Hands-on with the Nexus 5X and 6P: Great build quality for a low price

SAN FRANCISCO—We're live at Google's September 29 event where the company has just announced brand new Nexus devices, the 5X and 6P. Google had a few demo units set up at the event that we got to try out.

The LG-made Nexus 5X is cheap at $379, but it doesn't feel cheap. The hard, matte plastic back doesn't have an ounce of squish to it—the phone feels like a solid brick of plastic. There's no soft touch coating here, just bare polycarbonate. The "Nexus" logo, which usually has been individual letters that are inserted into the case, is now just a shiny logo that has been silkscreened onto the back. The device comes in black, white, and a light blue, but, no matter what color you pick, the front and sides are black.

The biggest criticism you can levy against the Nexus 5X is that the bezels are a little big. The device is significantly taller than the old Nexus 5—you can see a side-by-side in the gallery above. For $379, it's hard to complain. We really have no concerns about the build quality, and the device is attractive enough.

Nexus devices usually have unique designs that look separate from the OEM's normal lineup. And while LG built something that looks different from the rest of LG's lineup, Huawei's Nexus 6P looks a lot like any other metal Huawei phone.

If you'd like to take a jump up in build quality, though, check out the Nexus 6P. The Huawei-built device is super thin and made out of aluminum and glass. But a thin device means there's a bump across the top of the device to make room for the camera. It's not as bad-looking in person as it is in pictures. The best color is still black, but the white and silver versions didn't look awful. The bump is very tiny and smoothly transitions on the back.

Again the bezels on the 6P are pretty big, and compared to the old Motorola Nexus 6, the device has a smaller 5.7-inch screen but manages to be just as tall as the 6-inch Nexus 6. The front-facing speakers aren't an excuse this time, as they were also on the Nexus 6. It looks like it just boils down to Motorola being able to build a more compact device than Huawei. The 6P does win on price, though. It starts at $499, a big step down from the $650 price of the Nexus 6.

The bottom of the Nexus 5X and 6P features a USB Type-C port, which multiple people have assured us supports USB 3.0 transfer speeds. After the USB 2.0 Type C port on the OnePlus Two, we've had to double-check. There is no wireless charging support.

Update: In a Reddit AMA, the Nexus Team is saying the devices only support USB 2.0 transfer speeds. Apparently the reps at the event were misinformed.

Both have a fingerprint reader on the back—or "Nexus Imprint" as Google calls it. We were actually able to enroll a fingerprint at the show. It's the standard set of multiple taps to enroll and then you're off and running. The device will turn on and unlock when you tap the fingerprint sensor on the back, and it's so fast you never even see a lock screen. The device continually learns your fingerprint as you use it, which should result in less and less read errors as you use it.

The Fingerprint reader is surrounded by a ring that makes it really easy to find on the back of the phone. The only downside is that it's on the back, so you can't unlock the phone while it's sitting on a table.

The devices are running near-final versions of Marshmallow, which isn't significantly different from the M developer preview that is out today. It seems like there will be no new surprises on the software side of things.

Both devices are up for preorder today and are due out sometime in October.