Features
Roderick Scott 0

When you think of Google's Nexus devices, you honestly don't think of the best or even great shooters in regards to the camera department.  This time,  we have the Nexus 5X by LG and the 6P by Huawei.  Both are armed w/ the same f/2.0 12.3MP Sony sensor w/ laser auto-focus and dual LED flash.  

We've spent several days living w/ these 2 devices day in and day out.  We got enough info to tell you how well they do or don't work for daily driver and event photos.  Time to see w/ new hardware & software, does the 2015 Nexus smartphones have a camera consumer, developers, and enthusiasts can trust.  



Before we dig in, there are a few differences between the 2 shooters even though their sensors are the same.  The Nexus 6P has a few extras on-board thanks to being powered by the more capable Snapdragon 810 CPU.  With the 6P you got burst mode and you have 2 options for slow-motion video: 120fps & 240fps @720p.  The Nexus 5X only has one slow-motion setting of 120fps. 

*Click on images to see it in full resolution*

Google's new Camera app gets a much-needed redesign while retaining its minimalist layout.  You have the ability to tap-to-focus, swipe to the right to access video, tap on the icons on the top-right corner to enable slow-motion, HDR, & flash.  As an added bonus, you can now open the Camera app on the new Nexus devices from sleep by double pressing the Power button.

On the performance side of things, we get to see a good mesh of Sony's sensors & Google's camera software.  They take standard photos lightning fast as things slow down a bit when using HDR for processing.  The results offer good color reproduction, overexposes at times but still manages to pull in a good amount of detail, and can pull off a slight bokeh effect when taking macro shots.  

BTW, don't look for Manual mode here.  

In good-to-average lighting situations will get you great photos in Auto w/o the need of any filters, enhancements, and such.  The larger micron pixels helps out in a great deal in most low-light environments.  In low-to-no light settings, you do get grain in your shots but as long as you have HDR on, you'll get great photos - all w/o having to utilize the flash.  On to the video side of things, you can get good quality as well.  This applies to both in 1080p and 4K video quality.  Both shooters don't offer OIS but do offer video stabilization.

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Google & Sony team up to make the 2015 Nexus shooters, the best to date.

It took a while, but Google can now offer good-to-great shooters that can contend w/ the competition.  Of course, they still have a bit more to go to truly combat the upper echelon of devices like the iPhones & Galaxy devices.  But at least they are finally moving in the right direction - both on the hardware and software side of things.  It started last year w/ Motorola's Nexus 6 and continues to do so w/ the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P.  
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Author: Roderick Scott

Father. Husband. Creative. Mild foodie. Batman in my dreams.