The smartphone business has changed. It’s time for Android users to put down their Samsungs and look to the mother ship itself. Google’s impressive new Nexus 5X and 6P deliver a better user experience than what is typically sold by carriers—and for less money, too.

But they’re only sold by Google. Americans usually buy phones from their carriers, which generally haven’t distributed Nexus phones. Carrier subsidies also meant that nobody really knew the true cost of their phones, or cared. An iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy costs...