Google Nexus 6P Review: A Magnificent Marshallow Powered Flagship

Today we're going take a look at Google's latest Nexus-branded phablet, the Nexus 6P. Arriving just under a year after the Motorola-built, 5.96-inch Nexus 6, the Nexus 6P is actually a hair smaller, thinner and indeed, slightly more manageable. The 6P also marks Huawei's first foray into Google's Nexus family of products, which may allow the company to make a larger impact on the U.S. market -- a market which has been hesitant to embrace the brand on its own to this point.
The Nexus 6P is the big brother to the Nexus 5X (review forthcoming), which launched alongside it, but there's a lot more to discuss here than sheer size. Sure, the 5.7-inch WQHD display dwarfs the 5.2-inch 1080p panel found on the LG-built Nexus 5X, but this handset also packs a lot more power as well. In place of the Snapdragon 808 found in the 5X (and other recent flagships like the Moto X Pure Edition) sits a 2GHz octa-core Snapdragon 810 (v2.1) processor. There's also an extra gigabyte of RAM (3GB of LPDDR4), and the storage options span from 32, to 64 and 128GB capacities, rather than 16/32GB available with the 5X. Huawei's Nexus 6P isn't just bigger, it's more powerful too but there's a lot more to the story...

Huawei Nexus 6P Specifications & Features

OS	Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)
CPU	64-bit 2.0GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 (v2.1)
GPU	Adreno 430
Memory	3 GB LPDDR4 RAM 32/64/128GB Storage
Display	5.7-inch WQHD (2560x1440 pixels) AMOLED 518ppi 16:9 aspect ratio Corning Gorilla Glass 4
Rear Camera	12.3 MP Rear-facing Camera f/2.0 Aperture, IR laser-assisted autofocus 4K (30fps) video capture; Broad-spectrum CRI-90 Dual Flash Slow-motion at 120fps and 240fps Corning Gorilla Glass 4 enclosure
Front Camera	8MP Front-facing Camera f/2.4 aperture; HD video capture (30fps)
Network	GSM / HSPA / LTE Cat 6 Capable  WCDMA; nano-SIM card slot
Wireless	NFC, Bluetooth 4.2, Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 & 5 GHz), GLONASS, GPS GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz) UMTS/HSPA+ (850, 900, 1700 (AWS),1900, 2100 MHz) CDMA (800, 850, 1900 MHz) 4G LTE† (B1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 25, 26, 38, 41)
Ports	3.5 mm stereo audio jack 3 microphones (2 front, 1 rear) with noise cancellation
Size	178 grams 159.3 x 77.8 x 7.3 mm
Battery	3450 mAh (non-removeable)
Price	$499+ off-contract and unlocked

   
 
In terms of its specifications, the Nexus 6P is a significant upgrade over the Moto-built Nexus 6 from 2014. It's also far more attainable. Rather than a $699 starting point as with the Nexus 6, the Nexus 6P starts at $499 for the 32GB model, and even the top-end 128GB model costs but $649. To put that in perspective, the top-end 128GB iPhone 6s Plus demands $949. So, how does Google's latest Android purity-powered Nexus stack up? We'll explore precisely that in the pages ahead...