Google Nexus 6P Vs Nexus 5X Smartphone Comparison

Google has kept is Nexus products line-up pretty neat and every year a different manufacturer would be partnered with to create the devices. Every year, there would be one Nexus smartphone and one Nexus tablet. Until this year when the company finally decided to introduce two handsets for two different purposes. Both are a premium on its quality; the Nexus 6P is considered to be high-end handset while Nexus 5X is more of an upgraded version of Nexus 5, which was one of the best mid-range priced flagship phone.

It has only become two times harder for consumers to choose between two Nexus handsets. It might be like Christmas came early situation for Android purists, but that said it’s now harder to choose one of the Nexus devices. That’s where we come to help you in deciding which handset is better for you. By putting these handsets in a ring together you can understand which device you should buy. Let’s dive into the detailed comparison.

Design

The Nexus 6 wasn’t the best designed Nexus smartphone we would say, but it certainly gave us an idea how a large sized Nexus phone can be like. But thankfully this time company has made the switch from Motorola to Huawei and LG. The Chinese manufacturer has managed to put together a device that actually stands for the title, the “P” in 6P stands for ‘premium’ and delivers on that promise. The all-metal aluminum body of the Huawei Nexus offers a desirable sleek look. It feels slimmer and narrower, which makes it easier to hold.

For Nexus 5X, it has adopted the similar look that we saw on the Nexus phone for 2013, and that is because LG is on board again. You can experience the same matte black body but with the new soft-touch plastic finish on rear side while front does look different. There are now forward facing speaker added, which is unlike Nexus 5 and its a good thing. Talking about the fingerprint sensor, they both have the biometric sensor placed in back under camera module.

Display

There is nearly no similarity in the display part among both of these handsets. The Nexus 6P is large with a 5.7-inch display, and Nexus 5X has a 5.2-inch size display. They both have different resolutions as well while the 6P sports a Quad HD (2560 x 1440) resolution the 5X holds a Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution display. So, what large resolution means is that it has a larger pixel density of 514 PPI against the 424 PPI. The high resolution on 6P surely puts it in the seat with Samsung and LG’s premium handsets. There is also different screen technologies used by these Nexus handsets. The 6P display uses AMOLED panel while the 5X sports an LCD panel. It means that 6P offers better contrast ratios. It also means that you get an Ambient mode on 6P that would light up some of the screen parts when you pick it up, thus making it an efficient display. Additionally, the 6P is superior in terms of the protection as well. You get Corning Gorilla Glass 4 support on 6P, which is quite stronger and harder than Corning Gorilla 3 on 5X.

Hardware & Performance

This comes as no surprise that 6P would require little more under the hood power since it sports power-hungry display. The Huawei built handset is coming with the 64-bit Snapdragon 810, although, do make a note that it’s not the troublesome one found inside Sony Xperia Z3. But instead, the 2.1 version that OnePlus claims is powering its OnePlus 2 handset. Backed up by 3GB of RAM, which is more than ample to keep things running smoothly.

Talking about the 5X, the device is powered by a Snapdragon 808 processor, which is the same found on LG G4. But accompanying RAM here is 2GB, which might be considered less. But rest assured it’s quite the performer even with six cores compared to the eight cores used in the 810. Apparently, both the devices are equipped to run stock Android Marshmallow at full blitz, although, 6P does feel noticeably faster.

Camera

The last two generations of Nexus devices had the weakest camera performance. But both of the new Nexus 5X and 6P makes noticeable steps to increase the performance in this regard. For a fact, they both pack almost similar camera assemblage. That’s a 12.3-megapixel rear camera while the front facing camera on 5X is 5-megapixel and 6P have a little larger 8-megapixel sensor on the front.

They both are capable of capturing 1.55-micron pixels, which is said to help in catching up more light than usual, thus improving the low light captures. Assisting the shot is the IR laser autofocus, which ensures speedy shots with full details as much as possible. What they both lack is the Optical image stabilization, which was present in the previous generation.

If you’re into recording high-resolution videos, then you’re in for a treat on both devices as they offer to record up to 4K resolution. As well as they can capture slow motion footage, although, 6P can shoot up to 240fps while 5X can manage only 120fps.

Battery

Not a surprising move on the larger Nexus 6P, but a well-administered decision. While we know the 3220mAh battery wasn’t any good on the Nexus 6, including 3450mAh battery seems to be a right step by Huawei. Comparing it with Nexus 5X, which sports a small 2700mAh battery, although, if you take the size and display in question, the batteries on both devices are quite good. We have been using Nexus 5X for quite a while now, and it has not the best battery, but you can get a full day’s charge on average usage. And considering there is no bloatware installed since they’re both Android pure devices, you can expect good battery life from both of these handsets.

They sports USB Type-C and thus there is a Quick Charging technology support that grants a full charge faster than on a microUSB enabled devices. Though, note you’ll have to ditch the microUSB cables or maybe you could get an adapter to use them. But I would recommend using the data cable and adapter that comes in retail unit. Additionally, the new doze feature on Marshmallow extends the standby performance on both devices.

Verdict

Google has finally launched two Nexus devices this year, which is an ideal decision, but also confusing at the same time. Ideal because Android purists love it and confusing because you can only go with one option (unless you’re Richie Rich). And I would suggest you go with Nexus 6P, if money is no objection for you, as you get a premium build quality with some of the coziest features you could ask for on a flagship device. But if you went with Nexus 5X, then that is also a fine choice because it’s a Nexus device with an affordable price tag.