do a lot more with one hand on the 5 than I am on the 5X. 4. Better battery + fast charging + doze feature (Marshmallow) = a much better experience. Any Nexus 5 (2013) owner knows what it’s like to have to constantly have a charger nearby and I can report that the Nexus 5X does not have this problem. Even when the battery does get down to lower levels, you can get a significant amount of charging in about 20-30 minutes using the included charger. Doze works amazingly - I can forget to plug my phone in overnight and wake up having only lost a few percent off the battery. 5. I no longer feel self conscious about the camera quality, and selfies are much better. My pictures turn out well, and many websites have given the camera high praise when compared to the iPhone 6s 6. I can’t imagine a situation in which I would need more than USB 2 speeds for data transfer to a phone with only a few gigabytes of available storage space. 7. After having a Nexus 5 (2013) and getting the benefit of all of the updates and pure google version of Android, I can’t image having a skinned phone with lagging updates again. If this is you, you’re going to buy another Nexus eventually, so it’s the 5X, 6P, or currently very discounted 6. 8. The 5X is the cheapest phone available that has the widest carrier support (including Google Fi) (I use cricket wireless currently), so you have the ultimate autonomy in choosing services. So to sum it up: - The Nexus 5X addresses all the biggest complaints I had about my Nexus 5 (camera, battery) - Nexus phones don’t really go on sale, so waiting doesn’t make much financial sense. - My Nexus 5 (2013) is aging, crashing more, and who knows when it will kick the bucket (although it will make for an excellent backup device) - I was mostly happy with the Nexus 5 (2013) in late 2015. I am much more happy with the Nexus 5X going into 2016. If this doesn’t sound like an impassioned endorsement of the 5X, it’s because it isn’t. But I am glad I made this purchase none-the-less because I can’t think of a phone in this (or possibly, any) price range that doesn’t have compromises I’m less willing to make.