ANDROID
FANS in the market for a phablet are currently spoilt for choice, but the Nexus
6 and Galaxy Note 4 stand out as the most notable contenders vying for buyers'
attention this Christmas.
Samsung's
Galaxy Note range has long held a reputation for being among the biggest
smartphones on the market, and often the go-to phablet for many, but Google's
Nexus 6, with its 6in screen and large dimensions, makes the Galaxy Note 4 look
almost petite.
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 vs Google Nexus 6
Design
The Nexus 6 and the Note 4 belong
to the 2014-2015 generation smartphones with a metal frame. The main weakness
of Android phones’ has long been the choice of designs and materials, aside
from the HTC One (M8) and the Sony devices since the Xperia Z. This is of
course subjective, but I feel that Android phones are really getting nicer this
year. The Note 4 and the Nexus 6 were able to squeeze out of the ugly mold and
are both quite elegant.
The Nexus 6 was crafted in the
image of the Moto X (2014), aside from it being bigger and including a few
changes: the volume and power buttons have been moved down, the same goes for
the camera and the flash, though they remain in the middle of the device. The
Galaxy Note 4 has a plastic backing with an aluminum frame, and has the same
physical Samsung buttons that we’ve become accustomed to.
One point in which the Nexus 6 is
better than the Note 4 is that the Google phone is water-resistant, while the
Note 4 is not. What it lacks in water resistance though, it make up with the
included S Pen stylus which fits snuggly into the chassis.
Display
Much like in the design
department, the Nexus 6 and Galaxy Note 4 are fairly evenly matched when it
comes to displays, sporting 6in 1440x2560 Amoled and 5.7in 1440x2560 Amoled
screens respectively.
Given its smaller screen size,
the Galaxy Note 4 has the higher pixel density, which comes in at 515ppi compared
with the Nexus 6's 493ppi.
However, in terms of quality,
it's hard to judge a winner between the two. Both offer great brightness,
sharpness levels and viewing angles, but we did notice that both suffer from
slight color distortion probably owing to the Amoled technology.
Getting one up on the Nexus 6,
the Galaxy Note 4 has the added bonus of stylus input, allowing users to doodle
and make notes on the display.
Thanks to this, and the fact that
the Nexus 6 is extremely difficult to use with one hand, the Galaxy Note 4 wins
another round.
Performance
Both devices come with top notch
processors and stunning QHD displays. However just like the LG G3, such a
demanding screen often has an effect on the overall smoothness of a phone's
performance, especially when playing HD games. This was noticed when playing
games on both either device. However, for the most part, everything ran
impeccably for either device, apps opened right away, animations were crisp and
what can be observed are two of the best performing smartphones around. There
was no clear winner in this section.
Software
As previously mentioned, the
Nexus 6 runs a stock version of Lollipop, while the Galaxy Note 4 runs Android
4.4.4 KitKat overlaid with Samsung's TouchWiz skin.
Samsung has hinted that the
Galaxy Note 4 will be updated to Lollipop, but has yet to say when.
This means that the Nexus 6 comes
with all the latest features Google has to offer, including the new Material
design which has a cleaner look and smoother animations and is a huge
improvement on KitKat.
There are also other features
such as improved multitasking, enhanced security and a battery saving mode.
The Galaxy Note 4, on the other
hand, comes with the TouchWiz interface, which has a reputation for being one
of the heaviest Android skins.
This rings true on the Note 4,
which is stuffed full of custom features, such as a Flipboard homescreen
overlay, a bunch of Samsung's own apps and a handful of apps that you're not
likely to look at, including Pizza.de and HRS Hotels.
Camera
The Nexus 6 was finally able to
break away from the poor camera quality that plagued previous Nexus phones and
does a standup job with its 13MP back shooter. Motorola also included the
optical image stabilizer. The benefits of this technology could be seen in the
results: images taken in low light situations turned out great and offer little
noise. The Galaxy Note 4 on the other hand has a higher resolution rear camera
of 16 MP, in addition to an ISOCELL sensor, an optical image stabilizer and a
long list of shooting modes.
It's also interesting to note
that that either device was treated differently in terms of front camera
resolution. The Nexus 6 only comes with 2 MP on the front, while the Note 4 has
3.7 MP. Samsung clearly understood that the current selfie trend in adopting a
better camera on the front. They also included a neat feature which allows
users to use the back facing camera to take selfies which uses the heart rate
monitor as a sensor.
Battery
The Nexus 6 and Galaxy Note 4
both pack 3,220mAh batteries. Google and Samsung quote up to 24 and 20 hours of
talk time respectively.
Despite Google's claims, we found
that the Galaxy Note 4 managed to outlive the Nexus 6 during our battery burn
tests. The Nexus 6 lasted eight hours, while the Galaxy Note 4 managed nine
hours.
For those not watching video 24
hours a day, we found both smartphones easily offered a full day of use, and on
average made it into a second day without any problems.
Both come with quick charge modes
onboard. Samsung's custom Fast Charging feature enables the Note 4 to be
charged from zero to 50 percent in 30 minutes, while Motorola's Turbo Charger
juices the Nexus 6 with six hours of battery life in just 15 minutes.
Storage
The Nexus 6 is available in 32GB
and 64GB capacities, with no room to expand via microSD.
The Galaxy Note 4, on the other
hand, comes in a 32GB variant only, but with an onboard microSD offering an
extra 128GB.
Overall
winner: Galaxy Note 4
There's barely a whisker in it,
but the Galaxy Note 4 trumped the Nexus 6 in four out of seven categories.
Google's latest smartphone would
be an obvious choice for those after a stock Android 5.0 Lollipop experience,
but we found the Galaxy Note 4 more manageable owing to its smaller screen size
and dimensions.
It also came out top when it
comes to battery life and storage, offering the option to expand the 32GB
internal memory via microSD.