Nexus 5X - A worthy successor to Nexus 5?

I've been using my Nexus 5 for over a year now. It is by far the best phone I've used so far. My first smart phone was a Samsung Galaxy Grand. Full of bloatware resulted in dropped frames and underwhelming performance. Then I started using a Motorola Moto G (1st gen). Straightway I liked Motorola's take on Android. Loved the close to stock Android experience. Nexus 5 was the successor to Moto G. Even smoother software experience with better specs. Even now, it works as smooth as any other 2015 flagship. So after 2 years, is Nexus 5X a worthy upgrade? 

After using the Nexus 5 for a year, I would say that it has 4 main issues,

1. The camera

2. Battery life

3. Unimpressive speakers

4. Slightly smaller screen size at 4.95 inches (subjective)

Has Google (in partnership with LG) addressed these issues? The short answer is a clear yes! Let's see. 

1. The camera

Nexus 5 houses an 8 MP shooter with a LED flash and OIS (optical image stabilization). It's a decent camera in the day light but it struggles to capture good photos in low light conditions. 

In contrast, Google claims that Nexus 5X is a low light beast with a pixel size of 1.55 which absorbs more light than even the cameras on other flagships. And they've bumped up the megapixels from 8 to 12.3 which is always good when you want to zoom in on the photos you take. So the Nexus 5X gets a green light on the camera. At least on paper.

2. Battery life

Nexus 5's battery life is shorter than the life span of some bacteria. I use my mobile phone quite a lot and there are days where I end up charging my phone thrice. Even an average user wouldn't be able to get through a full day without running out of gas towards the end of the day. And Nexus 5 doesn't have fast charging either. 

I still have no idea about Nexus 5X's battery life as I haven't used one yet. But on paper, it sounds promising. A much bigger battery (2750 mAh vs. 2300 mAh) plus Android 6.0 Marshmallow which is expected to cause a lesser hit on the battery life and fast charging with a USB Type-C connector. A possible green light here? 

3. Speakers 

Nexus 5's speaker is average at best. A single speaker down at the bottom of the phone is hardly loud enough and the sound quality is not that impressive either. 

Nexus 5X has single (dual would've been perfect) front firing speakers (I don't know why this is not a standard on every smartphone) and from what I've heard and what I've read, sound quality and loudness have improved. Once again, sounds promising on paper but can't give a sure green light without spending some time with the device. 

4. Screen size

This is completely subjective. There are people who love 4.7 inch screens, 5 inch screens, 5.2 inch screen, 5.5 inch screens, 5.7 inch screens and even 6 inch screens. But for me personally, 5.2 is just about the sweet spot. And Nexus 5X hits the sweet spot bang on. Kudos to Google and LG for that! 

Google 5X certainly promises to address the 4 main issues I had with Nexus 5. And it bumps up the specs to match the modern day flagships and performance standards.

I've heard some people complain about Nexus 5's rather plain design but I've always liked the understated design of Nexus 5. So I'm happy with the fact that Google and LG have decided to continue with the same design language. Price hasn't changed much either. So all in all, I'm waiting to get my hands on a Nexus 5X and use it as my daily driver. I believe it will be a worthy successor to Nexus 5.  

Image courtesy - Google