Battle of the Sixes: The Nexus 6P versus the Apple iPhone 6s Plus versus the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+

This post is brought to you by the Nexus 6P

When the Nexus 6P came out, the question on everyone’s lips was: “Is it as good as the other flagships?”. Aptly named the 6P, it seems that 2015 was the year of the six-branded smartphone, as the Nexus 6P, together with the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ and the Apple iPhone 6s Plus, carved a “holy-trinity” out of the smartphone crop.

With these three priced at the top of the food chain as no-nonsense, no-compromise, best-phablets-money-can-buy devices, consumers everywhere were torn. The line separating these three devices were so thin that no matter which device you chose, you would end up with a great phablet nonetheless.

But, c’mon, we have to crown a winner. There is only one sport at the top of that podium, and today we fill it.

Performance

These devices are monsters when it comes to performance. They’re absolutely savage, devouring applications, multitasking, gaming, media consumption and everything else you can throw at it. They are the ultimate devices after all. But, like we said, there can only be one winner so we delve into the depths of multitasking and intense usage to try and find a winner. For a full list of specifications, please refer to our last page where we have a detailed table letting you know all the nitty gritty details of each device.

First up is the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+. It has Samsung’s Exynos 7420 processor, powering it through daily activities. Multitasking was smooth and it had no problems munching up the slew of applications and games we threw at it.

Next, we fired up the iPhone 6s Plus and gave it the beans too. Switching between apps was ridiculously quick and snappy. It did help that iOS’s animations made everything so much more fluid (like what Windows Phone does) and as if it was instantaneous. Some might call it cheating, we call it proper optimisation.

Finally came the Nexus 6P. Two words: Stock Android. Fantastic multitasking experience, launching every application we could find and flipping through the multitasking card window as we wondered what application to flip between was lots of fun. It handled the switches like a champ. Android’s multitasking animation easily takes the cake. For gaming, well, is there a word to describe something that is buttery-er than buttery?

In conclusion, when it comes to performance and multitasking, the iPhone 6s Plus snags the win by a hair over the Nexus 6P. The gap between the two and the Galaxy S6 edge+ though is a little further than expected. Somehow the home button on the Samsung device had a little delay when exiting applications.

iPhone wins

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Battery and Charging

Being flagships, you would definitely want to use your device all day every day, and to facilitate that, these devices come with relatively large batteries that should last you an entire day. When it comes to size (and yes size does matter in this case) the Nexus 6P comes out on top with a massive 3,450 mAh battery hidden behind its metal unibody. The Galaxy S6 edge+ comes in second with a more modest 3,000 mAh unit while the iPhone 6s Plus has a tiny 2,750 mAh battery.

While all these devices should last you an entire day with moderate to heavy usage, the Nexus 6P comes with several nifty battery saving features thanks to Android 6.0 Marshmallow. One of which — and this is the one we’re most impressed with — is Doze. Like its name suggests, when the device detects that it is not in use it will set the phone to a low power state where barely consumes any juice at all. Don’t want to leave it on the plug through the night? Now you can unplug it at 100% at night and wake up the next morning with about 95% remaining.

A battery is only as good as the rate it charges at though, so we went ahead and tested the three devices for you. Quick charging is all about…well, charging quickly, so we drained all three devices, set the timer and turned on the power. The results for charge percentage at 15 mins and 30 mins are as follows:

At 15 mins:
iPhone 6s Plus – 9%
Galaxy S6 edge+ – 27%
Nexus 6P – 24%

At 30 mins:
iPhone 6s Plus – 18%
Galaxy S6 edge Plus – 52%
Nexus 6P – 44%

Note that these devices were charged with their bundled chargers.

It was pretty close between the Galaxy S6 edge+ and the Nexus 6P (sorry iPhone fans) when you take the size of the battery into consideration. That said, since we’re talking about battery performance, we have to include Doze and with that the Nexus 6P is the clear winner here.

Nexus 6P wins

Build

If you’re going to pay a premium price for a smartphone, it damn well better feel premium in your hand. Apple has always been fantastic when it comes to build quality and the iPhone 6s Plus is no exception. The Nexus 6P is also a great fit in the hand with its chamfered edges giving it a little bite while also helping with grip. However, Samsung have really, really, really, stepped up their game with their “edge” phones and the Galaxy S6 edge+ is just unreal.

Thanks to the curved display the Galaxy S6 edge+ looks like it has no bezels as the display just bends over the sides. It is a joy to use and type on. Plus the edge of the phone where glass meets metal fits together so well you can scarcely believe it. Sorry, you other two, the Galaxy S6 edge+ has got this in the bag.

Galaxy S6 edge+ wins

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Camera

The Nexus 6P is the first Nexus device to feature a solid camera — one that could potentially take on the big boys, and if we’re being honest, there aren’t many (if any) cameras better than the Galaxy S6 edge+ and the iPhone 6s Plus’s cameras. Can Google’s first try at a good camera beat out years of experience? Let’s find out.

From our test shots, the rear cameras were quite close between the Galaxy S6 edge+ and the Nexus 6P, while the iPhone 6s Plus had what we thought was too much post processing. Because the day was a little hazy, we think’ the iPhone 6s Plus’s algorithm mistook the haze for noise and over corrected leading to a rather artificial set of colours and contrasts (notice the green tinge on the cream building).

While the Galaxy S6 edge+ and the Nexus 6P are tied for the rear camera, when we arrive at the selfie cameras, the Nexus 6P’s front HDR worked wonders. It was magical how well it compensated for the bright and uneven exposures throughout the selfie. Plus it’s an 8MP sensor so there’s a whole lot more detail there too. An easy victory for the Nexus 6P then.

Nexus 6P wins

Media Consumption

When it comes to display, the Galaxy S6 edge+ and the Nexus 6P has the edge over the iPhone 6s Plus with their sublime Quad HD AMOLED panels. When it comes to media consumption though, the screen isn’t the only factor for a good experience, speakers matter too.

While the iPhone 6s Plus and Galaxy S6 edge+ has a decent set of speakers (considering they’re downward facing mono speakers), the Nexus 6P’s front facing speakers are just too good to pass up. Front facing speakers are really the kind of thing where you have to use it to believe just how good they are compared to other speaker positions. They’ll even give HTC’s BoomSound speakers a run for their money.

Nexus 6P wins

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Side by side comparison

Conclusion

It’s that time of the comparison where we have to tally up the scores. Total standings are as follows:

1. Nexus 6P – 3 points
2. Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ – 1 point
3. Apple iPhone 6s Plus – 1 point

There you have it, the undisputed king of the trinity, the best phablet money can buy right now: the Nexus 6P. You can order it online on Vmall.my at RM2,698.