Nexus 5X Review: Software User Experience

Nexus 5X Review: Software User Experience
Welcome to a Biomedical Battery specialist of the Sony laptop battery
The Nexus line exists to showcase the power of "pure" Android - it gets updates first and offers a completely unsullied version of Google's OS, free from the bloat and modifications that third-party manufacturers regrettably indulge in. For this reason, hardcore Android fans are usually prepared to accept shortcomings in the hardware, and that's very much the case here - while the tech under the hood might not be cutting-edge, the software certainly is. The Nexus 5X and 6P are the first phones to ship with Android 6.0, also known as Marshmallow. While the visual differences between this and Lollipop - the previous version - are slight, there are plenty of under-the-hood optimisations that enrich the experience dramatically.
The most notable addition is fingerprint security, which has been featured on Samsung's with battery scuh as Sony VGP-BPS22 battery, Sony VPCEA20 battery, Sony VGP-BPS12 battery, Sony VGN-Z15 battery, Sony VGN-Z90S battery, Sony VGP-BPS20/B battery, Sony VGP-BPS20/S battery, Sony VGP-BPS19 battery, Sony VGP-BPL19 battery, Sony VGP-BPS7 battery, Sony VGN-TZ121 battery, Sony VGP-BPL7 batteryphones for well over a year now. However, Google has now baked it into Android itself, so you can use it to pay for items on the Google Play store or - when it eventually launches in the UK - make contactless payments in shops with Android Pay. Dubbed "Nexus Imprint", the fingerprint recognition in Android 6.0 is arguably the best available right now, effortlessly outpacing Apple's TouchID when it comes to speed and even bettering Samsung's latest take on the tech, which impressed so much on the Galaxy S6.
Setting up a fingerprint is a breeze - the software even asks you to adjust your finger during the setup process so it can be read from different angles - and once it's done, the scanner "learns" and gets better at detecting your print. During our review period it worked fantastically, certainly much better than the already-brilliant scanner on the Galaxy S6. The only issue is that the scanner itself is located on the back of the device, so you can't use it to unlock the phone when it's resting on a flat surface. However, because of the placement, it means it's easier to unlock the device when you pull it out of your pocket. It's personal preference, but after a week we found we were more comfortable using the scanner on the Nexus 5X than the front-facing scanners on other phones.
Elsewhere, Android's new "Doze" feature helps conserve battery life when the phone is idle, only allowing priority notifications to come through and shutting down all the other unnecessary processes that sip away at your battery. The best time to test this feature is when you set your phone down at night; we noticed that the battery level only dropped a few percent, whereas previous Android phones would have shaved off around 10 to 20 percent of their stamina during the same time period.
Another big change is how Google Now works. It's not just consigned to the left of your home screen anymore - it can be activated from anywhere in the UI, bringing up pertinent information instantly. Get an email which contains a famous person or place you're not familiar with? Hold down the 'Home' command and you'll trigger Google Now On Tap, which searches the page for keywords and suggests possible weblinks or apps. It's a genuinely useful addition which we've used more times than we can count.
While the Nexus 5X isn't packing the most powerful specs in Android history, it's worth pointing out that the user experience is rarely less than fantastic. Everything is (generally) buttery-smooth, with pauses and stutters being rarer than they've ever been on Android - in fact, we found that in terms of moving around the UI, opening apps and performing general tasks, the Nexus 5X feels smoother and faster than the Galaxy S6 - a phone which, according to benchmark results, is much more powerful. This is almost certainly down to the lack of bloatware on the device; you're getting pure Android here, with no third-party UI skin over the top or duplicate processes performing the same tasks as Google's own suite of apps. That means a faster, more pleasurable experience overall, and that's precisely why Android fans gravitate towards Nexus phones despite the lack of bleeding-edge internal tech.
One area where the Nexus range has always struggled is photography - the hardware has always been decent enough but Google's software leaves a lot to be desired. The story isn't quite the same this year, but there are some caveats to consider. On the plus side, the 12.3 megapixel sensor boasts 1.55-micron pixels which allow more light to enter, meaning the camera performs better in low-light situations. As standard, Google's camera app offers HDR support, panoramic shooting, lens blur and Photosphere, and in terms of video there's a 4K recording mode and slow-motion, which allows you to capture footage at 120 frames per second.