All

Both are great bikes on paper. Better fork and arguably brakes on the Trek; slight advantage on the drivetrain with the Fezzari. You'll benefit from more shop support with the Trek and a better (direct to consumer) price on the Fezzari. If it were up to me, I'd go with the Trek, but I don't think you can go wrong either way.

Thanks fort speaking up my man!

I second the vote for the Trek: I am not a fan of Trek but between those two I'd say you have to go with the Fuel EX 5. Shimano's entry level components are so much better than the department store quality of the low end Sram stuff. The 30t ring will be nice for you to break yourself into climbing also. Finally, the ability to take the bike to a shop when you have no tools/experience for working on bikes is huge.

Agree, 30T makes more sense for someone new to MTB, and most people will tell you NX is rubbish, at least the derailleur. The b-tension screw/interface is garbage and ends up all sloppy. Trek I'd say is more widely supported by LBS if you have a problem where Fezzari is online?