Trusted Reviews is supported by its audience. If you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission. Learn more.

Breathe new life into the Nexus 5X and 6P with this camera hack

Cameras on the Google’s Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P are having life breathed back into them thanks to a hack that brings the photography capabilities found in the new Pixel 2 handsets into the venerable Google phones. 

Enterprising developer and senior XDA member Charles_1 created the Google Camera NX mod, which re-purposes the Google Camera 5.1 app intended for the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL to use with the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P.

The mod originally made its debut after the first generation Pixel phones were launched, bringing in support for zero lag shutter function that enables HDR+ photos to be snapped in quick succession.

Now Charles_1 has replicated process to port over Pixel 2 camera capabilities into the Nexus phones. Motion Photos and the ability to carry out portrait re-touching with the aptly named Face Retouching feature crops up in the Camera NX mod, which also works with the first-gen Pixel handsets as well as the older Nexus mobiles.

There are limits to how much from the Google Camera 5.1 app can be taken and made to work with the older Google handsets. For example. the Portrait mode found in the new Pixel phones, which helps create bokeh affects in both portrait and selfie snaps, is reliant on the dual pixel lens found in the cameras of the Pixel 2 handsets.

Nevertheless, the Camera NX mod still gives the Nexus and original Pixel phones a nip and tuck to keep their impressive cameras relatively up-to-date and enable them to continue to produce solid phone photography.

Related: Best smartphones

What features do you use the most in your smartphone camera? Let us know on Twitter or Facebook. 

Why trust our journalism?

Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.

Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.

author icon

Editorial independence

Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.

author icon

Professional conduct

We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.

Trusted Reviews Logo

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the best of Trusted Reviews delivered right to your inbox.

This is a test error message with some extra words