Google Nexus 6 Review

Google Nexus 6

The Nexus 6 was the first smartphone to run Android 5.0 Lollipop and there's no better way to experience all of the changes Google has made to its OS. It parades the new Material Design interface on a massive 6-inch display, moves seamlessly between apps thanks to the latest Snapdragon processor and 3GB of RAM, and lasts all day with a Qi-chargeable 3,220mAh battery.

The Nexus 6 has a head-turning 5.96-inch AMOLED display that’s not only bigger and brighter than the Moto X, but edges out the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus in every way. That's because it doubles down on Apple's full HD screen with a more stunning 2,560x1,440 resolution and 493 pixels per inch.

There are already members of the ‘Quad HD’ club, including Android members like the LG G3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 4, but Google Nexus 6 stands out from the pack with its exaggerated display.

There's no 6-inch juggernaut like it and its edge-to-edge display and on-screen soft buttons maximise the screen real estate while minimising the overall phone's dimensions.

The Google Nexus 6 also feels better in the hand for its size. Motorola's design, borrowed from the Moto X, gives it a sturdy aluminium metal frame and gently curved back. The curve feels natural against the hand – or, in most cases, hands – and the plastic back is at least smooth. The Nexus 6 colours are limited to either Cloud White or Midnight Blue, but it has the advantage of being compatible with Qi wireless chargers: a feature tricked-out Moto X phones don't support. 

Google's new phone also benefits from dual speakers at the top and bottom and comes with a Turbo Charger that juices up the phone with six additional hours of battery in just 15 minutes.

What’s inside?

At the heart of the Nexus 6 is a 2.7Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 quad-core processor that has an Adreno 420 GPU. It's a top-of-the-line chip for Google's largest Android phone yet. Backing that up is 3GB of RAM and a reasonable 32GB or 64GB of internal storage: no silly 16GB model to cheapen the value.

All of these Nexus 6 specs aren't overkill: they’re important for the lightweight, but feature-filled, Android Lollipop update that's pre-installed on the phone. Android does more things than ever in the background: running multiple apps, receiving notifications that hit the new lockscreen non-stop, making the instantly accessible Google Now available with one swipe to the left, and performing voice searches whenever you say the infamous words, "Okay Google". Around back, there's a 13-megapixel camera that seems to be on par with 13-megapixel Moto X snapper. It isn’t. It has a better Sony IMX214 sensor with a wider f/2.0 aperture and optical image stabilisation.

The Nexus 6’s US release date was 12 November and its pre-orders sold out immediately. The UK release date was very confusing and unclear until very recently. The Nexus 6 was meant to be available for preorder on Google Play during November, but that just hasn’t happened.