The Nexus 6 Review
by Brandon Chester on November 12, 2014 1:00 PM ESTWiFi
With the Nexus 6 we see a WiFi solution that hasn't been seen before in a mobile device, Broadcom's BCM4356. Announced at CES earlier this year, BCM4356 is a 2x2 802.11ac part with Bluetooth 4.1 support allowing for improved co-existence between Bluetooth and LTE. For reference, the Nexus 5 shipped with BCM4339 which is a 1x1 802.11ac part. To test WiFi performance on the Nexus 6 we used Iperf and Apple's AirPort Extreme router to try and achieve maximum performance.
The WiFi performance in the Nexus 6 falls into line for what we expect from a 2x2 802.11ac device. While it's slightly slower than Samsung's Galaxy Note 4, it's still much faster than many other devices that are on the market today, and over 3x faster than the WiFi performance of the Nexus 5.
GNSS
Most devices now use the GNSS solution built into Qualcomm's modem. I was someone who suffered the broken GNSS on the original Galaxy S, and I'm thankful that we've come to a point where every smartphone is now able to competently achieve a quick and accurate GNSS lock. In Airplane mode with no assistance information the Nexus 6 was able to achieve a lock in just under 35 seconds with an additional 5 seconds to bring the accuracy to within 10 feet, although both these times will vary greatly depending on the surrounding environment and weather conditions. With assistance info locks take only a matter of seconds.
Misc
To test NAND performance on the Nexus 6 we attempted to use Androbench and Andebench, but both gave results that could not have been accurate and so we are unfortunately unable to test this aspect of the Nexus 6 at this time. Like the new Moto X, the Nexus 6 has Cypress Semiconductor’s CapSense controller. Given that the Nexus 6 has no capacitive buttons, this is likely performing the same impedance-matching antenna tuning as on the Moto X which uses the same type of antenna design. It also has two TFA9890 speaker amplifiers which allows both speakers to be driven at the same time as stereo speakers.
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mars2k - Friday, November 14, 2014 - link
Wow, old age is setting in. “I don’t like big phones so why would anyone else”. I just got my first phablet Galaxy Note 4, they did a great job on that btw. Larger up to a point is better for me. I travel and my phone is my GPS. Much better on the larger phone. Does anyone remember what it was like to have good paper maps? I could go on about how size really does matter but you get the point.drtunx - Friday, November 14, 2014 - link
Hi Brandon, this was an excellent review. I really enjoyed reading it. The poor display calibration is a huge disappointment especially after the Nexus 5, like you stated. Question: Do you think display calibration can be improved with an OTA ? Its almost a deal breaker for me and would love to know your thoughts on whether there is even a possibility of fixing that like many other software bugs currently present. Thank you.resma - Friday, November 14, 2014 - link
Turning down the screens to 200 nits (with modern screens that is about 1/3 of the maximum brightness) is a huge advantage to LCD displays, since AMOLED uses approx the same amount of energy until the pixels are really off.Please try to compensate for this in your next review, by doing the same test with maximum brightness and adding that chart as well!
Brandon Chester - Saturday, November 15, 2014 - link
Doing the test with maximum brightness would be an unfair comparison of battery life.TheEvilBlight - Monday, November 24, 2014 - link
Max battery life is a use case for in the open under bright light.hrrmph - Friday, November 14, 2014 - link
Nexus and Apple are just so scrawny on storage. I'm ready for 1TB phones and tablets already.polygon_21 - Saturday, November 15, 2014 - link
if apple can have an iphone 6 plus.. i would like to have a nexus 6 minus.. ie.. 4.5-5' devicezodiacfml - Saturday, November 15, 2014 - link
Nah, too expensive. I don't see myself giving up the N5 for this and I have improved its battery life through one app that disables other active apps. It is now a very decent smartphone for me.I just don't like the blacks of the N5 when the display is dim.
My next Nexus would be a slightly larger N5 with an AMOLED full HD display, Curved back/larger battery, stereo speakers, iPhone spec sensors or larger pixels, and h.265 @ 1080p60.
p51d007 - Sunday, November 16, 2014 - link
I'm a power USER, not someone that tinkers with a device. Take it out of the box, plug it in and USE it. Benchmarks don't mean a thing to me, neither do specs, AS LONG as the device is quick & stable. Heck, I kept 4.1.2 on my Note1 because it was flat out stable. Got a Mate2, "saddled" with mid tier specs & OS 4.3JB, but when you optimize a device for the hardware/software, you get a benefit. This thing is flat stable & flies...not from a performance standpoint of benchmarks (I don't use my device to play games, it's a WORK device). No lag (Nova Launcher), apps are quick to load, not one FC or lock up in 6 months. Pay 600 or more for a device...it's your choice, but when I find one that works for 300 bucks? Sign me up every time.RDS - Monday, November 17, 2014 - link
Is this a "One use case for all" debate :) :)Is it a "phone" or is it a Hasselblad with Zeiss Lenses for $5.00. that includes phone capability :)
$649 for an unlocked aka easy to root and manage device is still cheaper than any other vendor's phone unlocked and not quite as easy to root and manage.
There are quite a few very good camera apps for Android out there are the people complaining about camera quality using those or are they complaining about the stock camera app comes with the device. Of course none of these apps are going to convert you phone camera lens into a Nikon or Zeiss or Canon. So what are we really whining about here.
I thought the main value point of the Nexus platform was that you could install whatever you wanted or thought you needed on it.