Google’s Nexus line has been through many
guises during the past several years with the likes of HTC, Samsung and
finally LG and Motorola undertaking OEM duties for the Big G. But
perhaps the two most notable handsets of all were the Nexus 4 and the
Nexus 5 –– both were hugely disruptive devices and both really did put
the Nexus brand on the map.
A lot of people thought LG were on track to do a hat trick and secure a commission to build the Nexus 6.
But –– for whatever reasons, and there are a few, as you can see in the
paragraph below –– this didn’t happen. Instead, it was Motorola who was
tasked with the privilege of building 2014’s Nexus 6. And 2014’s Nexus
is a very different beast to 2012 and 2013’s Nexus having a higher price
tag, improved specs across the board and a brand new gargantuan chassis
for its massive 6in QHD display.
Evan Blass, in his column for KYM,
believes the Nexus 6 we now know and love started life out as another
handset entirely – the Moto S. The story goes that, after something of a
crisis within Google, one featuring LG, Project Silver and the public
reaction to Google killing off its Nexus programme, the decision was
eventually made to pass the baton to Moto. And the rest, as they say, is
history.
And that was just fine by us. Moto has been pumping out fine hardware
for the past year or so, and the Nexus 6 is no exception. If the above
scenario is true, then the Nexus 6 is basically just a bigger version of
the Moto X with similar specs, hardware and performance. But is this
the case? Lets examine both handsets in order to find out.
Here’s how the Moto X (2014) and Nexus 6 compare on paper.
| Device |
Motorola Moto X (2014) |
Motorola Nexus 6 |
| Dimensions |
140.8 x 72.4 x 10mm, 144g |
159.3 x 83 x 10.1mm , 184g |
| Display |
5.2in AMOLED, 1920 x 1080 pixels, 424ppi |
5.96in AMOLED, 1440 x 2560 pixels, 493ppi |
| Camera |
13-megapixel, dual-LED flash, 2160p video |
13-megapixel, dual-LED flash, 2160p video |
| Storage |
16GB, 32GB |
32GB, 64GB |
| Processor, RAM, Graphics |
2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core Krait 400 (MSM8974AC) 2GB RAM, Adreno 330 GPU |
2.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 quad-core Krait 450, 3GB RAM, Adreno 420 GPU |
| Operating System, |
Android 4.4 KitKat |
Android 5.0 Lollipop |
| UI |
N/A |
N/A |
| Connectivity |
microUSB, Bluetooth, NFC, dual-band Wi-Fi (Hotspot),DLNA,4G,GPS |
microUSB, Bluetooth, NFC, dual-band Wi-Fi (Hotspot),DLNA,4G,GPS |
| Battery |
2,300mAh |
3,220mAh |
Nexus 6 vs Moto X (2014): Design & Display
Both the Nexus 6 and the Moto X (2014) share a lot of the same design
language. When comparing photographs of the devices side by side it is
difficult to tell which is which. The biggest difference comes in terms
of size. The Moto X is the smaller device with a 5.2in display – it is
still quite large in the hand and offers full HD 1080p at 424ppi. The
Nexus 6 is a phablet device and comes with a 5.96in – let’s say 6in –
AMOLED display offering full 2K resolution at 493ppi.
QHD –– whether you care or not –– is the new benchmark screen display
in the Android space. In a world where Keeping up with the Jones’ is
the name of the game, stuff changes rapidly and in this context 1080p
displays appear to be going the way of BlackBerry with more and more
handset manufacturers producing flagships with QHD setups. Samsung, LG,
Google are just the first but there will be plenty more as we progress
through 2015.
Both displays offer a great pixel density whilst viewing angles and
contrast are excellent. The larger display will suit some whilst the
Moto X will suit others. The Nexus 6 comes in a lot larger than the Moto
X to house the display and could be unwieldy in smaller hands. It also
makes the phone quite a bit heavier as well.
An ultra-thin bezel around the display is similar in both handsets as
is the metal surrounding on both. The Nexus 6 comes with a plastic
backing and is available in either Midnight Blue or Cloud White.
A big selling point of the Moto X (2014) comes in the form of the
Moto Maker. It’s a website that allows you to customise your own Moto X
including the choice of front panel colour – either black or white – and
a much wider range of back panels including wood, leather and coloured
plastics.
The type of material you choose can drive the price up but it means
you can get the exact design you’ve wanted. You can even change the
accent colour on the back camera ring.
Nexus 6 vs Moto X (2014): Hardware, Storage & Connectivity
Motorola’s connectivity options are remarkably similar on both
devices. Each has microUSB for data transfer and charging as well as
Bluetooth NFC,
dual-band Wi-Fi (Hotspot), DLNA, 4G and GPS.
Storage options differ a little as the Nexus 6 has either 32GB or
64GB options. The Moto X only offers 16GB or 32GB and neither device
offers microSD support.
Nexus 6 vs Moto X (2014): Processor, Software & Performance
Under the hood both handsets once again look quite similar. The Moto X
runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core chipset clocked at 2.5GHz. It
runs alongside 2GB of RAM.
The Nexus 6 comes in a little higher up the food chain with a
Snapdragon 805 quad-core processor clocked at 2.7GHz alongside 3GB of
RAM. That means Nexus 6 beats the Moto X in terms of raw power but only
marginally. It isn’t a big jump as both are very similar and won’t offer
that much difference in performance.
In terms of software both run Android Lollipop, so there's not much
to really separate them here. The Moto X runs Android exactly how Google
intended –– i.e. with no custom overlay. There are a couple of Motorola
specific apps but nothing like the amount on say a Samsung device.
Google’s Nexus 6 also runs a stock version of the software but this
time it’s running the more up to date Android 5.0 Lollipop. It is the
first handset to do so and it means you get the brand new Material
Design UI. Google has overhauled the look of the entire UI and now
offers a brand new design with a much flatter and more stylish look than
that on KitKat. Be sure to check out our Android Lolliopop Review for all the details.
Nexus 6 vs Moto X (2014): Camera
Both the Nexus 6 and Moto X have a 13MP sensor on the back offering a
pixel resolution of 4128 x 3096 and a dual-LED flash. Each also offers
Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, panorama and HDR.
The Nexus 6 has added features of dual-recording (where you can use
both the selfie and primary cameras at once) and optical image
stabilization.
Each can also record video in 4K @ 30fps and both have 2MP front
facing selfie snappers. Aperture wise the cameras differ, the Nexus 6
comes with an F2.0 aperture whilst the Moto X has a slightly larger
number of F2.2 - lower numbers are better though.
The optical image stabilization on the Nexus 6 is a big selling point
and will make a difference to your photo snapping abilities.
Nexus 6 vs Moto X (2014): Battery
On paper the Moto X comes with a 2,300mAh battery whilst the Nexus 6
comes with a much heftier 3,220mAh power supply. That is quite a big
difference but remember the Nexus 6 also has to power quite a bit more
screen real estate.
In our review we put the Moto X through its paces in what we call the
Django Test. Essentially we turn the brightness right up, make sure
connectivity is all on and run the 2hr 45min film Django Unchained and
see what battery is left over afterwards. The Moto X came out the other
side with 69%, a respectable score compared to other flagship devices
this year.
The Nexus 6,
with its HUGE battery, didn’t exactly live up to expectations during
our two-week testing period. In the Django Test is just about scraped
60%. At best the Nexus 6’s battery could be described as average, giving
you about 4 hours screen time tops in between charges –– not very much
given just how big its battery is. A lot of this is to do with its QHD
display, however, as more pixels, generally, means more battery problems
(even with a 3220mAh unit in the back).
The iPhone 6 Plus, for instance, is around the same size as the Nexus
6 but it uses a smaller battery (well under 3000mAh) and a 1080p
display. BUT it manages around 30% better performance than the Nexus 6,
easily handling two day’s of medium usage from a single charge. We
expected quite a bit from the Nexus in this regard because, like a lot
of people, battery performance was one of our only complaints about the
Nexus 5.
Here's an extract from our Nexus 6 Review:
"The Nexus 6 isn’t a bad handset, though: it’s just disappointing
to a dyed-in-the-wool Nexus user like myself. I had high hopes for this
handset –– even more so when I saw the specs and that Motorola was in
charge of designing and building it. But after testing I was left with a
bitter taste in my mouth. Google seems to have lost sight of what made
the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 special –– what separated them from every other
generic Android handset on the market. It’s sort of like when a band you
really like gets a bit of attention and then, in a bid to appeal to
even more people, augments it sound, tries to do too much and ends up
with an album that lacks a lot of what made them good in the first
place... sort of like the Kings of Leon."
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