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6 Ways the Nexus 6 Beats the iPhone 6

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The Nexus 6 smartphone was released in November and now that we’ve had more than a month of continued use with Google’s latest and greatest flagship smartphone, we wanted to share a few thoughts on how it compares to the competition.

The iPhone 6 and Nexus 6 are both flagship phones from each respective company, and they’re both excellent devices. No this won’t be an Android vs iOS debate about closed off ecosystems, 3rd party app support, or micro-SD cards making Android better than Apple phones. Instead, we wanted to share six or so things the Nexus 6 does better than the iPhone 6.

Read: Nexus 6: 5 Features Buyers Will Love

There is plenty to love about the iPhone 6 and its bigger display, TouchID, and everything else about Apple’s new phone, but this year Google stepped it up with the Nexus 6 and delivered some strong competition. Rather than offering a budget device for developers, the Nexus 6 is one of the best Android phones available today, and here’s a few ways it beats the iPhone 6.

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Before iOS 8 arrived we could talk about widgets, 3rd party keyboards, app support, customization, and lots of other things, but again, that’s comparing iOS to Android. What we’re focusing on here are a few hardware and software aspects or features that are simply better on the Nexus 6 than the iPhone 6, and makes it a better phone.

This doesn’t mean it’s hands down better than the iPhone 6, as they both have pros and cons, but below you’ll find a list of a few things this Android users is enjoying about the Nexus 6, things many of my iPhone owning friends are jealous of.

Bigger, Better Quad-HD Display

The iPhone 6 finally has a bigger display, similar to that of Android smartphones, and Apple even released a huge iPhone 6 Plus with a 5.5-inch 1080p screen. While it’s nice, it pales in comparison to the Nexus 6.

Google delivered a bigger 5.96-inch display with a full 2560 x 1440 Quad-HD resolution (2k screen) compared to the 1080p with the iPhone 6 Plus, and even less on the regular iPhone 6. The Nexus 6 has a much bigger screen with better colors, a higher resolution, and small bezels making it almost the same size as the iPhone 6 Plus.

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Google’s Nexus 6 is simply gorgeous to use and operate. From the colorful and lively new Android 5.0 Lollipop update, to enjoying movies or Netflix on that massive 5.96-inch display. Browsing the web is quite nice too, especially when you can view so much of a page at once. There’s no stylus with the Nexus 6 though, or dual-window mode to take advantage of the screen real estate, but that’s just nitpicking.

Apple’s smartphones all have wonderful screens, but even the big 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus isn’t as big, or have as high a resolution screen as the Nexus 6. Making it bigger, better, more crisp, and a better viewing experience all around.

Front Facing Speakers

After years and years of smartphone releases from multiple manufacturers, I’ve always been confused as to why none released front facing speakers on their devices. HTC absolutely got it right by adding dual front facing speakers to the HTC One, and Motorola capitalized on this with the Nexus 6.

Having the speakers on the back like most Android devices, or on the bottom like the iPhone 6 just doesn’t make sense. It aims the wrong direction, gets covered by the users hand in almost all usage scenarios, and just isn’t the best. The Motorola built Nexus 6 has two loud, clear, and crisp front facing speakers that sound excellent. Better than any other phone on the market.

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Whether I’m watching YouTube or viewing some TV shows on Netflix, rocking some tunes on Google Play Music and Pandora, or even playing the occasional game, the sound is just excellent. You can hear the little things audiophiles find in music, the surround sound feeling in movies, and more. This simply isn’t possible on the iPhone 6.

The Nexus 6 has some of the best sound of any smartphone I’ve ever used, and we expect most manufacturers to jump on the front facing speaker bandwagon in 2015. Who knows, maybe Apple will too.

Guest Mode

With Android 4.2 Jelly Bean Google introduced guest mode or multi-user accounts. Similar to how computers have more than one user login account that separates everything for the user. With Android 5.0 Lollipop and the Nexus 6 that Guest Mode has been introduced to smartphones as well.

The most obvious advantage of this is a Kids mode or a separate account for business. It’s bad enough we have to share our phones with our kids at times, with their dirty and sticky fingers, but now with the Nexus 6 (and most Android devices) have a second user login to keep everything separate.

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This means kids can’t mess with your phone, delete pictures or apps, move around icons on the homescreen (my pet peeve) or anything else. Simply start a new user account in settings and you’re set. Apple has yet to introduce a kids mode, but surely that’s something we will see in the future, maybe with iOS 9.

Widgets, Anywhere

This has been a debate with Android vs iOS for a long, long time, and with good reason. With Android and the Nexus 6 users are able to put useful widgets anywhere and everywhere. On any screen, or even the lockscreen. These are extremely useful for a wide array of uses, and this is one more area the Nexus 6 beats the iPhone 6.

Yes, Apple finally added widgets to the notification shade for iOS users, but this is still closed off to one area. Being able to have flashlight quick toggle widgets, Shazam music discovery with one tap widgets, Google Play Music, and millions of other apps anywhere on my homescreen or lockscreen is a major advantage Android still has over Apple, and one more thing I love about my Nexus 6.

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And while were on the widget and lockscreen discussion, the new interactions with notifications in Android 5.0 Lollipop and the Nexus 6 can’t be beat either. They’re right on the lockscreen to be interacted with, expanded (love expandable notifications) or swiped away at a moments notice. Then Google’s allowed more advanced control of each apps notifications in settings, giving users more control with the Nexus 6 than the iPhone 6 will ever have.

NFC

Apple finally delivered NFC to the iPhone 6 after Android users have been enjoying it for years and years. However, it’s still locked down and only useful for Apple Pay using TouchID. The full benefits of NFC aren’t available on the iPhone 6, many of which I enjoy on the Nexus 6.

With NFC on the Nexus 6 we can use Google Wallet like Apple Pay, and many other NFC payment solutions. Then of course there’s NFC tags to change settings, connect to bluetooth speakers in seconds, and tons of other useful scenarios. I actually have an NFC tag in my car and one tap changes my phone to driving mode. The possibilities with NFC are endless on the Nexus 6, and for now those with an iPhone 6 can only pay for things with it, so long as Apple Pay is accepted at that location.

Wireless Charging

In the past I never really expected wireless charging to be something I wanted and preferred with a smartphone, but it’s an extremely useful feature that iPhone owners still have never been able to enjoy without 3rd party cases or covers. Just like the past few Nexus smartphones, the Nexus 6 supports Qi Wireless charging.

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Having a dock in my kitchen and computer desk means whenever I’m home I can just drop my phone on the dock and it’ll start charging up that 3,220 mAh battery to make sure I never run out of juice. There’s no wires to plug in, expensive Lightning cords I need to buy, nothing. Simply have the Qi Charging dock and drop the phone right on it. It’s that easy.

Of course wireless charging isn’t as fast as regular charging, or the impressive Turbo Charger that comes with the Nexus 6, but it’s still extremely useful and something I’ve grown to love. All phones should have wireless charging features, and eventually the iPhone will too.

Final Thoughts

Of course both the Nexus 6 and iPhone 6 are excellent phones. They both have pros and cons, features that are better suited for some users vs others, and so on. There are things I love about the iPhone 6 too, and things I don’t particularly like about the Nexus 6. No phone is perfect, but above was just six or so things I’ve been enjoying with the Nexus 6 that makes it better than the iPhone 6, at least for me.

Google’s Nexus 6 has big amazing screen, quality sound that can’t be matched by most of the competition, amazing build quality and no bendgate issues, a rather capable 13 megapixel camera, and is running the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop. There’s plenty to love, so give it a try yourself. It’s available now from an array of sources and carriers in the United States.

3 Comments

3 Comments

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