Hands on: Google Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X

Google got game — and the big G is ready to rumble.

Following the power player brands in the phone industry, Samsung and Apple — both of which stepped to the line with hot new phones in recent weeks — the newly minted subsidiary of Alphabet has itself released a big phone, the Huawei-made Nexus 6P, not to mention a smaller, cheaper model, the LG-made Nexus 5X.

The two phones represent a return to form for Google’s Nexus line, which was trimmed down to one expensive, giant phone last year, the Nexus 6. I spent some time with the new devices at an unveiling event in San Francisco Tuesday, and they seem like a definite step up in build quality and value.

Nexus 5X: The best deal

I have to admit it: I really adored the Nexus 5. It had plenty of problems, sure, but it was a smart, solid phone sized perfectly — and available at an unbeatable $350 price. Google didn’t release a successor last year, sadly, but the Nexus 5X is here and hasn’t lost a step.

The Nexus 5X has a distinctly plastic feel and is as light as a feather, but after handling enough disappointing metal-and-glass phones this year to make a stock-clerk’s eyes roll in his head, this didn’t bother me. Who made the rule that plastic sucks? The 5X looks great, feels comfortable, and you don’t have to worry about scuffing it or smudging it up with fingerprints like the expensive glass-and-metal competition.

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I’ll talk about it shortly, but the placement of the new fingerprint sensor is comfortable, and the test photos I took on the 12-megapixel rear camera looked a lot nicer than those from older Nexus phones. A solid 5-megapixel shooter adorns the front.

The Nexus 5X doesn’t have as many pixels as the 6P, but it sports a 5.2-inch, 1,920 × 1,080 pixel screen, 2GB of RAM, a speedy Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor (the same chip as in the LG G4), and a USB Type C port for faster charging, and it runs the new Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system out of the box. If you’re curious, we’ve listed all of the tech specs here, too.

At $430 for 32GB, the Nexus 6X is a good deal. I don’t recommend you purchase the $380 16GB version (you’ll run out of space), but it is cheaper.

Nexus 6P: A big phone that feels comfy

I’ve never been a big proponent of massive phones (phablets) that require two hands to operate, but everyone has their own style; the success of the Galaxy Note and iPhone Plus series has proven that there are two good answers when it comes to phone sizes. Succeeding the massive and overpriced Nexus 6, the Nexus 6P has a lean $500 price and a 5.7-inch screen. But somehow it feels smaller. Thanks to thin bezels on the sides and a thin profile, the 6P felt very holdable in one hand, and comfy.

Size aside, the AMOLED screen is the star here. The 6P has a ludicrously vivid and detailed display, and at 2,560 × 1,440 pixels, it’s one of the densest AMOLED screens we’ve seen. Android looked gorgeous running on it. Almost every phone’s screen looks pretty enough this year, but you can pencil the Nexus 6P at the head of the pack.

The “aeronautical grade” aluminum body is also a plus, though it felt a lot like plastic to me. That’s not to say it felt cheap, but only drop tests will tell if aeronautical grading helps when it matters.

Under the hood, the 6P also runs the newest revision of the 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, meaning it shouldn’t overheat like it did in phones earlier this year (see: HTC One M9). Like the 5X, this phone ran buttery smooth in all of our tests, also thanks to its 3GB of RAM. The Snapdragon 810 is this year’s top of the line processor, so you can expect a phone that will hold up. Charging won’t be an issue either thanks to a fast new USB Type C port.

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Though it doesn’t have the optical image stabilization you’ll find in the iPhone 6S Plus, the Nexus 6P’s 12.3-megapixel rear camera looks like a winner. In a few indoor test shots, it also looks like a big step up from older Nexus phones. And if you mostly like selfies, the front camera is 8 full megapixels — higher than the 5-megapixel average this year. You can read a few more tech specs here.

The Nexus 6P starts at $499 for 32GB. That price, and its specs and comfort, have me wondering if I should go big. If the Nexus 6P is as good as it appears, it may be the best Android phone of 2015.

Nexus Imprint

No, the Nexus phones don’t imprint on you like a duck when you open the box, but they do both have fingerprint sensors, and they look just like those in iPhones. The difference is placement. Google stuck the sensor on the back of the phone, which means you’ll use your index finger to unlock it. This placement is much more natural than where Apple and Samsung stick their fingerprint sensors, and I enjoyed its placement as much as Sony’s awesome new sensor on the new Xperias.

I couldn’t try it on my own finger, but I did see it demoed on a live unit. It worked about as fast as the peppy sensor in the iPhone, but here’s the cool part: You don’t have to press any buttons to unlock your phone. Even the iPhone requires you to press the Home button before you unlock the phone with your finger. Thanks to the new motion processor in the Nexus phones, you can unlock and turn on the screen by taping your finger on the sensor. It looked very natural.

The new fingerprint sensor will work with Android Pay, but there were no demos of this functionality yet.

Android Marshmallow’s fluffy new features

Android Marshmallow has a couple promising new features. My favorite was Now on Tap.

No matter what app you’re using, just hold down on the Home button and a Google window will pop up from the bottom of the screen. It should show whatever you’re looking at, and give you more options. So if you’re hunting for a hotel, it should give you links to call or see more about the hotel, as well as a list of other apps that could help you search. Click on another app, Yelp for instance, and it will deep-link into the hotel’s page inside that app.

Now on Tap could save a lot of time, especially if you are looking up directions. I can’t remember how many times I’ve tried to copy and paste addresses between different apps — it’s a nightmare. If Now on Tap can save you a few seconds of copying and pasting, it has more than proved its worth.

You can read about other Marshmallow features here, but I’d also like to point out a way Android is safer. Google now lets you remove permissions for apps. So if a game like Angry Birds says it “needs” to use your camera to operate, you can deny it. Hopefully this will lead to more transparency from app makers, who have been sucking our battery life and getting too cozy with our private information for too many years.

Conclusion

What an exciting year for Nexus devices! The Nexus 5X and 6P are both top of the line devices in terms of tech specs, each has a few fantastic new features, not to mention a drop in price that should make other phone makers envious. With these phones, Google has proven that you shouldn’t have to pay $750 (or $850! Or $950!) for a top of the line smartphone.

There are big benefits that come with Nexus phones, too. Security and software updates come directly from Google, which makes them some of the only Android phones that ever get critical updates. And these new phones should be compatible with all four major carriers in the U.S. — AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon — and many others around the world.

We’ll have a final verdict after we use the finished phones, but so far, Google’s made all the right moves with the Nexus 6P and Nexus 6X. We’re thrilled by what we’ve seen.

You can pre-order the new Nexus phones already; devices will start shipping later this fall.