Google announces the LG Nexus 5X and Huawei Nexus 6P; pre-orders start today

SAN FRANCISCO—Google has officially taken the wraps off its new flagship smartphone lineup. In keeping with the current smartphone release trends, Google is announcing two devices today: the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P. The 5X is made by LG, and the 6P is made by Huawei. The Nexus 5X starts at $379, and the 6P starts at $499, and both phones will ship later this month. Pricing for other territories is starting to dribble in—the Nexus 5X and 6P will begin at £339 and £449 respectively in the UK—but we'll update the article with more complete information as it's made available.

The Huawei-built Nexus 6P is the bigger, faster, and more expensive version. It has a 5.7-inch 1440p display, an eight-core 2.0GHz Snapdragon 810, 3GB of RAM, a 3450mAh battery, a 12MP rear camera with laser auto focus, an 8MP front camera, and 32GB, 64GB, or 128GB of storage. The Nexus 6P has an aluminum body that comes in "frost white," aluminum, and graphite.

At only 5.7 inches, the 2015 Nexus 6 won't be as big as the ludicrously large 2014 Nexus 6. Google spent a lot of time praising the Nexus 6P's camera, which apparently emphasizes low-light performance. 

The LG Nexus 5X aims to recapture the spirit of the original LG Nexus 5 from 2013. It has a 5.2-inch 1080p (423ppi) IPS LCD, a six-core 1.8GHz Snapdragon 808, 2GB of RAM, a 2700mAh battery, a 12.3MP rear camera with laser autofocus, a 5MP front camera, and 16GB or 32GB of storage. The Nexus 5X has a plastic body that comes in white, black, and light blue.

Judging by the specs, we're optimistic about the battery life. Compare the 2700mAh battery and the (thankfully restrained) 5.2-inch, 1080p screen to the Galaxy S6, which has a smaller 2550mAh battery and higher-resolution 1440p, 5.2-inch AMOLED screen. We'll have to do some testing though.

Both devices are packing the necessary hardware to take advantage of new features in Android 6.0, Marshmallow. The new OS finally brings fingerprint reader support to stock Android, so both devices have circular readers on the back (Google calls this "Nexus Imprint"). These will be used for the lock screen, Android Pay, and third-party apps. The Nexus 5X and 6P also have USB Type-C on the bottom, which Marshmallow supports with additional charging modes like charging one device with another device.

Google also talked up something called the "Android Sensor Hub," a separate low-power coprocessor that sounds like a combination of Apple's M-series motion coprocessors and the Moto X's always-on listening and active display features.

Despite the manufacturers being LG and Huawei, the fronts of both devices have a distinctly Motorola look to them. Both have front-facing speaker grills on the top and bottom of the device, and these could easily be mistaken for a Nexus 6 or Moto X. The back is where things get different. As the spiritual successor to the Nexus 5, the Nexus 5X has a smooth back that wraps around the sides and looks pretty understated. The Nexus 6P is where things get ugly. Huawei has a big black camera hump on the top of the device that—in pictures, at least—makes it look like a barcode scanner or periscope. We'll have to see how it looks in person, but black definitely seems like the way to go. The top and bottom bezels of both devices look pretty sizable, too, but that's another thing we'll go eyes-on with.

To accompany the new phones, Google has started a new warranty program called Nexus Protect, which provides two years of warranty coverage and accidental damage protection. Nexus Protect costs $69 for the Nexus 5X and $89 for the 6P.

The good news is that after the rather expensive $650 2014 Nexus 6, the Nexus line has returned to offering a decent amount of bang for your buck. We'll have hands-on reports up later today.

We'll continue to update this post as we get new details. Stay tuned to our liveblog in the meantime.

Listing image by Google