Introduction
Nexus 6 by Motorola marks a shift in market positioning for Google's smartphone lineup. Whereas the duo of LG-made devices that precede it cut back on certain features to stay attractively priced, the Nexus 6 is ready to rub shoulders with the best in the Android realm. It is no longer simply an Android reference phone, but a true Google flagship, both on paper and in person.
Motorola Nexus 6 has a special place in the history of Google's smartphone family. The 6" phablet development took place during Google's ownership of Motorola (the storied manufacturer became a Lenovo company several days ago), so it is as pure in philosophy as it is in terms of OS.
Rumors about a Nexus smartphone by Motorola began to circulate as soon as Google finalized its acquisition of the manufacturer back in 2012. It has been over two years since the deal took place, but, we must admit, it looks like the wait for the handset was well worth it. Motorola Nexus 6 is brimming with the best hardware available for Android today, coupled with a brand new Android version that packs a host of new features.
Key features
- 5.96" QHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) AMOLED display with 493ppi; Corning Gorilla Glass 3
- 2.7GHz quad-core Krait 450 CPU; Adreno 420GPU; Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chipset; 3GB of RAM
- 13MP f/2.0 camera with dual-LED flash; optical image stabilization; HDR+; 4K video capture; 2MP front-facing unit with 1.4 um pixels
- 3,220mAh battery; bundled Motorola Turbo Charger; Qi wireless charging support
- Android 5.0 Lollipop with material design; brand new ART runtime for improved performance and responsiveness
- 32/64GB of built-in memory
- Cat. 6 LTE (300Mbps); Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.1; GPS/GLONASS; microUSB
- Front-facing stereo speakers
- Qi wireless charging support
- Splash-resistant curved body with aluminum chassis
Main disadvantages
- Lack of memory expansion slot
- Video sound is recorded in mono
- Battery is not user-replaceable
- The back cover of the blue version is prone to smudges
- Some might find the device a tad too thick
The device's 13MP camera with optical image stabilization and UHD video capture is a big deal too. It is a welcome sight in an area that has traditionally been overlooked in the Nexus family of devices for a long time.
Android 5.0 Lollipop is undeniably the cherry on top of the hardware cake the device has to offer. The latest OS release, in addition to the brand new material design, packs groundbreaking runtime called ART. The latter makes everything about Android feel smoother and more responsive.
Top-end hardware, a brand new software revision, and flagship-worthy price tag carry heavy expectations. Read on to find out if Nexus 6 meets them. As always, we will kick the review off with unboxing, followed by design and build quality inspection.
Editorial: You may notice that this review is shorter than usual and doesn't include some of our proprietary tests. The reason is it has been prepared and written away from our test labs. Still, we think we've captured the essence of the device in the same precise, informative and detailed way that's become our trademark. Enjoy the good read!
Controls
The earpiece and one of the front-facing stereo speakers reside above the display, tucked under a small grille. The front-facing camera, the ambient light, and the proximity sensor are also in the area.
The mouthpiece and the other stereo speaker can be found below the screen. There is nothing else there.There is nothing but two tiny antenna strips on the left side of the smartphone. The power/lock key and the volume rocker are positioned on the right.The 3.5mm audio jack and the slot for the nano-SIM sit on top of the Nexus 6. The microUSB port is on the bottom.On the back of the device, you will find the 13MP camera and its dual-LED flash. The flash setup is the same as the one found in the Moto X (2014).
Motorola's signature circular dimple and a large Nexus logo are also found on the back. Two tiny microphone pinholes also reside there.
Battery performance
Motorola Nexus 6 is powered by a 3,220mAh non-removable battery. Curiously, one of the phablet's main rivals, Samsung Galaxy Note 4 totes the exact same battery capacity.Nexus 6 is quoted as being capable of offering up to 24 hours of mixed usage, up to 10 hours of video playback, and the same amount of web browsing over an LTE network.
We put the Nexus 6 through our battery test routine and it achieved a combined endurance rating of 70h. This means that you will easily make it through two full days of usage if you opt for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback.
Our proprietary score also includes a standby battery draw test, which is not featured in our battery test scorecard but is calculated in the total endurance rating. Our battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you want to learn more about it.
If you are interested how these results compare to other tested devices, check out our battery life test result table.
There's more to the Nexus 6 battery performance than the mere battery life numbers. It also comes bundled with the superb Motorola Turbo Charger.
Thanks to Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 tech, only in 15 minutes worth of charging, the charger can deliver enough juice for up to 8 hours of mixed usage. The trickery works only when the battery is significantly drained - the charging process slows down as you top it up.
We tested the Motorola Turbo Charger with the Nexus 6. We plugged the device with 9% battery left and checked back in 15 minutes to find it with 30% of juice - an increase of 21%. Depending on your usage pattern, you will probably be able to make it through several extra hours of use on that backup power.
To top things off, Nexus supports Qi wireless charging. It is considerably slower than the Turbo Charger, but much less intrusive.
Connectivity
Motorola Nexus 6 is available in two models that are region specific - XT1103 for the Americas, and XT1100 for the global model. In either case, the phablet covers all bases when it comes to cellular data standards - quad-band GSM/HSDPA, tri-band CDMA (only the Americas model), WCDMA (bands slightly differ in the two models), and LTE connectivity (once again with slightly differing bands).On the local connectivity front, the device offers Bluetooth 4.1 alongside Wi-Fi with a/b/g/n/ac standard compatibility. MicroUSB 2.0 port with USB host is also at hand. Positioning is covered by A-GPS and GLONASS support.
The device allows you to share all sorts of media via NFC by simply touching the device and other compatible devices back-to-back.
Motorola Nexus 6 review: with andriod lolipop 5.0