Nexus 6 vs. iPhone 6 - the comparison

Google vs. Apple - the fight goes into the next round: We let the Nexus 6 compete against the iPhone 6 and tell you which of the two smartphones is ahead.

Nexus 6 vs. iPhone 6: The external differences

At first glance, there are differences between the iPhone 6 and the Google Nexus 6:

• Housing: The iPhone 6 measures 138.1 x 67 x 6.9 millimeters and is located in an aluminum housing. Google, on the other hand, uses a plastic shell on the back. The Nexus 6 is also slightly larger than the Apple competitor and measures 159.26 x 82.98 x 10.06 millimeters.
• Display: The dimensions have already indicated it - the Nexus 6 has a much larger display than the iPhone 6. A total of 6 inches is 4.7 inches. The Nexus 6 fills its large AMOLED display with 1440 x 2560 pixels, which corresponds to a pixel density of 493 ppi. The iPhone, on the other hand, is only 750 x 1334 pixels and 326 ppi. In terms of brightness, however, no one can fool the iPhone 6: a whopping 535.7 candelas per square meter make the display perfectly readable even in direct sunlight. At 383.1 candelas per square meter, this is somewhat more difficult with the Nexus 6.
• Weight: Due to the smaller display, the iPhone 6 only weighs 129 grams. The Nexus 6, on the other hand, is an impressive 184 grams.

iPhone 6 vs. Nexus 6: hardware comparison

The two top smartphones differ not only externally, but also internally:

• Processor: Google uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 with four cores and 2700 MHz for the Nexus 6. The iPhone processor Apple A8 with two cores, 64-bit technology and 1400 MHz is somewhat weaker. Nevertheless, the performance convinces with the new iOS 9. The same applies to Android 5.1 on the Nexus 6.
• RAM: The Nexus 6 is also ahead in terms of RAM. Google's smartphone offers 3 GB of RAM, while the iPhone 6 is only 1 GB.
• Storage: The Nexus 6 is available with either 32 GB or 64 GB of internal storage. The iPhone 6 is available with 16 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB. Both smartphones cannot be expanded using a microSD card.
• Equipment: Both devices offer WLAN-ac, Bluetooth and LTE. While the iPhone 6 only supports LTE Cat-4, the Nexus 6 also copes with the latest LTE Cat-6. in practice, however, LTE Cat-4 is sufficient. For both smartphones you need a nano SIM card.

Nexus 6 vs. iPhone 6: camera and battery life

So far, both smartphones can show their strengths in different areas. The camera and the battery runtimes decide about victory and defeat:

• Camera: The camera on the back of the iPhone 6 triggers at 8.0 megapixels and thanks to the dual LED flash takes good photos even in dark environments. A front camera with 1.2 megapixels is available for selfies. The Nexus 6 offers 13.0 megapixels for the back camera and 2.1 megapixels for the front camera, but both fail in the test. There is a lack of detail, the white balance is poor and the LED flash illuminates unevenly. The iPhone is better here.
• Battery life: The Nexus 6 can make up for lost ground with a talk time of 9:57 hours and an online runtime of 7:49 hours. That is well above average. The iPhone 6, on the other hand, suffers in the test after 5:31 hours of talk time and 5:57 hours of surfing - too little for a top smartphone.

Conclusion: two winners with clear weaknesses

The smartphones could not be more different: While the iPhone scores above all in terms of size, weight and camera, the Nexus 6 cuts a somewhat better figure in terms of hardware, battery and equipment. Therefore, the following applies: Decide which areas you want to prioritize. It is best to test beforehand whether you prefer to work with Android or iOS. But you shouldn't neglect the price either:

• The largest version of the iPhone 6 costs a whopping 700 GB at 128 GB. The 64 GB version is available for around 30 euros less, while the 16 GB variant costs around 540 euros.
• The Nexus 6 has become significantly cheaper compared to the time: For the 32 GB version, you pay around 420 euros, while the 64 GB version costs around 550 euros.

If you still can't make up your mind, you should focus on the different operating systems again. You end up spending most of your time with it. In our test, we will tell you whether you are the Android or iOS type.