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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Craigwhite3 - Wednesday, November 12, 2014 - link
OnePlus is the way to go. Battery life and performance are outstanding.I get more than double the life of my Nexus 5, 30% more than my Galaxy S5 and still comparing to my iPhone 6.
smorebuds - Wednesday, November 12, 2014 - link
FYI there's another preorder session for the OPO in a few days.http://preorder.oneplus.net/
echoe - Wednesday, November 12, 2014 - link
you may want to try an lg g2, i bought one from ebay [$230!] and it's pretty good. :)MonkeyPaw - Wednesday, November 12, 2014 - link
If you can deal with an ecosystem change, the Lumia 1520 is awesome (and should be cheap by now). To give you an idea, today I streamed several hours of Pandora, browsed for a few hours, listed to 3 podcasts, made a few calls, read this entire article, and I sit at 53%.Midwayman - Wednesday, November 12, 2014 - link
What a piece of crap. I can't imagine buying one, let alone at a premium price after this review.dragonsqrrl - Wednesday, November 12, 2014 - link
Android: Biggar is Bettar!!ASEdouardD - Wednesday, November 12, 2014 - link
Very informative review as usual for Anandtech. Really the most definitive you can get.Although just a little advice: you should work on your writing skills. It feels a little schoolworkish sometimes.
danbob999 - Wednesday, November 12, 2014 - link
Worst Nexus release since the Nexus S. Or maybe ever.I still recommend the Nexus 5. The Nexus 6 isn't worth the price premium.
smartthanyou - Wednesday, November 12, 2014 - link
Oh well. I was really interested in the Nexus 6 but the display calibration issue and shorter battery life killed it for me. Maybe if it was $100-150 cheaper I would be tempted but not at its current price.edsib1 - Wednesday, November 12, 2014 - link
I'd still take the G3 over the Nexus 6. Much better to hold in the hand, plus a microSD slot, and a £100 cheaper here in the UK (£400 rather than £500 sim only).