The Google Nexus 5X smartphone can now be rooted when it is running on the Android N Developer Preview 4 software updates that come with the NPD56N build number. The guide makes use of a custom recovery image and that allows us to install successfully and enable the correct version of the SuperSU application.

REQUIREMENTS

• You must unlock the Google Nexus 5X bootloader before individuals can install a custom recovery on the smartphone.
• You must install a custom recovery image on the Google Nexus 5X smartphone if they are to root it on the Android N Developer Preview 4 that it should be running when people are following this guide.
• You must only follow this guide on the Google Nexus 5X smartphone. Moreover, they should only follow this guide on the Android N NPD56N Developer Preview 4 update; there are no guarantees that this works for any other updates in the future.

BEFORE WE BEGIN

• You should take a few minutes to backup the data that exists on the smartphone before doing things like becoming the root user on the Android operating system. As with most things in technology, things can go wrong and when they do on a mobile device often the easiest way out is by taking a factory reset. When we take a factory reset on Android, we are wiping the data and relying on being able to backup the data to restore it. No backups mean there is no way of restoring the old data, so make sure you get that done before

HOW TO ROOT GOOGLE NEXUS 5X RUNNING ON ANDROID N NPD56N DEVELOPER PREVIEW 4 UPDATES

1. Download the SuperSU 2.71 on the computer and do not unzip the archive.
2. Connect the Google Nexus 5X smartphone into the PC with the USB cable that is used for charging the battery.
3. Copy the SuperSU version 2.71 zip file over to the internal storage SD card folder available on the computer and then unplug from the computer when it is done.
4. Boot the Google Nexus 5X smartphone into the custom recovery by holding down the hardware buttons you would usually hold to get into the stock recovery and since we have installed the custom version over the stock version that is the version that will now boot up.
5. Choose to take the NANDroid Backup from the main recovery menu after it boots up if you have not taken one already.
6. Select the button that says Install and then browse through to the SD card and choose the SuperSU version 2.71 zip file.
7. Follow the on-screen instructions to get that SuperSU 2.71 installed correctly and then select the option for rebooting the system from the main recovery menu when it is done.

In conclusion, that is how to root Google Nexus 5X smartphones when they are running on the Android N NPD56N Developer Preview 4 software updates by using the systemless root version of the SuperSU. Just like with Chainfire’s CF-Auto-Root tool that is out for a significant number of smartphones and tablets, the SuperSU flashed from the custom recovery is also a systemless version. That means people can now access the recovery partition whenever they want to unroot and apply a hard reset to get that done.