The phone, along with the Nexus 6P, served as launch devices for Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which introduced a refreshed interface, performance improvements, increased Google Now integration, and other new features.

It is a secondary low-power processor whose purpose is to run activity-recognition algorithms by directly monitoring the device's accelerometer, gyroscope, fingerprint reader, and camera sensors, allowing the main CPU to remain inactive until something requires its attention.

The Sensor Hub recognizes when the device has been picked up and will automatically display notifications in a low-power white-on-black text until the screen has been properly activated.

[11][12] The Nexus 5X houses a 12.3 megapixel (1.55 μm pixels) f/2.0 aperture Sony IMX377EQH5 rear camera which is assisted by laser autofocus and dual LED flash.

iFixIt has assessed the Nexus 5X as easy to repair, the only issues being the lack of removable battery and a display fused with the front glass.

[17] The phone originally came with Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which includes "Now On Tap", "Doze" battery saving feature, detailed control of app permissions, and support for Google "Imprint" fingerprint sensor.

The back of the device includes a 12.3 megapixel camera, Google "Imprint" finger print sensor, dual tone flash, and LGE's laser auto focus.

[35] Bootlooped phones may frequently be recovered[36][37] by using an electronics-grade hot air tool to heat the main SOC to solder reflow temperature; implying the issue is a problem with thermal cycling causing the chip's BGA connections to eventually fracture (a problem occurring in several consumer devices including the Xbox 360 and some NVidia GPUs in laptops).