Gadgetory

the Nexus 6 is Google's latest foray into the large form factor market a space that has been more or less dominated by Samsung and finally they can go head-to-head this is the Nexus 6 versus the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 size is the name of the game here as the Nexus 6 brings the Google flagship line into the realm Samsung basically started with the note line the current arguable champion of the large smartphone space the Galaxy Note 4 brings a new metallic frame to hold together the 2.5 D glass front with the removable back cover made of textured plastic Samsung's signature button layout returns with the tactile home button flanked by back and recent apps buttons along with the power button and volume rockers on the sides and the S Pen is nestled in the bottom right slot easily tucked away until you need it the more rigid lines of the Galaxy Note 4 go up against Motorola's curved design language in the Nexus 6 a metallic frame also helps keep a 2.5 D glass front connected to the Nexus 6 backing made of a curved constructed of hard plastic the five point nine six inch screen makes the entire device a bit larger all around as it quite literally covers up the note floor and two fun facing speaker grilles are found centered in the top and bottom bezels size certainly makes a difference with either phone but materials play a pretty big role as well the almost point three-inch increase in the Nexus 6 screen size is also found in its height and width and the note 4 flat sides and the textured backing help keep the grip pretty secure which is contrasted by the Nexus 6 who's backing slips around in the hand not to mention the curved side to make it more difficult to keep an easy grip that you might not already have aesthetically we don't fault either of these phones for their looks Samsung has finally gotten designed right on one of their flagship phones and Google has turned to the steady design hand of Motorola to create one of the most exquisite Nexus devices yet and while the note 4 might eventually feel normal to a user not quite used to large form factors the learning curve might just tend to be a little bit steeper in the Nexus 6 an increase of nearly two tenths of an inch for the Nexus 6 screen over the note 4 pretty much sums up the display differences here as both bring quad HD resolution to the Android fold quad HD is the new weapon in today's spec Wars and while we don't quite feel huge difference from 1080p we also aren't complaining much about the change both of these screens are also constructed of AMOLED technology with Samsung once again employing their tried-and-true Super AMOLED displays to bring the high saturation and contrast you may come to expect from Samsung flagship devices now AMOLED is utilized by the Nexus 6 in similar fashion as its colors have some of that saturation and very comparable sharpness though its main advantage is the activation of certain pixels for the ambient display either screen will bring high fidelity viewing and only at the steepest of angles does the Nexus 6 lose a little of it though the Nexus 6 displays a bit larger the experience of media and gaming is largely the same between the two in a word they're fun it's worth noting that if the high saturation of Samsung's display isn't your thing the color profile can be altered accordingly the Nexus 6 doesn't have the same level of adjustments available but it's AMOLED iteration is certainly not as gross an offender to begin with performance differences on these devices will have less to do about the processing packages and more to do with the software implementations primarily because both sport the Snapdragon 805 with the adrenal 420 and 3 gigabytes of RAM as the highest performer in the current spec race the Snapdragon 805 does well to keep everything performing as well as they should so if you choose samsung's touchwiz it's more bubbly aesthetic and multitasking capabilities will help you get a lot done even sometimes at once but the newest version of Android lollipop has arrived on the Nexus 6 and brings its own flowing transitions and animations pleasing the Android purist I cannot stress enough how the software plays into the experience that you will have as these flagship devices pack the same amount of capable power and it's in hardware that we find some real separation between these two devices with the obvious point being the inclusion of Samsung's S Pen in the note 4 for all of the functionality that TouchWiz already brings the stylus experience greatly adds to the note 4 you can use it like a pen like a mouse to click and drag items and as a means to record just about anything you need when removed the S Pen opens up the air command menu to give you choices use S note for recording nodes in a variety of ways clip out the screen if you need to save it or just write some text down for contextual actions even if you don't use the s-pen normally the click and drag enhancement of the note 4 is one of most compelling reasons to start the Nexus 6 on the other hand keeps things pretty bare-bones providing all of the essentials but nothing too extra namely the lack of a removable battery or expandable storage both features that are found on the note 4 what it does excel in is the sound experience because the dual front-facing speakers simply do a much finer job than the rear-facing speaker of its Samsung competitor but in battery I have a harder time recommending the Nexus 6 because it's screen off power consumption in my experience was simply not as frugal as the note 4 both are certainly capable of going for close to four or five hours and screen on time but I haven't been able to get close to the two full days of general usage on the Nexus 6 that I would hope in camera the biggest story is the improvement in the Nexus 6 camera experience simply put this is the best Nexus camera available but Samsung's latest cameras are among the best in the business we'll start with the Nexus 6 whose 13 megapixel camera now provides better colors very decent detail and it's camera app simplicity makes shooting pretty easy hdr+ is definitely the big performer here doing the job properly in brightening shadows darkening highlights and overall providing the compelling image that it should panorama and photosphere aren't often used features but are available and the 4k video recording tends to yield some great looking large clips the note 4 has the high number of features in its camera you might expect Samsung to throw in hitting the Settings button yields a rather daunting list of toggles HDR is available here as well though it doesn't quite have the profound effect that you might find in the Nexus 6 photos but that's ok because the general photo quality is already quite great higher saturation levels in the processing or sure to please the general user while the large 16 megapixel photos capture plenty of detail and video including 4k benefits from the same coloration low-light situations make the quality taper off but this is pretty much expected optical image stabilization arrives in both of these phones and does help a little bit despite the higher saturation levels of the note for pictures I can see people having a more reliable time with the Samsung camera the Nexus 6 misses the mark a bit more but it can't be emphasized enough how much of an improvement this is for the Nexus line and finally we have the age-old debate of stock Android vs. TouchWiz that we are expecting an update to lollipop on the note 4 we can still make this person because TouchWiz will add so much on top of the stock experience that you can find on the Nexus 6 the second home screen experience returns on both of these phones but it should come as no surprise that Google now is a much better alternative to the highly curated pretty much non customizable fullscreen widget for Flipboard on the note 4 TouchWiz has gone through a number of changes recently bringing a more refined design and better access to multitasking capabilities the recent apps screen is one of the main areas of change where a multi window button has been added to easily create the dual application setup floating windows have also been added to the mix and the ability to seamlessly switch between all of these modes further helps those looking to get many tasks done for example when in an app dragging from a top corner will shrink and down to a floating window which provides buttons to expand it again or create a minimized icon for later use stack these apps or fire up the multi window from here to your heart's content now multitasking is a compelling reason to pick the note 4 as the recent apps screen is still the main way that users perform tasks in stock Android even in lollipop though the recent apps screen has been enhanced to include chrome tabs in its stacked card design the list can get quite enormous and slipping in and out of apps though still quick and easy doesn't hold a candle to using two or more at once with the multi window but what stock Android brings to the table is an overhauled version of Android providing a newly attractive flat design full of easy clues to what features lie underneath the surface the animations and transitions make for a very seamless feel and for the Android purist and this is simply the best that the interface has ever been it ultimately comes down to how many features you're willing to sift through in stock lollipop the recent apps screen might be daunting but so are all of the different ways you can navigate the multitasking abilities of the note 4 if you need to do many things at once the note 4 is the more compelling choice but stock lollipop is one of the smoothest and most beautiful iterations of Android yet what has been a little disconcerting to users wanting the Nexus 6 is how much more expensive it is from previous Nexus releases but when you factor in how much Google and Motorola have packed into this powerful device it does make some sense after all the note 4 is still more expensive at over $700 definitely keeping the premium both of these phones are available under subsidies and payment plans however so the entry points actually aren't too far from one another and so there you have it both of these phones have received our Editors Choice Awards and for good reason either these devices will bring you the best that their respective lines offer when pitting one against the other however the choice isn't quite so simple fundamentally both phones provide power and large form factors capable of making everything underneath run smoothly it's just a matter of how you want to perform your general tasks the note 4 tries very hard to be everything to the user providing multitasking abilities atop a one-of-a-kind stylus experience you can certainly do all of your tasks on the Nexus 6 still but its methods are vastly different just by getting the all-around upgrade that any Android purist will enjoy unless you don't want a big phone you're looking at the two phones that arguably can offer the most for the most people in either case you'll get a powerful highly capable phone that won't disappoint keep it tuned to Android authority for all of the best coverage and on the side there you can see our full reviews for both of these devices if you haven't already make sure you do drop us some likes on our videos as well and subscribe if you haven't already and remember that Android 30.com is your source for all things Android