The Nexus 5X is a sub-par phone

I wasn’t sure I wanted to write this review, but now I’m quite certain. In the middle of writing this review I saw something I wanted to take a picture of, and of course – the Nexus 5X choked. I found myself saying “Would you work just ONE TIME!”

I’ve never been so disappointed with any phone I’ve owned before. There is (almost) no reason to upgrade from the Nexus 5 (a decent phone) to the Nexus 5X (a big disappointment).

The lesson: The Google Play Store is no guarantee that you will get a solid phone.

You are better off just going to the store and giving your desired phone a test drive. I think brand means very little these days. I believe I would have been much happier with a Xiaomi, OnePlus, Redmi, or even a Moto X.

There are too many manufacturers making phones that are too under-powered.

Below is the review I started to write for the phone, but these days I just get sick to my stomach thinking about the money I spent on this phone. Maybe these notes will be helpful to someone.

The Good:

• Fingerprint Sensor
• Camera is above average (when it works quickly and doesn’t freeze)
• Good selection of Radio Bands (This phone works on certain carriers in Hong Kong, China, Israel, and Europe).
• Volume / Power buttons are on the same side. I didn’t realize how great this was until I used it. My Nexus 5 had problems at the gym. Whenever I would set it on its side on the treadmill at the gym either the volume would keep getting bumped up or down.
• Latest version of android
• Price If you don’t have an already working phone, it's not bad. But I would recommend Xiaomi, Redmi, OnePlus, or Moto X as a better value.
• The Feel
  • It does have a nice slim feeling in the hand without a case, but you can’t use this device without one. It has the soft finish that really makes it comfortable to hold. But again, you won’t get to feel it when it’s in the case.
  • It’s Plastic instead of Metal

The Bad:

• Battery life is pretty terrible Maybe it's the latest version of Android doing this too? I'm not sure, but I can't make it a full day unless I leave my phone in my pocket all day and never use it.
• Slow to detect new cell networks and WiFi networks
• Slow performance
• SIM Card Tray finicky
• Camera’s low-light performance is very lacking
• Hangouts App performs worse on the 5X than on the 5 (Constantly scrolls to half-way back in the history of a conversation)
• Very weak plastic I have only dropped it one time without a rubber case, and it significantly misshaped the plastic on the corner. It has sustained a few other drops within the semi-rubber case. Even with this, the plastic managed to get scratched through the case.The 5X has the nice soft plastic feel, but it is quite gooey plastic, and not very robust. The 6P had that shiny metal feel, but it bent in about a week through normal pocket-stress In general, this generation of Nexus phones doesn't seem very good.

The Ugly:

• The camera software stalls, and can’t be launched about 5-10% of the time
  • You will have to force-close the app or perhaps restart your phone to fix it. Say goodbye to those awesome photo opportunities!
• Even when the camera does work, I noticed that it loses pictures if you press the power button to sleep the phone too soon after taking a picture.
• IT IS SLOOOOOW sometimes. I really can't believe LG would sell an "updated version" of the Nexus 5 and stick it with the same amount of RAM. 2 GB just isn't enough RAM for a high-performance Android phone.