Why Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X are the best Android phones to have
In the world of Android phones, there are a few phone-makers and hundreds of versions. You can spend Rs 5,000 and get an Android phone like the Yu Yunique, or you can spend Rs 50,000 on the Samsung Galaxy Note 5. Both Yunique and Note 5 are good and offer a great deal of value for money. But they somehow end up lacking in something or the other, something that stops them from being a one-stop solution for a user. The magic sauce, if you can call it so, is missing.
It is the same magic sauce that makes the iPhone so good, despite all the limitations of iOS software, which powers Apple's phones. But at last it looks like the Android users have their own magical phone. Or rather, two such phones.
Google recently launched two Android phones - the Huawei-made Nexus 6P and the LG-made Nexus 5X. True to our expectations, the two phones are phenomenal.
Phenomenal yes, not perfect. But they come fairly close. And the reason for this is that both these phones have what other Android phones don't. Take a look:
Clean software
This is one thing that you don't get with any other Android phone, except Motorola's Moto phones. All phone-makers take Android and then modify it to suit their needs. Worse, they fill the phone with apps that no one is going to use, either because they have some advertisement or content deal with the app makers, or they feel that the users ought to use the apps suggested by them.
The Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P are different. They run clean and pure version of Android Marshmallow, which not only looks polished and modern, but also offers a smooth experience to users.
Promise of software updates
Majority of Android phones, even the high-end ones, sold in the market never receive any meaningful software update. For example, the Rs 20,000 Lenovo phone you are buying today may never get Android Marshmallow. But the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P promise to give consumers software updates for at least two years. So even though it does not beat Apple, which promises software updates for four years, it is definitely a lot better than the others.
Good performance
Android phones have a love and hate relationship with performance. Most high-end Android phones, when new, are fast, but after a while, they slow down. Also, many - not all - continue to suffer a mysterious animation lag. The smooth scrolling is also a casualty.
Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, however, are different. They come with good hardware and offer a performance that is right up there among the best. More significantly, if 2013's Nexus 5 is any yardstick, these are the phones that are going to maintain its performance even after six months or one year. The fact that Google directly takes care of these phones is also reassuring.
Fantastic camera
For long, Android users have looked at iPhone users with some envy because there is no Android phone that can match the camera in the iPhones. This year, it changes. The Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P come with ridiculously good cameras that click fantastic images in good light. But put them in low light, and they really shine bright. They even match or surpass the mighty iPhone 6S Plus in low light conditions. Now, that solves that biggest gripe that Android fans have with their phones.
Small but important
The Nexus 6P puts "P" in the premium with its stellar design. It is as good-looking and as well-built as an iPhone. If you are someone who loves Android but never found a phone that could look as sexy as an iPhone, the Nexus 6P should solve your problem. Don't like the big and heavy smartphones that have flooded the market? The Nexus 5X delivers on this count too. It is (comparatively) feather light at 136 grams and handy with its compact size. Do you hate your Android phone because it heats up? The Nexus 5X is powerful and cool. Nexus 6P, too, is in the same boat, considering the powerful hardware inside it. Jealous of your friends using the iPhone 6S because it has a fast fingerprint scanner? Don't worry, the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P do better. The fingerprint scanner in these two phones is extremely fast.
Sum of the matter
No, the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P aren't the perfect phones. But they are fairly close to perfection. They have the right mix of hardware and software. They look good. Priced between Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000, they offer value for money. They even offer Android users the kind of camera that you could earlier get only in the iPhones. These are the two phones to rule them all. Until something better comes along in a year or two.