I’m of the theory that some smartphones reached the good enough point sometime around 2013. The Nexus 5, HTC One (M7), and LG G2 come to mind. The original Moto X deserves only a mention as while it was good enough for its time, it hasn’t aged very well with its S4 Pro processor. Additionally, the specs were a compromise to get under a certain price point.

The Nexus 5X has gotten a fair amount of flack spec-wise and price-wise. Design is subjective, but nobody can discredit that some people just want a smaller phone and that the 6P is just too big for them. The bezels are thicker, but approximately a centimeter in height and three in width give you about a centimeter thinner device. Additionally, the curving polycarbonate case will aid with hand feel.

Software

Controversial, but I think Nexus phones are the only way to go in terms of software. Continuous and timely software updates are paramount as they help the phone from getting boring and pacify that yearning for a brand new device. My Google Play edition of the One M7 still runs like a champ in comparison to its Sense brethren and has gotten one additional update to 5.1 before the end of software support. I think paying what ends up being a not-so-pricey-premium is worth it for continued software updates.

Processor ft. Camera

Let’s take a look at the specs. A 64-bit processor hexa-core processor with big.LITTLE architecture. The premise of big.LITTLE is that slower, low-power processor cores (LITTLE) are coupled with relatively more powerful and power-hungry ones (big). The Snapdragon 808 has two big cores and 4 LITTLE cores. Not all tasks need full processing power to compute. Furthermore, there is something known as Amdahl’s law. Some tasks are inherently single-threaded and at a point more cores won’t make it run faster and in fact you’ll get diminishing returns the more cores you throw at it. (A more detailed explanation can be found on AnandTech’s LG G4 review).

The same review makes the compelling argument that “a combination of the Snapdragon 808 SoC and better software optimization, it seems that LG has made a phone that can perform everyday tasks better than Snapdragon 810 devices”. Specifically, during web-browsing, a primary, every day task. If we’re talking about practicality, being good enough, and choosing what areas you want to excel at; web browsing is definitely up there. LG did wonders software-optimization-wise with the G4 and I’m sure those have been translated over to the 5X. It’s certainly a leap over the 800-carrying Nexus 5 in all regards.

However, the main complaint of picking the 808 vs. the 810 is that the camera suffers. I rather trade all around phone performance and furthermore it’s not like the camera is significantly worse because of that decision. By all counts this is going to be a great camera.

Android Sensor Hub

There are certain features (software and hardware) of the 5X that I don’t think are getting enough credit, nor are people factoring their cost into the final price of the device. In terms of hardware, that’s the camera and the addition of the Android Sensor Hub provides for a wide variety of very useful features that are also very power efficient. Instead of running on the 808 it runs on a separate Cortex M3 processor.

I’m hoping that Google Fit will get much more accurate as a step-counter and recognizing what activity is being performed thanks to this sensor stack.

But, it also allows for an Ambient Mode even on an LCD display. The feature made its first introduction on the Motorola made Nexus 6 and is something Google stole and integrated into their future devices. Also taken, Always-On ‘OK Google” hotword detection.

In offloading more to the Sensor Hub (such as detecting orientation and triggering rotation), battery efficiency only increases.

Closing Thoughts

All in all, I think the Nexus 5X has a bounty of new features over the original and without a doubt it makes for a worthy upgrade and cherished successor. I also think it stands up to comparatively similar phones in the same range. During the Reddit AMA with the Android team, they made the point that “building high-end smartphones is as complex and difficult as making commercial airplanes.” The sentiment I get from this is that everything is a balance in making a phone and that the right ones have been struck here.

Furthermore, in my good enough view of smartphones, devices such as the Nexus 5X continue this trend with the decision to go with the 808 processor for all around better performance.