Nexus 6P Review

Nexus 6P has been expected to appear as one of the most premium smart phones available and it definitely managed to arouse great interest as it was presented during Google Nexus event held in San Francisco in late September. Now that we had some time to review the newcomer, we are ready to share our opinion with you. Great features like a far better camera, brand new Android platform 6.0 Marshmallow, fingerprint sensor, fast charging USB-C port are fantastic selling points for this all-metal Android phone. Let’s look closer and have you judge for yourself.

Design

Google and Huawei created the first Nexus model that appears all-metal, anodized aluminium to be more exact. The design is undoubtedly a step up from the plastic Nexus 5X, and every previous Nexus model.

Its dimensions are 159.4 x 77.8 x 7.3mm, which really is a step forward compared to last year measurements of 159.3 x 83 x 10.1mm. Weight wise it’s an improvement too: 178g now instead of 184g a year ago.

Although it feels comfortable in one hand, yet it still takes two hands to operate it properly. This is, after all, a phone with a 5.7-inch display. 200

The newcomer does have a luxurious look to it. Located on the right side of the frame, the power button has a unique and nice touch-and-feel texture. Volume rocker is right next to it, but there’s a little chance you will mix them up.

You are free to choose between 3 colors 6P is available in: Aluminium (grey), Frost (white) and Graphite (black). Golden version will be available in Japan. Give it the unique style with the great number of cases Google has already made for you.

5.7-inch Display and quad HD resolution

The display is backed with 5.7-inch AMOLED display, which contrasts with the 5.2-inch IPS LCD. Fellows also using it are: Nexus 5X, LG G4 and iPhone 6S. The screen has a 2,560 x 1,440 resolution with a dense 518 pixels per inch. Once you compare with Nexus 6 from last year, you are most likely to consider it brighter and more colorful. Although some might consider it to be slightly intense than true-life.

Fingerprint sensor

Google developers most likely got excited about what their colleagues from Apple had done with iPhone 6S introducing Touch ID in it and created their own Imprint Sensor in 6P. But once you are a follower, you simply got to be very creative about it!

Here is where two key differences come from. Registering a new fingerprint takes just around eight seconds, while competitors' methods require a whole process to go through.

Another one is that the fingerprint sensor is located on the back and is static. The developers claim it to be the natural fingers location, thus very comfortable. Try for yourself!

USB-C connection

Quite unexpectedly, but 6P is built to charging and transferring data via USB-C. Once you are happy with a new purchase you find the tons of micro USB cables you already got to be pretty useless. So you better develop a new habit of being careful with your new connector. Forget or lose it and you are in jeopardy.

But once you get used to this specifics, you are sure to enjoy the benefits – by far faster charging time and guess what - this connector is finally reversible! Such a detail, but it does make our life easier.

The Nexus 6P comes with a USB-C-to-USB cable, so you can still charge and transfer files into a computer with normal USB-A port. 

A pretty flawless camera

You are going to simply love the camera 6P has! The smart phone has a 12.3-megapixel sensor from Sony. You are definite to feel the advantage taking pictures in low light. Google does believe that in this regard 6P will easily outdo Apple iPhone 6S Plus.

The main camera has laser focusing and light-emitting diode flash. As for the frontal camera, it has 8 MP, no autofocus though. But you will be making your videos in 4K, nice!

New platform – Android 6.0 Marshmallow

As we go further we discover that Google and Huawei developers worked not only on the hardware, but also made an effort to present a new Marshmallow platform. To specify the key benefits you are going to feel, we would point out the longer battery life when the device is in the stand-by mode. Also it’s difficult to miss Google Now on Tap feature – simply hold on to home buttons and get educated on whatever you are doing at the moment (whether you are watching something, reading or listening). Imagine you are texting with a friend who talks to you about some unfamiliar movie or new game. Now on Tap will help immediately with a nice piece of information re that subject.

There’s much more to find out about cool features you get with 6.0 Marshmallow, go to the respective news article we have.

Specifications

5.7-inch display and quad HD resolution (2560 x 1440 pixels) can easily compete with such models as Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Moto X Style. The display is protected by the Corning Gorilla Glass 4. Color accuracy is all up to your preferences with “adaptive brightness” feature.

The productivity of the model is allowed by Qualcomm's 64-bit, octa-core processor. Graphic processor - Adreno 430, In Nexus 6P you are getting 3GB of RAM. The hardware is fit for multitasking with a lot of apps without much slowdown.

The developers gave you a choice of internal storage sizes of 32GB, 64GB and 128GB, while Nexus 5X is limited to 16GB and 32GB.

Our definite likes:

• Android Marshmallow platform
• Fast processor
• Sophisticated design

We dislike:

• Great camera, but misses some software tricks
• No wireless charging
• No optical image stabilization

 Then again, you never know before you check this newcomer out for yourself. Worth trying!