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Software sells hardware. It might seem odd to begin a review of a smartphone with a saying popularised by Nintendo, but - present company taken into account - we're sure you won't mind. In Nintendo's case, the mantra is based around the unshakable belief that high-quality games will encourage people to rush out to stores and purchase consoles, while with Google's Nexus line of smart devices, it's the software that ships with the handset that proves so appealing, and is surely the main reason why Android purists continue to flock to the brand - despite the fact that it usually lags behind the best phones when it comes to pure specs.The story has arguably never been more true this year. While the Huawei-made Nexus 6P offers more powerful internals and premium build quality, it's also larger and more expensive, and is likely to be ignored in favour of its smaller and wallet-friendly sibling, the Nexus 5X. Produced by LG and marketed as a successor to 2013's popular Nexus 5, this handset is perhaps the ultimate mixture of amazing software and middling hardware; a balancing act the handset pulls off thanks to its mid-range price-point and the fact that pure Android is, as any fan will tell you, worth making some sacrifices for.
The original Nexus 5 made headlines because it offered decent hardware at a price eminently more affordable than the flagships it was up against. If you're a current Nexus 5 owner - and there are plenty of those about - then after two years of ownership you'll no doubt be eyeing up the 5X as a possible replacement.
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