Google Nexus 6

[cerebus]

Right, I've got a number of Nexus 6 reviews to go over... Great day ahead

And lots of Lollipop reviews. Check out the Arstechnica ones.

 

[Maverick Jester]

And lots of Lollipop reviews. Check out the Arstechnica ones.

Actually reading that right now...

 

[DarkImpact]

So I looked at both the Nexus 6 and Note 4 reviews on GSMarena and it seems the Note 4's battery performance is a great deal better but the performance of synthetic benchmarks favours the Nexus 6. Both have similar specs and the only difference is Android 5 vs 4.4.4. So I get that might explain the performance of the 6 over the Note but I thought Project Volta would help with battery life but in this case it doesn't seem to have worked out that way. Also thought that TouchWiz would be more power hungry than stock android?

 

[Maverick Jester]

So I looked at both the Nexus 6 and Note 4 reviews on GSMarena and it seems the Note 4's battery performance is a great deal better but the performance of synthetic benchmarks favours the Nexus 6. Both have similar specs and the only difference is Android 5 vs 4.4.4. So I get that might explain the performance of the 6 over the Note but I thought Project Volta would help with battery life but in this case it doesn't seem to have worked out that way. Also thought that TouchWiz would be more power hungry than stock android?

The Nexus has also just been released, on brand new software. Android 4.4.4 is very well known and for the most part, optimised quite well. Remember, KitKat also had some ugly battery bugs when it first launched.

While not ideal, I'll await an update to Lollipop and see from there.

 

[DarkImpact]

The Nexus has also just been released, on brand new software. Android 4.4.4 is very well known and for the most part, optimised quite well. Remember, KitKat also had some ugly battery bugs when it first launched.

While not ideal, I'll await an update to Lollipop and see from there.

Yes that's true. Guess I'll wait and see how 5.0 behaves on the Note 4. What do you make of the slow sequential write speeds as noted on Arstechnica?

 

[JimboBob]

Hmm, the reviews are not selling the phone...

That purrrdy white N5 is looking nice...

 

[Maverick Jester]

Yes that's true. Guess I'll wait and see how 5.0 behaves on the Note 4. What do you make of the slow sequential write speeds as noted on Arstechnica?

It's very odd when Motorola have been doing really well on storage write speeds since the 2013 Moto X. I've only seen Ars mention it, I'd like to see if Anandtech corroborates that.

So far, I've read the Droid Life review, Arstechnica review, Android Central review, The Verge's review, and am busy with the Android Police review. Still have the Phone Arena review, GSMArena review and Anandtech review to read.

Hmm, the reviews are not selling the phone...

That purrrdy white N5 is looking nice...

Actually, I've found it to be the opposite. But I suppose it depends on what you're looking for. The reviews for Lollipop, though, are all very positive.

 

[cerebus]

Actually, I've found it to be the opposite. But I suppose it depends on what you're looking for. The reviews for Lollipop, though, are all very positive.

Verge was somewhere in the middle. Gizmodo was completely enthusiastic. Anandtech was quite lukewarm. Ars is also in the middle. Ars and Anand couldn't see the point of going to 6", which has been my main issue - and Android doesn't really do much to justify or mitigate that extra screen size either. The camera is actually a highlight of the device. Overall though for me it's a big missed opportunity and if I'm going for something Nexus-like, there are better Motorola devices out there. Actually still think the G3 is about the best phone going right now outside of iOS-world.

 

[JimboBob]

Actually, I've found it to be the opposite. But I suppose it depends on what you're looking for. The reviews for Lollipop, though, are all very positive.

I don't know, the screen calibration, write speed, size, price.
OR
Save R3k and get a N5 which still performs pretty well.

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot going for the N6 but I expected more. I would absolutely love to physically see one because I think that would be the deciding factor.

 

[JimboBob]

Verge was somewhere in the middle. Gizmodo was completely enthusiastic. Anandtech was quite lukewarm. Ars is also in the middle. Ars and Anand couldn't see the point of going to 6", which has been my main issue - and Android doesn't really do much to justify or mitigate that extra screen size either. The camera is actually a highlight of the device. Overall though for me it's a big missed opportunity and if I'm going for something Nexus-like, there are better Motorola devices out there. Actually still think the G3 is about the best phone going right now outside of iOS-world.

Imagine a G3 GE, would buy it in a heartbeat.

 

[JimboBob]

Must also add that reviews can only go so far to entice you and like cerebus said, the reviews make the device sound average. That's how I read them.

That's why I think it's more worthwhile to actually hold the device, I believe it'll take a couple of minutes of playing with the device to decide if you'll buy it. Compare this with 1 or 2 hours of reading reviews.

 

[Maverick Jester]

Verge was somewhere in the middle. Gizmodo was completely enthusiastic. Anandtech was quite lukewarm. Ars is also in the middle. Ars and Anand couldn't see the point of going to 6", which has been my main issue - and Android doesn't really do much to justify or mitigate that extra screen size either. The camera is actually a highlight of the device. Overall though for me it's a big missed opportunity and if I'm going for something Nexus-like, there are better Motorola devices out there. Actually still think the G3 is about the best phone going right now outside of iOS-world.

Yep, all of the reviews have lamented the fact that despite the size, they've done nothing to innovate on it on a software level. But for the most part, none of the reviews I've read have been negative, not in the way the Nexus 9 was criticised. Seems that the Nexus 6 is a very good phablet phone.

I don't know, the screen calibration, write speed, size, price.
OR
Save R3k and get a N5 which still performs pretty well.

I won't lie, I've thought the exact same thing. I loved the N5. However, I haven't seen other places do a NAND test, oddly enough that includes Anandtech. I would have liked to see one, especially in light of Arstechnica's findings.

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot going for the N6 but I expected more. I would absolutely love to physically see one because I think that would be the deciding factor.

To be honest- it delivered everything that I expected of it. I'm suitably happy with the feedback, though I would prefer a better-calibrated screen. Hopefully, the more common issues can be sorted out with updates to Lollipop.

 

[Maverick Jester]

Must also add that reviews can only go so far to entice you and like cerebus said, the reviews make the device sound average. That's how I read them.

Fair enough. I read them quite differently, but that could be attributed to selection bias. Or perhaps anecdotal, considering that many reviews rated the Nexus 5 as decidedly average across a number of areas when the real-life experience was quite a bit different (and better) during my usage.

 

[Connor13]

Well I've taken the plunge , my wife's brother is in the USA for the next 6 weeks and he will be bringing it back to SA for me along with some covers and screen protectors as I know im not going to get anything for it here. It was between this and the Note 4 and iv just decided that I'll try something different for a change.

 

[cerebus]

Yep, all of the reviews have lamented the fact that despite the size, they've done nothing to innovate on it on a software level. But for the most part, none of the reviews I've read have been negative, not in the way the Nexus 9 was criticised. Seems that the Nexus 6 is a very good phablet phone.

Well, it has two very serious issues right now and if they aren't addressed in software updates, it does make it quite a poor device. The first is the speed issue - at least three reviews I read complained about it, and the Ars one is damning; they show it being slower than the N5 in benchmarks. The second is the screen calibration - I can't put up with skewed Amoled colours for very long. Samsung have done a lot to correct that in their phones and good whites are crucial for reading on. You just can't buy a $650 phone with those problems.

 

[JimboBob]

I see news that Google guys are already discussing Android 5.1 Could this be the saviour?!?!

 

[Maverick Jester]

Well, it has two very serious issues right now and if they aren't addressed in software updates, it does make it quite a poor device. The first is the speed issue - at least three reviews I read complained about it, and the Ars one is damning; they show it being slower than the N5 in benchmarks. The second is the screen calibration - I can't put up with skewed Amoled colours for very long. Samsung have done a lot to correct that in their phones and good whites are crucial for reading on. You just can't buy a $650 phone with those problems.

Other sites had it benchmarking far ahead of other devices, though. So I'm willing to put it down to variations in software levels between the review devices.

On the calibration- from what I've read, it's more a case of oversaturation (which is still an issue with all AMOLEDs). The white points seems pretty decent (from the reviews I've read, and even on Anandtech). Have a look at the Droid Life review, their side by side comparisons do give a nice idea on how it looks relative to competitors. And just like with the S4, software should be able to fix the issue.

The only concern may be the low highest brightness settings, but I think that reflectivity is a greater concern. I had both the N4 and N5, and the N5 was far better outdoors than the N4 despite the lower brightness settings. Hell, the G2 smashes the N5 of out the water in that regard, and it was rated slightly lower than the N5 by Anandtech. So I guess the only way to really ascertain the impact of the findings is to see the screen head on.

Objectively- the screen is OK, not great. Subjectively, though, most of the reviewers are quite chuffed with it.

 

[hawker]

MKBHD's review of it was rather positive. I trust him and would be inclined to buy one now despite the negative Anand tech review.

 

[Maverick Jester]

MKBHD's review of it was rather positive. I trust him and would be inclined to buy one now despite the negative Anand tech review.

Same here. From the many reviews I've read, the overall view is a positive one. Droid Life's review basically summed it up for me: it's the best Nexus device yet.

I am disappointed in the poor calibration (and previous gen tech) of the screen, and the storage concerns that Arstechnica raised would be important to have investigated. But for the use cases I envisage for such a device in my personal capacity, only the latter would prove to be a problem.

I've kind of moved past perfect calibration, but that's because I'd rather see that on my monitor. Saying that, Google improved the calibration of the Nexus 4 quite substantially via OTAs.

 

[hawker]

Same here. From the many reviews I've read, the overall view is a positive one. Droid Life's review basically summed it up for me: it's the best Nexus device yet.

I am disappointed in the poor calibration (and previous gen tech) of the screen, and the storage concerns that Arstechnica raised would be important to have investigated. But for the use cases I envisage for such a device in my personal capacity, only the latter would prove to be a problem.

I've kind of moved past perfect calibration, but that's because I'd rather see that on my monitor. Saying that, Google improved the calibration of the Nexus 4 quite substantially via OTAs.

Yep, I'm not to fussed about the calibration either. Also MKBHD says that the screen brightness is fine even for viewing in sunlight so long as there is no glare. I hardly use my phone outside anyway so overall I'd still be keen to get one.