Review: Google Nexus 6
Big and Beautiful
Pros
- High end hardware
- Very well designed
- Consistent camera experience
Cons
- Gargantuan size
- Not a buttery smooth Nexus experience
- No software benefits for added screen real estate
- Constant awareness of the phone’s presence
Overview
Let’s get this out of the way so we can get down to the nitty gritty: this phone is BIG. Not went to a buffet and you need to loosen your belt big. This is a full year of not doing anything active and you’ve got to buy a whole new wardrobe big. This is people constantly asking you, “Is that a Nexus 6 in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?” big. This is Avengers: Age of Ultron opening weekend big. This is 5 lb chocolate bar big. Ok, I think you get the point. The size of the phone isn’t the only beastly thing about this device. Without getting too geeky on you, it is running top of the line hardware (at the time it was released) as well. That means an extremely pixel dense screen, blazing fast processor and enough RAM and storage capacity to cure your grandmother’s dementia. This is a beast in all senses of the word. The question is: Is this a Goliath just waiting to be slain, or a true warrior that refuses to be outdone.
Daily Use
You use your phone daily, right? If you don’t then you probably shouldn’t be spending this much money on a phone. For me, daily use with the Nexus 6 was the most negative aspect of my experience. That’s a big deal. The phone is so big that I found it nearly impossible to wield with one hand; and there were many times that I desperately needed to (i.e. carrying anything that occupied one hand and getting an important phone call at the same time). Lag was a depressing issue as well. Any tech savvy user can easily fix the problem by rooting and disabling encryption but for the average user, this phone feels like a 6 month od Samsung Galaxy device. The software is slowed down immensely by the encryption and apps stutter open. This is even more of a shame because the new 5.0 Lollipop animations are beautiful.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all bad. For starters, this is the first Nexus device that I felt confident taking pictures of my kids with and didn’t have a sinking feeling in my gut that I just missed that precious moment. The camera isn’t the best but it is leagues above the Nexus 5 and in the top ranks of smartphones for sure. Low light pictures could use improvement and the dual ring flash isn’t much of an improvement over a traditional dual LED flash, but it works well and is consistent.
The Good
The design of the phone is excellent. The materials are premium and feel great, the buttons are firm and have a satisfying click, the phone feels smaller than a phone this large should due to excellent ergonomics and the fit and finish is one of the best in the Android world. The dual front facing speakers are nice to have, even though their quality is nothing to write home about. The midnight blue color is actually much more pleasant and elegant than I expected it to be. The screen is good, though not as brilliant as the Galaxy Note 4 or S6 nor as color accurate as the iPhone Retina display. The camera is good and reliable. Overall, the phone feels like a lot of time and attention was spent on the details (at least from a hardware perspective).
The Bad
The size. Software that is designed to be smooth as butter yet lags due to default encryption. The fact that my Moto X 2014 received certain Android updates before my Nexus 6. Really?! Though the screen is pushing into tablet territory, there is no added benefit to having a larger screen from a software perspective. The time and attention that I felt like I devoted subconsciously to the phone’s whereabouts. I was always painfully aware that it was in my pocket when I sat down, blocking my view when it was docked at my desk and covering the entire side of my head when I had to take a phone call in public. That kind of attention just isn’t demanded by smaller phones and it’s a big freedom to give up.
Recommendation
Buy it
If you are a Nexus devotee that would buy it even if I told you it would drop your IQ 50 points, make you sterile, turn your eyebrows hot pink and leave you stranded and naked in the Sahara. If you don’t like tablets and want a phone big enough to handle tasks meant for a tablet. If you just really, really want to have bragging rights for the biggest device. If Mardi Gras isn’t the first thing that pops into your head when you hear the words rooting and flashing.
Don’t buy it
If you use your phone one-handed. Ever. If you want the smoothest software experience that Google has to offer. If you don’t want to have to think about your phone other than when you’re using it. If you’re looking for the best phone in any of the following categories: Camera, performance, screen quality, sound quality or usability. While the Nexus is great in most of those categories, it is bested by at least one other phone in each of them.