Disclaimer: *I do not yet own the 5x myself, the views expressed in this articles are based on what I have gathered from other sources.*
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| Image Source: www.engadget.com |
OK, so first let me put it out there that the Nexus 5x is a great phone (at least in my opinion it is). It has pretty good specs with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808, a 1080p panel, and a superb camera. From what I have seen most the time it is really smooth in performance, although occasionally it looks like it could probably do with an extra gigabyte of RAM (up to 3 gigs) when running things such as resource heavy games, and Stock Android Marshmallow looks incredible. I have seen some who do not like the design, even a few who say it ‘looks like a prototype’ but I happen to really like it. Yes it is plastic and when put side by side with the uni-body aluminium (not ‘aluminum’!) Nexus 6p that was released in tandem with it anybody can see which is the inferior phone. Yet to get such a good phone with the price point it has corners need to be cut and one of those that LG and Google decided to make was to make the device out of plastic (though unfortunately not the soft touch plastic back found on the first gen Nexus 5) but who says plastic is such a bad thing? For starters it means it can be ultra lightweight coming in at a mere 136g. It is more grippy than a sleek ultra thin phone that is forged out of metal and glass and it means that people are less likely to put a case on it and more will be able to see the elegance of the phone. Yes you read that correctly - for me this is a good looking phone. I am quite taken by the minimalist design and I really like the contrast in the white (or ‘quartz’ rather) backed variant.
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| Image Source: http://9to5google.com/ |
Whilst I am disappointed to see wireless charging has not returned from the days of the original Nexus 5 and 6 I think fast charging USB-C is definitely a worthy exchange (even if that port doesn’t sport 3.0 transfer speeds).
Now, I come to address the title of this article - I know I shouldn’t buy this phone. ‘But why?’ I hear you ask - ‘This is a fantastic phone especially for its price point, isn’t it?’. The answer to that question is a resounding ‘Yes’ from me. An asking price of £379 for the 32gb model (if you get this phone please don’t even consider clicking the 16gb variant) is really good for the spec sheet. The problem, however, lies somewhat deeper than that though… The problem is the first Nexus 5. The 2013 phone really kickstarted a new market of devices - what I like to call ‘mid-range flagships’. The devices taking up the specs that would have been seen as leading the industry in flagship devices the prior year is something manufacturers have picked up on. Since the 2013 Nexus 5 launched there has been: The Moto X, Oneplus 1, Oneplus 2, Asus ZenPhone, The HTC One A9 (ahem iPhone mimic) and a whole plethora more. And these phones are good. Really Good.
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| Image Source: www.motorola.co.uk |
The 2015 Moto X pure for example has a much better build quality, Micro SD slot, a 5.7in 1440p display, 3gb RAM, a 64gb variant, 300MaH larger battery, Moto Maker customisation and more. And guess what? For the 32gb 2015 Moto X you’ll be having to pay £399 on the Motorola Site. Only a tiny £20 more than the £379 Nexus 5x from the Google Store.
So it’s obvious right? Get the Moto! Well, yes that is the logical option - way better value for your money. So why not? It’s not like Motorola plasters their Android releases with horrible bloatware and cumbersome UI’s. And whilst the Moto X is still running Android Lollipop at the minute Motorola is seriously good at ushering out new releases of Android so soon it will be running practically the same practically unadulterated 6.0 Marshmallow OS as the Nexus phone.
So why is it that I am so compelled towards the Nexus? I can’t be absolutely sure but I can tell it is a flaw in my logic - I am a fanboy. There we go, I said it - I love the Nexus brand. Also I really like the way Google collaborates with manufacturers to create their phones (people need to see that Android is more than just Samsung). If you are going to invest yourself in an ecosystem it best be a universally good one - which is almost what Google is trying to do with the Nexus lineup. Part of the Nexus brand's mission is to set an example of what Google wants the future of Android devices to be. It reminds me of a BMW advert I saw not long ago where the tagline was “We believe the best way to predict the future… is to create it”. And there we go - maybe that’s the reason why I want the 5x so much. It is what Google believes to be the best hardware to showcase the future of Android Software.
Tell me what you think in the comments! This is my first article so it would be great if I could get a bit of feedback (constructive criticism is always welcomed).
