Gadgetory

if your budget for an unlocked Android smartphone is between four and $500 the new Nexus and the new Moto X are both excellent choices but what if you only want to buy one of them i'm michael fisher with pocket now here to help you make the call in Nexus 6p versus Moto X pure edition the second you pick them up you can tell you're dealing with very different animals here with the Nexus is slim angular and cool to the touch with it's all aluminum chassis the Moto X is chubby rounded and rubbery with its soft touch resin finish that might sound like a win for the Nexus but really this is more a question of taste where the nexus comes in three colors and that's about it the Motorola phone gives you options galore with thousands of possible combinations including wood and leather you can even put your name on it if you have the more sentimental type that makes the Moto X easier to bond with than the comparatively sterile Nexus 6p if you're the more pragmatic sort well the Moto X also gets a utility point here for its added expandability the microSD slot built into the SIM tray lets you add more storage on the fly while the Nexus makes you choose right up front how much memory you'll need if you spend a lot of time outdoors you might prefer the Moto X to it screen packs just as many pixels as the Nexus but its LCD technology produces brighter cleaner whites that make for a more readable panel in direct sunlight Motorola's water-repellent nano coating protects the Moto X from spills or splashes and if you go for the silicon back it'll probably stand up to drops a little better as well you're also less likely to drop the Moto X in the first place it's more ergonomic and much less slippery than the nexuses smooth aluminum and Motorola's trademark dimple provides a nice tactile anchor point for a fingertip on the flipside the Nexus P gives you one of those two and its dimple actually does something the fingerprint reader is fast accurate and reliable it makes unlocking the phone or authorizing a payment and absolute breeze on the Moto X you've got to resort to a PIN code the Nexus 6p also uses Gorilla Glass 4 for its display protection which turning says is twice as tough as the Gorilla Glass 3 on the Moto X and the nexus screen features the super saturated colors and pure Raven blacks that we love from AMOLED which makes its display seem the more alive more dramatic of the two these are both Android phones and they're both running an almost pure version of Google's platform so the fundamentals of the experiencer of course similar but the few modifications motorola has made make for a phone that's much easier to get addicted to take moto display which uses proximity and motion sensors to intuit when you want it to activate you just pull it from a pocket or wave a hand over it to see the time and you're waiting notifications this is executed much better than the ambient display on the Nexus 6p which is slower and not as easy to trigger same with the verbal command while you can use the traditional Google prompt to control the Nexus 6p the Moto X offers more customized ability you can choose pretty much any key phrase you want to activate it ok Jarvis and the phone can respond to a wider range of commands what's up hi there the time is 1:10 p.m. you received a notification from periscope at 12:58 p.m. at Josh Denny is the Moto X will automatically detect when you're driving a car and if someone sends you a text it'll dictate their message to you and even allow you to reply by voice if you want the phone to silence itself when it detects you're in certain places you can do that too again the Nexus 6p does some of this in stock marshmallow but in a simpler less capable form speaking of marshmallow our Moto X pure Edition doesn't have it yet which gives the 6p a big opportunity to make up some ground as a Nexus the 6p gets software updates faster than any other Android phone motorola used to enjoy a similar standing when it was owned by Google but that's not the case anymore so if it's prompt updates and long-term support that you value above all else nothing beats a nexus in the camera corner it's a punch for punch slugfest Motorola's camera offers much higher resolution but it's also got significantly smaller pixels the Nexus 6p primary sensor was designed for camcorders and point-and-shoots and it's also got a cool bonus in its laser assisted autofocus the motox has more fun tricks built into its viewfinder like the ability to scan barcodes automatically and the quick launch motion gesture to fire it up in the first place but it's awkward to use with one hand and it gets really laggy when shooting 4k video the nexus viewfinder has a more straightforward interface but it's just as clumsy to use with one hand thanks to the ridiculous location of the settings menu and it lacks features like HDR video when it comes to the photos themselves each camera has its strengths the Moto X shines in terms of sheer resolution if you're taking a photo of a far-off object and you want it to be as sharp as possible when you zoom in the 21 megapixels of the Moto X will help out a lot if you're more of a casual shutter bug you'll have a tougher choice in broad daylight and mixed lighting where these phones produce photos that are very similar in overall quality sometimes the Moto X will produce the preferred shot and sometimes the Nexus P will do a better job each one gets focused quickly and each seems to do a pretty good job of cancelling out the kind of hand Wiggles that come from holding two phones at the same time where these phones start to show a bit of difference is in high dynamic range mode the Nexus 6p is more subtle with its HDR effect well the Moto X really goes the extra mile and trying to lighten up the shadows sometimes that results in some cartoonish color mixing but more often than not it's a welcomed brightness boost the Moto X completely loses the competition in low-light where it's higher resolution does it no favors instead it's smaller pixel size handicap set even when using its dedicated night mode the Nexus 6p consistently produces brighter more discernable photos sometimes the Nexus can get a passable shot where the Moto X can't even capture enough light to get focused properly selfies are about the same the Nexus has a higher resolution front-facing camera but the Moto X has a front-facing flash much of what's true for stills usually holds up in video while each phone produces nice 4k footage the Nexus brings more saturation and contrast for a more dramatic if not necessarily more accurate scene that's especially true in the case of cooler colors if there's anything blue in the shot the Nexus is bound to really punch it up while the Moto will tone it down meanwhile the Moto X continues to stand out with digital stabilization and look at this these 4k videos were taken with the phones in the same hand being exposed to the same footsteps the Moto X does a much better job of keeping the frame steady combined with the ability to shoot HDR video absent on the Nexus this smoothness goes a long way toward making up for the Moto X is somewhat debtor colors whether you agree will depend on your own smartphone camera priorities if you're an action junkie who needs excellent stabilization and usually shoots in daylight you'll probably favor the Moto X if you want more color and much better night shots the Nexus is by far the better choice the fact that these phones are running different Android versions makes a pretty big difference in their day-to-day performance the Nexus is tighter crisper and cleaner at almost every turn which is most prominent in the keyboard responsiveness the Moto X isn't laggy necessarily considered a loan it's just fine but next to the Nexus it seems slower that doesn't usually translate to games or multitasking performance where the Moto X keeps pace despite its less powerful snapdragon 808 processor interestingly the Moto X tends to run hot a lot of the time while the Nexus usually keeps its cool despite its metal frame and a much chastised snapdragon 810 processor the Nexus doesn't do quite as well acoustically phone calls on the Motorola phone are more comfortable because of the rounded edges and audio quality is warmer and richer on the Moto X to a quality that holds true even when you transfer audio to the external speakers the Nexus does pull off a definitive win in endurance it's battery is 15 percent larger than the pure editions and that combined with the power saving features of marshmallow mean that it usually lasts a full day of heavy use while the Moto X will probably need a late afternoon top-up if you're planning to go out at night after a full day that's not too big a deal if you're surrounded by power outlets the Moto X charges significantly faster than the Nexus and it's older USB port means you don't need to worry about getting a special type C cable if you need to buy one but no one wants to charge if they don't have to so the Nexus wins this round we say this pretty often but it's especially true in this case get either of these phones and you're getting one of the best Android devices around at a very competitive price point to boot the Nexus is more expensive but it's also bringing features like a fingerprint scanner a better low-light camera and the fastest Android updates available if those are the things that matter more to you that extra hundred bucks is well worth it if instead you care more about customizability expandability and a smarter feature set and you get with plain stock Android then the Moto X pure Edition is the better choice for you personally that's the one I'd go for because I've gotten used to the Moto software suite I tend to like a more rugged handheld and I really like building a totally customized phone but that's me which one would you choose let us know in the comments below and don't forget that we've got a lot more on each of these phones in our full reviews both here on YouTube and at pocketnow.com those links are in the description and follow us on the social Spock it now is PocketNow and I am at captain 2 phones above all folks thanks for watching we'll see you next time