The Nexus 5 wasn’t known for having great design, and the 5X is no different. It’s a boring phone. It’s boring to look at, boring to touch, and doesn’t engender any sort of emotion when you use it. It looks and feels like a reference design for what a smartphone should be, not a finished product that you can actually spend money on.
That isn’t to say it’s poorly made or prototype-y: its plastic pieces are snapped together tightly, and I’m not too concerned with the durability of the phone. (Though, in retrospect, maybe I should be, given how many shattered Nexus 5 screens I’ve seen first hand. Google says it is using Gorilla Glass 3 on the 5X, which is the same glass as on the Nexus 5.) It just doesn’t excite me when I pick it up, and I’m not compelled to hold it just for the sake of feeling its build or materials. There’s also a hollow echo sound whenever I tap the 5X with my finger, which quickly reminds me that I’m not using a top-tier flagship smartphone, but something less.
The 5X's design doesn't evoke any emotion, but works well in one handBut materials aside, the 5X does fit really nicely in my hand. This year, I’ve been using (and enjoying!) so many giant phones that I’ve forgotten how great it can be to have one I can use in one hand. I’ve been using it while carrying groceries, holding a kid, pushing a shopping cart, and sipping a cup of coffee, and I’ve not dropped it once nor had any issue using it to its fullest. The matte plastic finish on my white review unit is dull to look at, but it’s not slippery like a metal or glass surface might be, and I can easily manage it with a single hand.
I’ve also become a master at unlocking my phone before it’s even out of my pocket thanks to the new fingerprint sensor on the back of the 5X. I was really skeptical that this would be as good as a front fingerprint scanner, like you’d find on an iPhone or Samsung device, but the 5X’s scanner falls perfectly under my index finger and is lightning fast. By the time I’ve gotten the phone out of my pocket and up to my face, the screen is on and it’s unlocked. It’s so fast that I’ve gotten used to just not seeing the lock screen at all. The downside to all of this is that I can’t use my finger to unlock my phone when it’s sitting on my desk, which is a slight, but noticeable annoyance.
There are a couple of other minor changes with the 5X compared to the 5. The 5.2-inch, 1080p display is slightly larger, but otherwise very similar in appearance. It’s sharp and nice to look at, but colors are noticeably flat and lack the punch or vibrancy of other smartphone displays. The speaker has been moved from the bottom of the phone to the front, but it’s still a single speaker. And the 5X now uses a USB Type-C cable for charging, which is more of a hassle than a convenience at this point. Google provides a single, short Type-C cable in the box that can’t plug into a standard USB port without an adapter, so you should budget for spares to replace all of those now-useless Micro USB cables lying around your house. The 5X also lacks wireless charging, so if you bought a bunch of wireless chargers for your Nexus 5, those are now useless, too.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtnam1fZn1wfo9ocG5vYG1%2BdnvGqKagpJViu6bE1KxkbrBdp7K3tcSw