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Google Nexus 5X Smartphone Preview

First Impressions. Short measurements before our full review on the Google smartphone.

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Our full review page is coming soon for the Nexus 5X, but we'll be providing a few of our initial measurements and comparisons beforehand.

Google Nexus 5X (Nexus Series)
Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 MSM8992 1.8 GHz
Graphics adapter
Qualcomm Adreno 418, Core: 600 MHz
Memory
2048 MB 
Display
5.2 inch 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixel, capacitive touchscreen, IPS, glossy: yes
Storage
32 GB eMMC Flash, 32 GB 
, , 24.9 GB free
Connections
1 USB 2.0, Audio Connections: 3.5 mm combo audio jack, 1 Fingerprint Reader, Sensors: accelerometer, proximity sensor, gyroscope, Hall sensor, ambient light sensor, barometer, compass, GPS, GLONASS, NFC, OTG, Android Beam, Miracast, print, DLNA, nano-SIM
Networking
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (a/b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4/ac = Wi-Fi 5), Bluetooth 4.2, GSM/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), UMTS/WCDMA (Band 1/2/4/5/6/8/9/19), LTE (Band 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/9/17/18/19/20/26/28/38/40/41) Cat. 6 (300 Mbps/50 Mbps)
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 8 x 147 x 72.6 ( = 0.31 x 5.79 x 2.86 in)
Battery
10 Wh Lithium-Ion, 2700 mAh, Talk time 2G (according to manufacturer): 30 h, Talk time 3G (according to manufacturer): 19 h, Standby 2G (according to manufacturer): 590 h, Standby 3G (according to manufacturer): 710 h
Operating System
Android 6.0 Marshmallow
Camera
Webcam: 5.0 MP (fix focus f/2.0, 1080 videos @ 30 FPS), primary camera: 12.3 MP (auto focus w/ IP laser f/2.0, 2160p videos @ 30 FPS)
Additional features
Speakers: on front, Keyboard: virtual, power supply, USB cable (Type C to Type C), slot tool, 24 Months Warranty
Weight
136 g ( = 4.8 oz / 0.3 pounds), Power Supply: 75 g ( = 2.65 oz / 0.17 pounds)
Price
529 Euro
Links
Google homepage
Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

 

Display

LCD subpixel array
LCD subpixel array

The 5.2-inch display is already brighter than many 5-inch competitors with more accurate colors and grayscale. More notably, the smartphone does not make use of an AMOLED panel unlike its larger Nexus 6P counterpart. Contrast is roughly 1000:1, though not deep as on the Huawei P8.

500
cd/m²		491
cd/m²		489
cd/m²
500
cd/m²		503
cd/m²		498
cd/m²
501
cd/m²		503
cd/m²		494
cd/m²
Distribution of brightness
X-Rite i1Pro 2
Maximum: 503 cd/m² Average: 497.7 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 97 %
Center on Battery: 503 cd/m²
Contrast: 1324:1 (Black: 0.38 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 2.09 | 0.6-29.43 Ø6
ΔE Greyscale 2.12 | 0.64-98 Ø6.2
Gamma: 2.27

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Top 10 Smartphones
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Google Nexus 5XLG G4sHonor 7ZTE Blade V6Huawei P8Microsoft Lumia 640Motorola Moto G 2. Gen 4G
Screen
-60%
-31%
-104%
-35%
-30%
-35%
Brightness middle
503
411
-18%
442
-12%
336
-33%
453
-10%
433
-14%
417
-17%
Brightness
498
392
-21%
440
-12%
315
-37%
439
-12%
429
-14%
417
-16%
Brightness Distribution
97
88
-9%
92
-5%
81
-16%
91
-6%
95
-2%
96
-1%
Black Level *
0.38
0.38
-0%
0.23
39%
0.39
-3%
0.28
26%
0.52
-37%
0.56
-47%
Contrast
1324
1082
-18%
1922
45%
862
-35%
1618
22%
833
-37%
745
-44%
Colorchecker DeltaE2000 *
2.09
5.3
-154%
4.52
-116%
8.29
-297%
4.7
-125%
3.42
-64%
3.11
-49%
Greyscale DeltaE2000 *
2.12
6.32
-198%
5.47
-158%
8.57
-304%
5.03
-137%
3.03
-43%
3.64
-72%
Gamma
2.27 97%
2.37 93%
2.27 97%
1.96 112%
2.27 97%
2.16 102%
2.64 83%
CCT
6621 98%
7250 90%
7874 83%
8172 80%
7439 87%
7081 92%
7115 91%
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998)
71
72.04
Color Space (Percent of sRGB)
96
99.7
89.7

* ... smaller is better

Grayscale
Grayscale
Saturation Sweeps
Saturation Sweeps
ColorChecker
ColorChecker

Performance

3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited scores are similar to the Snapdragon 805 in graphical power (Adreno 418 vs. Adreno 420), but fall behind in raw CPU performance by over 50 percent.

3DMark
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Physics (sort by value)
Google Nexus 5X
12451 Points ∼14%
HTC Desire 610
7973 Points ∼9% -36%
LG G4s
7113 Points ∼8% -43%
Honor 7
10360 Points ∼12% -17%
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
18913 Points ∼22% +52%
OnePlus 2
10985 Points ∼13% -12%
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics Score (sort by value)
Google Nexus 5X
22180 Points ∼4%
HTC Desire 610
4372 Points ∼1% -80%
LG G4s
7375 Points ∼1% -67%
Honor 7
10579 Points ∼2% -52%
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
20733 Points ∼4% -7%
OnePlus 2
31858 Points ∼6% +44%
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Score (sort by value)
Google Nexus 5X
18898 Points ∼8%
HTC Desire 610
4860 Points ∼2% -74%
LG G4s
7315 Points ∼3% -61%
Honor 7
10528 Points ∼4% -44%
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
20299 Points ∼9% +7%
OnePlus 2
22400 Points ∼9% +19%

Legend

 
Google Nexus 5X Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 MSM8992, Qualcomm Adreno 418, 32 GB eMMC Flash
 
HTC Desire 610 Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 MSM8226, Qualcomm Adreno 305, 8 GB SSD
 
LG G4s Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 MSM8939, Qualcomm Adreno 405, 8 GB eMMC Flash
 
Honor 7 HiSilicon Kirin 935, ARM Mali-T628 MP4, 64 GB eMMC Flash
 
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 APQ8084, Qualcomm Adreno 420, 32 GB eMMC Flash
 
OnePlus 2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 MSM8994, Qualcomm Adreno 430, 64 GB eMMC Flash

Emissions

Temperature

Hot spots can already be felt nearest the earpiece even during light use, so one side of the device will almost always be warmer than the other. At its worst, we were able to measure surface temperatures just above 37 C near the rear camera.

Max. Load
 34.4 °C
94 F		34.2 °C
94 F		29.8 °C
86 F		 
 33.6 °C
92 F		30.8 °C
87 F		28.8 °C
84 F		 
 32.4 °C
90 F		31.2 °C
88 F		28.4 °C
83 F		 
Maximum: 34.4 °C = 94 F
Average: 31.5 °C = 89 F
27.8 °C
82 F		30.4 °C
87 F		36.6 °C
98 F
28 °C
82 F		30.2 °C
86 F		37.4 °C
99 F
27.8 °C
82 F		30.2 °C
86 F		34.2 °C
94 F
Maximum: 37.4 °C = 99 F
Average: 31.4 °C = 89 F
Power Supply (max.)  25.6 °C = 78 F | Room Temperature 20 °C = 68 F | Fluke 62 Mini IR Thermometer
(+) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 31.5 °C / 89 F, compared to the average of 33 °C / 91 F for the devices in the class Smartphone.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 34.4 °C / 94 F, compared to the average of 35.5 °C / 96 F, ranging from 22.4 to 51.7 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 37.4 °C / 99 F, compared to the average of 34 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 26.5 °C / 80 F, compared to the device average of 33 °C / 91 F.

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> Notebook / Laptop Reviews and News > Reviews > Archive of our own reviews > Google Nexus 5X Smartphone Preview
Allen Ngo, 2015-11- 6 (Update: 2015-11- 6)
Allen Ngo
Allen Ngo - US Editor in Chief
After graduating with a B.S. in environmental hydrodynamics from the University of California, I studied reactor physics to become licensed by the U.S. NRC to operate nuclear reactors. There's a striking level of appreciation you gain for everyday consumer electronics after working with modern nuclear reactivity systems astonishingly powered by computers from the 80s. When I'm not managing day-to-day activities and US review articles on Notebookcheck, you can catch me following the eSports scene and the latest gaming news.