Photographic camera

Finally we're getting a Nexus device with a decent camera. The Nexus 5X comes with a 12.3-megapixel Sony Exmor IMX377 CMOS sensor, which is 1/2.3" in size and comes with 1.55 µm pixels. It's paired with an f/2.0 lens, a dual LED flash, and infrared laser-assisted autofocus. The camera captures images at a 4:3 attribute ratio with a resolution of 4000 x 2992 natively.

On the front is a five-megapixel sensor with an f/2.0 lens and 1.4 µm pixels. The front end camera is only capable of 1080p video capture, while the rear can tape 4K, although neither camera comes with optical image stabilization.

While the Nexus 5X doesn't come with OIS, the combination of a broad f/2.0 lens and large 1.55 micron pixels ways that general performance beyond the lath is excellent. Whether you lot're shooting in bright sunlight or indoors and under artificial lighting, the Nexus 5X captures enough light to accurately expose and correspond a scene. The result is images that look excellent in a range of weather.

Like with virtually smartphone cameras, the Nexus 5X is strongest in good lighting. The amount of detail y'all get from a 12.3-megapixel image is practiced enough for viewing on today's displays, and there is a decent corporeality of room for cropping and manipulation. You don't get the same level of clarity equally the 23-megapixel Sony Xperia Z5, but in that location'south substantially no racket or sharpening-related artefacts when viewing photos from the Nexus 5X that are taken outdoors.

Color quality and accuracy of photos is outstanding, especially when taken with the superb HDR+ fashion. Images are true to life and, where appropriate, vibrant, with skilful dynamic range, and splendid colour balance thanks to solid metering.

The HDR+ mode, which is turned on or off automatically in the stock camera app, does take a long time to process images in the background subsequently they're captured (although it doesn't restrict you from taking another photo about immediately). The good news is that the wait is typically worth information technology, as the HDR+ style non only improves dynamic range, but also improves low-light functioning past applying surprisingly skilful, unaggressive dissonance reduction filters.

The Nexus 5X is very capable indoors and in depression calorie-free, easily beating other non-stabilized cameras and often matching those with OIS. This isn't too surprising when you consider the large pixel size of the IMX377, which is very friendly to these conditions. Fifty-fifty with a shaky paw, I got sharp images in pretty poor lighting, which is a testament to how good this hardware is.

Unfortunately, the lack of OIS forces the Nexus 5X to use high ISOs when shooting at night, which introduces noticeable grain. The color quality of nighttime fourth dimension images is still very proficient, as is sharpness and effulgence, just a like shot taken with an OIS-laden smartphone doesn't produce as much grain. A lack of OIS likewise hurts video capture: the Nexus 5X shoots more shaky video than its competitors with OIS, and although 4K quality is good, OIS would make it better.

Is the Nexus 5X's camera as good as the marketplace-leading Samsung Galaxy S6? Probably non, and that'southward both due to a lack of OIS (which does hurt the 5X somewhat in low light), and some processing differences that deliver somewhat undersaturated and underexposed shots from the 5X on cloudy days. Still, the Nexus 5X is nonetheless a very proficient Android camera, and competes well with other top-notch shooters like the iPhone 6s, LG G4 and Xperia Z5.

While the Nexus 5X delivers great image quality, the stock Android camera app is underwhelming, fifty-fifty though it has improved in recent versions. A complete lack of a manual mode is disappointing when the photographic camera hardware is then good, and at that place are essentially no camera modes exterior the nuts (auto, panorama, selfie, and video). Oddly, there's no burst mode, which has been a characteristic of most high-end cameras for a while now, though shutter lag and focus times were typically okay.

Luckily, the camera app interface is well designed, and there aren't many cardinal features that are hidden abroad in menus (although that could be because there aren't many features). I appreciate how the camera defaults to capturing in 4:3, utilizing the full photographic camera sensor, and reviewing recently-captured images is fast and straightforward.

The selfie camera is adequate as far as five-megapixel units go, and with HDR+ mode enabled, low-light functioning is decent enough. The front camera is even so several steps behind the rear photographic camera, though I was pleased at how near of the selfies I took were well exposed and sharp enough to actually see what was going on.