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my Nexus 6 Review

J

jeepik

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 2, 2009
308
149
I usually don't do these reviews, but felt compelled thanks to the amazing device that this is.

let me clear something up, i was never going to keep it, I bought it out of sheer curiosity and to test Lollipop.

I got the 64GB White Nexus 6.

First of all, it is definitely NOT White, its is light grey. It is gorgeous and feels great. Comparing to my iPhone 6 plus, the Nexus 6 is a trully wonderfully experience in the hand.

No matter how much i may love my iPhone 6 plus, in the hand it is utterly horrible. It is slippery, uncomfortable and fragile.

Nexus 6 is bigger then the iPhone 6 plus, but is so much easier to hold, and use one handed. This has everything to do with the design of the back and the "dimple"

Speakers on the front are really great, seemed noticeable louder then the iPhone 6 plus.

The screen was noticeably not as bright as the iPhone screen, even at full brightness, and auto display set to off.

The quick charge feature is sick. I was plaing around with the phone, went to go get coffee and the phone was fully charged in a matter of minutes it seemed.

Camera is not as good in every way as the iPhone 6 plus, but it is not bad. I would say its actually pretty good, just not as good as the iPhone camera. Certainly light years better then the nexus 5 camera.

my biggest gripe here is Lollipop. I got the device thinking that Lollipop was going to be the star of the show here. What i found was it was "flat". I think google needs to pretty it up a bit.

I didn't like the new Gmail app and the way Exchange mail is incorporated into it. Frankly i wish Google would pick an app and just improve on it, generation after generation. Instead, they just dump the app and come up with a totally new app overtime they release a major OS


To recap, the phone is extremely awesome. I would highly recommend it to anyone. The Lollipop OS is not anything amazing, its not bad.

I remember last year when i got the Nexus 5 it was totally the other way around.

the phone was ok, but the Kit Kat on it was excellent. now its flipped.

Also its is so comfortable to hold that even though it is a huge screen it is really easy to one hand it.
 
A

AAPLinc

macrumors 65816
Jul 27, 2012
1,292
2
Hollywood, CA
Is this a Nexus 6 review or a Nexus 6 vs iPhone comparison?

Nonetheless, I appreciate the review. I do find the N6 to bit a bit of an overkill for me, size wize. I'm not too much into phablets as I have a N7, and my iPhone 6. 6" screen on a phone is just too much for me personally. Probably is a great phone, I love the Nexus line of products... and stock Android despite being "flat" as you called it, is nearly the best experience you'll have with Android. Plus the development and support behind the Nexus line is unmatched.
 
L

LIVEFRMNYC

macrumors G3
Oct 27, 2009
8,878
10,987
jeepik said:
The screen was noticeably not as bright as the iPhone screen, even at full brightness, and auto display set to off.
Click to expand...

That's the first thing I noticed about the N6 when comparing it to the Note 4. For a UHD screen, I was expecting it to be more vibrant.

I do love the wideness of screen compared to the Note 4 and iPhone 6+.
 
J

jeepik

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 2, 2009
308
149
LIVEFRMNYC said:
That's the first thing I noticed about the N6 when comparing it to the Note 4. For a UHD screen, I was expecting it to be more vibrant.

I do love the wideness of screen compared to the Note 4 and iPhone 6+.
Click to expand...

Also something i noticed after Marques's review on youtube.

if you turn the brightness all the way down, the whites are pink. not a big deal for me as i never turn it down that low, but something i did notice
 
Cnasty

Cnasty

macrumors 68040
Jul 2, 2008
3,336
2,106
This is very helpful as I have been considering selling my 6+ and going to the nexus 6 as I do miss stock android sometimes.

BUT the battery life and camera on the iPhone would be missed immensely which has kept me from changing.
 
J

jeepik

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 2, 2009
308
149
Cnasty said:
This is very helpful as I have been considering selling my 6+ and going to the nexus 6 as I do miss stock android sometimes.

BUT the battery life and camera on the iPhone would be missed immensely which has kept me from changing.
Click to expand...

i can say that the batter on the 6 plus is better, BUT the quick charge ability is incredible. I mean 15 minutes plugged in and you are back in business, that is incredibly handy. Plus the Nexus has wireless charging as well
 
A

AAPLinc

macrumors 65816
Jul 27, 2012
1,292
2
Hollywood, CA
jeepik said:
i can say that the batter on the 6 plus is better, BUT the quick charge ability is incredible. I mean 15 minutes plugged in and you are back in business, that is incredibly handy. Plus the Nexus has wireless charging as well
Click to expand...

Yeah that quick charge thing has me super interested. I hope Apple integrates something like that into upcoming iPhones, wireless charging I definitely want as I love it on my n7 and only charge that way (saves the port).

Again the n6 is ideal for me, hardware and software wise but the screen size kills it for me. I watched a review on it and it looks like a solid device.
 
Cnasty

Cnasty

macrumors 68040
Jul 2, 2008
3,336
2,106
jeepik said:
i can say that the batter on the 6 plus is better, BUT the quick charge ability is incredible. I mean 15 minutes plugged in and you are back in business, that is incredibly handy. Plus the Nexus has wireless charging as well
Click to expand...

This is true and the quick charge would be nice so maybe its down to only one big negative which is the camera.

I use mine a ton and have a 128GB model so that would be a big change as I really love the video OIS and quality of the 6+ shots of the little one running around.
 
K

kenypowa

macrumors 6502a
Oct 16, 2008
711
79
somewhere
Good review. I think iPhone 6+ and Nexus 6 are the two best phones on the market right now. Can't go wrong with either.
 
Savor

Savor

Suspended
Jun 18, 2010
3,742
918
I have been getting tired of using screens from 4.5-5 inch screens for the last two years and really opening up to go as high as 6 inches. A couple years, 4.7 inches was my max. Now I want bigger. Now there is a difference between wanting a bigger screen and wanting a bigger footprint. If LG can pack a 6 inch screen as small as a OnePlus One, I would be all for it.

As of right now, it seems Nexus 6, Huawei Ascend Mate 2 or 7 fits the bill for my 6-inch screen thirst. Considered the Asus Zenfone 6 or the far cheaper ZTE ZMAX with its 5.7 inch display, but I also need more horsepower. Been wanting to be part of this phablet movement to see all the majors benefits (which has many) over smaller devices. The way I setup my interface is really catered for bigger phones anyway so my awkward stages of it will be quite short. Within a few days, 6 inches will feel normal. Right now, i am at the bigger is better phase. I want to make less mistakes while texting and have longer battery life than what a smaller device at 4.7 to 5.2 would offer.
 
A

AppleRobert

macrumors 603
Nov 12, 2012
5,729
1,133
Two things I did not care for were the screen brightness and the biggest factor being its price. I know the recently announced flagships cost a lot as well but I cannot push myself to move into any of these being an owner of the ip6 plus. Maybe down the road I will pull the trigger on one when prices drop.
 
Savor

Savor

Suspended
Jun 18, 2010
3,742
918
I used to think having stock Android was boring and overrated. And it still is in a way. But after being on Sense 5 and MIUI 5 for quite sometime, I realized having it closer to stock is the way to go. Less RAM. Less bloat. Smoother and responsive. Stable.

I generally did enjoy Sense and MIUI but the former had some quirks that I didn't want from HTC. And MIUI was awesome if you like customization but v5 had RAM issues and more reboots that I can remember. And MIUI 6 didn't solve those issues and brought newer ones like making the touch response worse. I had to turn it off every day just to clear the RAM on MIUI. Custom ROMs are rarely perfect or bug-free.

Stick to Nexus or Android One program with closer to stock for more stable performance. We might miss some cool features from some of the other skins but not for the sake of stability and leaner experience. Hopefully Google can correct some things from Lollipop in Muffin this year.
 
Thunderboltedge

Thunderboltedge

macrumors regular
Nov 12, 2014
143
18
Milan
Savor said:
I used to think having stock Android was boring and overrated. And it still is in a way. But after being on Sense 5 and MIUI 5 for quite sometime, I realized having it closer to stock is the way to go. Less RAM. Less bloat. Smoother and responsive. Stable.

I generally did enjoy Sense and MIUI but the former had some quirks that I didn't want from HTC. And MIUI was awesome if you like customization but v5 had RAM issues and more reboots that I can remember. And MIUI 6 didn't solve those issues and brought newer ones like making the touch response worse. I had to turn it off every day just to clear the RAM on MIUI. Custom ROMs are rarely perfect or bug-free.

Stick to Nexus or Android One program with closer to stock for more stable performance. We might miss some cool features from some of the other skins but not for the sake of stability and leaner experience. Hopefully Google can correct some things from Lollipop in Muffin this year.
Click to expand...

Avoid heavy touchwiz or similar is the way.

As a Nexus owner I confirm is a totally different experience compare to a full packed android.
And honestly I do not use half of the features they always fill in the smartphone, so since I still use to have a mac for the rest, a phone is always a phone
 
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