PhoneArena posted up an article comparing the Nexus 6 with the previous Nexus devices, but let me go into history first: I was using a Samsung Nexus S when the Galaxy Nexus was released and I remember thinking that the new Nexus was an enormous handset. And it was: the Galaxy Nexus had a 4.7-inch, 720p resolution AMOLED screen compared with the 4.0-inch display on my Nexus S. Since then, the Nexus handsets have been slightly larger: the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 had incremental increases in size compared with the previous model. And now Google have released the Nexus 6, which is even larger a jump in size compared with the leap from the Nexus S to the Galaxy Nexus.This isn’t the only substantial upgrade from the older model to the new one. The Nexus 6 has much larger battery – 3,220 mAh compared with 2,300 mAh of the Nexus 5. It has a better camera, more powerful processor and more RAM. As regular readers will understand, each generation of the Nexus device has progressively more powerful hardware compared with the previous generation.
There’s been much debate within the industry and of course the tech websites as to if the Nexus 6 is too big. It’s slightly larger than the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, but my belief is that Google instructed Motorola to build the Nexus 6 to differentiate it from the 2014 Moto X plus of course most of the other flagship handsets available. Is the Nexus 6 able to be used with one hand? Let me put this into perspective: my first large-screen handset was the Dell Streak, which has a 5.0-inch LCD and large bezels. This was too big to use with one hand: it was too long and too wide. I switched to smaller devices, spending a lot of time with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, a 4.2-inch screen. The next large screen device I used was Samsung Galaxy S III, which has a 4.7-inch, 720p display. At the time it felt too big but I was able to adapt reasonably easily. I now use the HTC One (M8), which has large bezels and a 5.0-inch screen. I have adapted to using this with one hand; really, it’s not so tough.
There are compromises: the HTC is fine for occasional texting but I’m using the Google Search Voice functionality to dictate text messages more and more. Of course, the balancing act appears to be between web browsing and calling. We browse more, we call less: why design a device that’s perfect for calling but not so great for browsing the web, especially now we have high speed mobile networks? That’s my take on the matter but what do our readers think?
Take a look at the gallery from PhoneArena and see how the giant Nexus 6 shapes up to Nexus phones from the past.
