Every year, Google collaborates with a mobile phone manufacturer to produce the standard bearer of its open-source OS Android.
This year, the Silicon Valley company promised to come up with a premium smartphone to bring the ultimate Android experience. Tapped for the job is the respected Chinese phone maker Huawei crafts Android's best flagship yet and proved that it can go beyond manufacturing trusty mid-tier phones, and successfully break into the sub-premium market.
Nexus 6P, a 5'7-inch phablet, embodies the latest in Android's constantly impressive advancements and proves the underrated Chinese brand's capacity to manufacture a device of premium performance and design.
While not on the level of Samsung Galaxy S6 and Apple iPhone 6s in terms of details and specifics, Nexus 6P is feature packed, well-built, highly advanced, and elite on its own right for a winning price of $499 - hundreds of dollars less than comparable devices.
Android Marshmallow
One of the much-awaited inclusions in Nexus 6P is Android's latest OS - Marshmallow, which prides itself for tighter security and privacy settings and provisions for more careful automatic app downloads.
The Now on Tap search feature quickly scans what the user is reading or doing on the phone so a long tap on the home key will instantly up search results related to the user's current task. So if the phone owner is listening to Nicki Minaj, Now on Tap can quickly feed everything about Minaj in a home key press.
Another feature dubbed as Doze puts the phone to rest when the accelerometer senses that the device is not in used.
Marshmallow has also advanced Google Now so voice search is more convenient and accurate. Android Marshmallow visually enhances the display with vertically scrolling app launcher and the bolder font for the time display on the lock screen. The best Google Apps are also readily available in Nexus 6P.
"Nexus comes with the best Google apps pre-installed, so it's ready to use right out of the box. Search, Maps, Chrome, YouTube, Gmail, Drive, and so much more - ready for you to enjoy on your phone. And with Google Play Store you can access your favorite digital entertainment. Choose from millions of apps, books, songs, movies, and more," states the Nexus website.
Design
With a well-contoured and all-aluminum casing, the phone is surprisingly thin, sleek, and comfortable to hold despite its 5'7-inch display.
The front looks elegantly minimal with the side screen flanked on the top and bottom by large speaker grilles and small but detectable bezel to the right and left. The top also houses a front-facing 8-megapixel camera
(Photo : Nexus | YouTube)
The back is largely covered in a sleek metallic design with the largely prominent Nexus mark running vertically and the less visible Huawei logo at the bottom.
The back is largely covered in a sleek metallic design with the largely prominent Nexus mark running vertically and the less visible Huawei logo at the bottom.
On the upper part of the phone is the small and circular fingerprint reader convenient for the index finger to reach when holding the phone.
The phone's back is topped by a striking black band that protrudes slightly from the rear, housing the lens, flash, and an array of antennae. This feature is divisive with some people calling it iconic - and others distracting.
Along the right side is the SIM card slot. On the left lie the volume and power button - easily set apart by distinct textures.
(Photo : Nexus | YouTube)
On the left lie the volume and power button - easily set apart by distinct textures.
The mic jack sits on top - sandwiched by a pair of subtle antenna bands.
Like the upcoming Acer and Lumia phones, Nexus 6P has provisions for USB Type-C - which is expected to be a universal smartphone feature in 2016, Tech Times reported.
Sights and Sound
The 5.7-inch 2560 x 1440 (WQHD) AMOLED display is bright and sharp - some reviews claim that the default color balance is a little saturated - but this can be easily adjusted in the settings.
The front speakers are well-placed and the audio is solid as far as built-in phone speakers go. The phone is perfect for YouTube videos and brief listening sessions.
Loud, clear and naturally sounding, the audio may get muddy at louder volumes. Audio-sensitive music lovers can easily connect a seamless headset. The phone comes with a 90-day free Google Music trial
Shots and Selfies
Not promising the highly-advanced, high-speed, and enhancement-packed shooters of Galaxy S6, Xperia Z5, or iPhone 6s, Nexus 6P comes with an advance, vivid, and snappy camera.
The device is packed with Sony's excellent 12-megapixel camera sensor. In all kinds of lighting, 6P snaps extremely sharp and true to life images - capturing shadows and details.
Capturing images may take longer than usual as the camera's built-in HDR automatically enhances the image - bringing in more light whenever needed.
Double clicking the power button quickly launches the camera. There's an interesting burst mode for taking quick consecutive shots, which can later be converted into animated GIFs.
Power
Phones which multi-task more, need more power to perform, and Nexus makers just know that. Packed with the non-removable 3,450mAh, the phone can survive a day with non-stop usage and multi-tasking. The USB-C chord allows quick charging.
Specifications
The phone's fingerprint scanner is perhaps the quickest available in the market.
The 6P packs 2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor and 3GB of RAM, a snappy partner to the exciting Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
Pricing
Pricing starts at $499 for 32GB storage.