[rwp-review id=”0″]
When the rumor mills started hinting about the double Nexus product line, many were skeptical. Why now? Are we ready to buy two Nexus phones at a time? Why are you messing with the hype of one device, Google?
For me, as a Nexus lover, I wanted to believe that I could have the option to live with for a period of time, and then I could turn to the other non-Nexus devices and gadgets that I have. To be frank, the Huawei brand did not immediately catch my attention or interest, nor did I expect a lot from the device – but, Lord forgive me; I was wrong!
The rumours, teasers, and the wait for the Nexus 6P to arrive had us loyal Nexus users really hyped for it. When it finally did, the square box made a great first impression; I felt that this is going to be different than all Nexus devices that have come before it.
Design
The phone’s design, to me, is flawless. The aluminum back is high quality, giving the phone a sturdy and premium look. It truly feels elegant, light, and great in the palm. At the top where the camera is housed is a black glass panel that feels like an odd design at first, but grows on you and gives the phone a hint of chic. Button placement is exactly where the buttons need to be; I did not fiddle with the phone trying to lower the volume or turn the device on. The variation between the volume buttons and the power button is more than welcomed, especially when pressing the buttons while not looking at the phone.
The front stereo speakers is the best feature that has been inherited from the Nexus 6. Despite the fact that the Nexus 6 produced deeper bass and clearer sound on loud volume, the speakers on the 6P performed well, and they’re quite loud, too.
Having used the Nexus 6, the 6P is definitely smaller, but this is compensated with an upgrade in the overall built and design. As mentioned, the grip of the phone and the feeling in hand is much better than the Nexus 6. The 5.7″ screen truly shines (almost literally). The colors on this screen are deep without being excessive; Huawei nailed the color saturation.
| BODY | Dimensions | 159.3 x 77.8 x 7.3 mm (6.27 x 3.06 x 0.29 in) |
| Weight | 178 g (6.28 oz) | |
| SIM | Nano-SIM | |
| DISPLAY | Type | AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
| Size | 5.7 inches (~71.4% screen-to-body ratio) | |
| Resolution | 1440 x 2560 pixels (~518 ppi pixel density) | |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 4, oleophobic coating | |
| PLATFORM | OS | Android OS, v6.0 (Marshmallow) |
| Chipset | Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810 Gen 2 | |
| CPU | Quad-core 1.55 GHz Cortex-A53 & Quad-core 2.0 GHz Cortex-A57 | |
| GPU | Adreno 430 | |
| MEMORY | Card slot | No (well, it’s a nexus) |
| Internal | 32/64/128 GB, 3 GB RAM | |
| CAMERA | Primary | 12.3 MP, 4608 x 2592 pixels, laser autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash |
| Features | 1.55µm pixel size, geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR, panorama | |
| Video | 2160p@30fps, 720p@240fps | |
| Secondary | 8 MP, 1080p@30fps | |
| LOUDSPEAKERS | Very loud | amazing front stereo speakers |
| COMMS | WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | v4.2, A2DP, LE | |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS | |
| NFC | Yes, Android pay <3 | |
| USB | v2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector | |
| MISC | Sensors | Fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer |
| – Fast charging | ||
| – Active noise cancellation with dedicated mics |
Performance
The phone is powered by the Snapdragon 810, and I did not experience any heating issues. The phone’s performance is a beast, especially with Marshmallow at the back-end. The battery is not impacted either — with Doze on Marshmallow, the phone can easily sit with me the whole day. The fingerprint reader is blazing fast, although I am not very fond of it being on the back; it’s not usable when the phone is laid on its back on the table, for example.
Camera
As for the the 6P’s camera capabilities, I will let them speak for themselves.
Verdict
Google got it right with this Nexus phone. It’s definitely the neatest Android-powered phone you can buy. Although the LG G4, V10 and the Samsung Galaxy series are superb in their own right, they’re not the Nexus. This is the vanilla Android experience that you have been waiting for.
And for the love of everything, don’t put a cover on the phone. It’s beautiful inside and out, so show it off and be proud of it.
