Samsung Galaxy Note 4 vs Google Nexus 6

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.

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Google Nexus 6 Review and Features

Google Nexus 6 is a supersized version of the new Moto X that has been given a two-handed booster shot and appropriately received a post-surgery Lollipop. The results? It's among the best phones to date.

This phablet-sized smartphone is the first to run Android 5.0 Lollipop and, really, there's no better way to experience all of the changes Google has made to its operating system.

It parades the colorful new Material Design interface on a massive 6-inch display, moves seamlessly between apps thanks to the latest Snapdragon processor and 3GB of RAM, and lasts all day in most cases with a Qi-chargeable 3220 mAh battery.

These Nexus 6 specs are enough to edge-to-edge out Apple's mighty iPhone 6 Plus. It feels better to hold in my hand, and typing is easier thanks to Androids always-superior keyboards options.

Google Nexus 6 Review and Features

More space to explore

A stunning 6-inch Quad HD display that’s great for movies, videos, gaming, e-books, and surfing the web, plus round-the-clock battery life*.

Camera - More room to view

The 6-inch Quad HD display works for everything from e-books and docs to movies and games.

·       Dual front-facing speakers deliver stereo sound so you can truly immerse yourself in videos and games.

·       The 13 MP camera’s optical image stabilization and HDR+ let you take your best possible photos with the least possible effort.

More doing, less charging

A large 3220 mAh battery provides up to 24 hours per charge.* Use the Motorola Turbo Charger for a quick burst of power; all it takes is 15 minutes to get up to 6 additional hours of battery life.**

More with Android 5.0, Lollipop

The Nexus 6 beautifully showcases the latest version of Android and its new aesthetic, where colors are bold, animations are fluid, and shapes are richly textured. You can act on notifications without navigating between apps and easily switch back and forth between Chrome™ tabs to browse the web more naturally.

Best of Google™ and Android™

·       With Nexus 6, you’ll be the first to get the latest Android updates. It means you’ll have Lollipop, the newest version of Android from Google, so you can enjoy the latest features and enhancements.

·       Easily switch between editing documents, browsing the web, watching movies, and listening to music.

·       Google Play is your one-stop-shop for digital entertainment with more than 1 million apps and games.

·       All your favorite Google apps work together across all your devices—desktop and mobile. Gmail™, Chrome™, Google Calendar™ and Google Keep™ are seamlessly integrated.

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Nexus 6 Features, Release date and Prize

Nexus 6 release date and price

The Nexus 5 was announced on October 31 2013, hitting stores in November of the same year. In terms of the Nexus 6 release date we're expecting the handset to arrive around the same time in 2014. Considering the Nexus 5 launched at $349, £299 for the 16GB model we'd expect the Nexus 6 to inherit a similar pricing structure, although if it's rocking some serious tech it may come in slightly more expensive.

Operating system of Nexus 6

The Nexus 6 could be the first device to run the next version of Google's operating system, which we now know to be Android L, after it was announced at Google I/O earlier this year. When Google launches a new major version of its software it usually offers up some hardware too. The Nexus 5 ushered in the arrival of Android KitKat and the Nexus 6 seems the sensible option for the next installment, although there's always a chance that'll we'll see the Google Nexus 10 (2014) or an updated Nexus 7 slate instead.

Design of Nexus 6

Korean manufacturer LG was being hotly tipped for a third term as Google's Nexus smartphone producer, and while the Nexus 5 bore resemblances to last year's LG G2, some sources reckon the Nexus 6 will apparently be based on the LG G3. That's all been called into question though as LG has now denied any involvement in the Nexus 6. That begs the question of who then will be making it in LG's place, but it also kills most of the theories that had been circulating. They may have a point though, as Motorola is another manufacturer being linked to the Nexus 6, with reports of a handset codenamed "Shamu" doing the rounds. We may have now caught our first glimpse of the Nexus 6, as the Android Twitter account tweeted a photo featuring an unidentified Nexus handset.

The phone wasn't the focus of the photo, so it's possible that it's just a generic mock-up, but that then begs the question of why they wouldn't just use a Nexus 5 for it. Either way there's not much to take away from it, all we can tell is that it's a black rectangle with curved corners, large bezels above and below the screen and small ones at the side. There's no sign of any buttons on it, which could mean they've been moved to the back, on the other hand they could just be flush with the edges or hidden by the fingers. The thin side bezels could mean that it's taking a similar approach to the LG G3, by packing a larger screen into a similar sized chassis, though again it doesn't look like LG itself has anything to do with the phone.

Display of Nexus 6

Beating the LG drum again, and one rumor pegs the Nexus 6's screen size at 5.5 inches, which is the same as the LG G3, but with LG seemingly not involved that's presumably just a coincidence if it's even true. Going back to the Motorola leak, and the "Shamu" handset apparently sports a sizeable 5.9-inch display which would push the device firmly into phablet territory.

We reckon it's highly unlikely that the Nexus 6 will be a phablet offering, so unless Shamu arrives alongside a more conventional handset (around 5-inches in size), it probably won't see the light of day. We've also now seen another leak, this time on GFXBench, which lists a 5.2-inch 2560 x 1440 QHD display. That's big and high resolution but seems more likely than 5.9 inches.

Nexus 6 power

It looks like the Nexus 6 might be a real beast. The Motorola Shamu, which is believed to be the Nexus 6, appeared on GFXBench. It has so far only completed a single test but alongside the results you can see that it has a 2.6GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor and 3GB of RAM, which would make it a match for any other smartphone out there. A similar listing has also popped up on AnTuTu, revealing an Adreno 420 GPU.

Nexus 6 camera

Not much is known about the camera yet, but a leak on GFXBench for the Shamu lists a 12MP snapper with UHD video recording, which would be a step up from the lacklustre 8MP camera on the Nexus 5. It may even be slightly better still, as according to a similar listing on AnTuTu it will actually have a 13MP main camera, plus a 2.1MP front-facing one.

Nexus 6 fingerprint scanner

With the iPhone 5S, HTC One Max and Samsung Galaxy S5 all sporting fingerprint scanners it's no surprise that other top-end handsets are being linked to the biometric tech. The Nexus 6 is no exception, with Android Geeks citing a "trusted source" who claims the handset will indeed come with a fingerprint scanner.

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