Nexus 6P vs iPhone 6S Plus- The 6’s of the Fall

This fall there was definitely no shortage of great new arrivals. Almost every major tech company delivered at least one flagship device. Some of them delivered even more. Google released its flagship devices, the Nexus family’s new members: the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P. Apple on the other hand released its iPhone 6S and 6S Plus devices. All of these recently released flagships truly deserve their titles. They have impressive spec sheets combined with eye- catching designs, making a lot of customers happy. Of course, although there are similarities between recently launched smartphones, there are also differences that will cause customers to opt for one or another device. If you want to purchase either the Nexus 6P or the iPhone 6S Plus, and you don’t really know how to decide between them, here is everything you need to know about these two devices in order to make an informed decision.

Huawei Nexus 6P

Google’s Huawei Nexus 6P was probably one of the most expected devices this year. This was due not only to the impressive spec list we were teased with, but mainly because of the new version of Android it comes with. The Nexus 6P is one of the first smartphones that came with Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box. Its little brother, the Nexus 5X also runs on Android Marshmallow, but out of these to, the Nexus 6P is considered to be the flagship device of Google this year. 

The Nexus 6P, manufactured by Huawei, has a 5.7- inch display which is quite big. It has a 71.4% screen- to- body ratio which is better than that of many of the smartphones released this year. The display of the Nexus 6P is a QHD AMOLED display with 518 ppi pixel density. The image delivered by the Nexus 6P is crisp, beautiful and bright. The display of the Nexus 6P is protected by  Corning Gorilla Glass 4 ad oleophobic coating both for durability and the beauty of the display.

The Nexus 6P is powered by an octa- core chipset. Four of the cores are clocked at 1.55 GHz, while the other four cores are clocked at 2.0 GHz. The chipset is combined with Adreno 430 GPU to make the Nexus 6P even better. The 3 GB of RAM added to the 32.64 or 128 GB of internal storage also contribute to transforming the latest Google device in a great flagship. There is no microSD card slot in the Nexus 6P so users should really think about which version of storage they initially purchase since the storage is not extendable. The included fingerprint sensor makes the Nexus 6P more secure, so users will get an excellent smartphone in the Nexus 6P.

The cameras of the Nexus 6P are also impressive. The Nexus 6P comes with a 12 MP back camera with 4608 x 2592 pixels resolution, laser autofocus and dual- LED dual tone flash. The pictures delivered by the Nexus 6P are rich, saturated and overall great. Of course, the Nexus 6P’s cameras also feature geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR and panorama. It can record video at 2160p@30fps. The secondary camera of the Nexus 6P is an 8MP one. This is better than the majority of secondary cameras featured by smartphones nowadays. It can also record 720p@30fps videos.

The 3450 mAh non- removable battery of the Nexus 6P could be better, but it is still decent enough in comparison with that of other similar devices’. Although it is not exactly an impressive size battery, it should take user through the day. Since the pricing of the Nexus 6P starts a lot lower than the one of the iPhone 6S Plus’s this might be a reason why some people will choose the Nexus 6P after all over the iPhone 6S Plus.

• CPU – Quad-core 1.55 GHz Cortex-A53 & Quad-core 2.0 GHz Cortex-A57/Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810
• GPU – Adreno 430
• DISPLAY – Corning Gorilla Glass 4, 5.7 inches,AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, 1440 x 2560 pixels (~518 ppi pixel density)
• MEMORY – 32/64/128 GB, 3 GB RAM, no card slot
• BATTERY – Non-removable Li-Po 3450 mAh battery
• CAMERA –12 MP, 4608 x 2592 pixels, laser autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash;Secondary camera 8 MP, 720p@30fps
• VIDEO – 2160p@30fps
• BODY – 159.3 x 77.8 x 7.3 mm (6.27 x 3.06 x 0.29 in)
• WEIGHT – 178 g (6.28 oz)
• WIRELESS – Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, hotspot

iPhone 6S Plus

The iPhone 6S Plus was revealed only a few days before the Nexus 6P was. It is equally large, with a 5.5- inch display. The screen- to- body ratio of the iPhone 6S Plus is not as high as the Nexus 6P’s is. It is also heavier than the Nexus 6P although their measurements are almost equal. The display of the iPhone 6S Plus is lower resolution, it’s only a full HD display compared to the QHD display of the Nexus 6P. The iPhone 6S Plus’s display on the other hand features 3D Touch which might be an extremely important aspect for a lot of buyers. Apart from Force Touch, the iPhone 6S Plus also offers Touch ID, which is the fingerprint recognition software of Apple. So from this point of view, bot the iPhone 6S Plus and the Nexus 6P are modern, secure smartphones.

The iPhone 6S Plus is considered to be one of the fastest smartphones available at this moment. It is powered by an A9 Apple chipset with dual- core CPU clocked at 1.84 GHz. this is combined with a PowerVR GT7600 hexa- core graphics card that work super fast and smooth. Although the iOS 9 is running on makes the iPhone 6S Plus desirable for some people, the iPhone 6S Plus falls behind the Nexus 6P both in RAM and internal storage. While the Nexus 6P comes with 3 GB of RAM, the iPhone 6S Plus only has 2 GB. PLus, the iPhone also comes in three storage versions, like the Nexus 6P, but it starts from 16 GB. Since the storage is not extendable, the iPhone 6S Plus lacking a microSD card slot, 16 GB might just prove to be insufficient. 

Coming to the camera section customers will notice that both the iPhone 6S Plus and its rival have the same 12 MP camera. Except it’s not the same. The iSight camera of the iPhone 6S Plus is able to perform better in good light conditions. On the other hand, the pictures delivered by the Nexus 6P are sharper. The latter only seems to have a problem with color saturation which in some cases makes it less accurate than the camera of the iPhone 6S Plus. In low- light conditions on the other hand the camera of the Nexus 6P is better, without a doubt. The iPhone 6S Plus’s is able to shoot a larger variety of videos than the Nexus 6P’s primary camera does. On the other hand, the secondary camera of the iPhone 6S Plus is not as good as the one featured by the Nexus 6P. 

The battery of the iPhone 6S Plus is also smaller than the one featured by the Nexus 6P. With only 2750 mAh compared to the 3450 mAh battery of the Nexus 6P, the iPhone will definitely not ensure the same battery life. Besides a bigger battery, the Nexus 6P also has the Doze feature offered by Android Marshmallow that will also expand battery life so it will surely be greater than the one of the iPhone 6S Plus. The iPhone 6S Plus is more expensive than the Nexus 6P. Although it offers a less impressive list of specs than the Nexus 6P, it may still be preferred by some for its design and OS.

• CPU – Dual-core 1.84 GHz Twister/Apple A9
• GPU –PowerVR GT7600 (six-core graphics)
• DISPLAY – Ion-strengthened glass, oleophobic coating, 5.5 inches,LED-backlit IPS LCD, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, 1080 x 1920 pixels (~401 ppi pixel density)
• MEMORY – 16/64/128 GB, 2 GB RAM, no card slot
• BATTERY – Non-removable Li-Po 2750 mAh battery (10.45 Wh)
• CAMERA –12 MP, 4032 x 3024 pixels, phase detection autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash;5 MP, 1080p@30fps, 720p@240fps, face detection, HDR, panorama
• VIDEO – 2160p@30fps, 1080p@60fps,1080p@120fps, 720p@240fps, optical stabilization
• BODY –158.2 x 77.9 x 7.3 mm (6.23 x 3.07 x 0.29 in)
• WEIGHT – 192 g (6.77 oz)
• WIRELESS – Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, hotspot

Conclusion

Overall, the Nexus 6P seems to have a more impressive list of specs. It has a more powerful, octa- core processor, mor memory, more internal storage and all this for a lower price. It also has a better quality display, higher resolution and a bigger secondary camera. The Nexus 6P also has an innovative design, which we can’t really say about the iPhone 6S Plus. Although it’s not at all an ugly smartphone, it looks just like its predecessors, there is no news in that section. Yes, we admit that it does have the 3D Touch feature that the Nexus 6P lacks. And of course, some people might prefer the iOS 9 over Android Marshmallow. But are these features enough to make people pay a lot more for the iPhone 6S Plus in comparison with the Nexus 6P? In the case of Apple fans, it probably is. If you only want a reliable smartphone, it will most likely be the Nexus 6P out of the presented two devices. There is no doubt that both devices are great smartphones with a lot to offer. But if you really take into consideration their specs, the Nexus 6P just seems to be better than the iPhone 6S Plus. Given its more affordable price, it definitely would be the wiser choice for many of us.