Introduction
Do we have a good one for you today – two new devices, the Sony Xperia Z5 Premium and the Huawei Nexus 6P. The powerful metal and glass Z5 Premium squares off against the new all-metal unibody Nexus 6P. The Xperia Z5 Premium is your typical Xperia design – squared off like a large slab, with great looks. The new Nexus 6P is an all-metal design with round edges, making it quite comfortable to hold. Either one of these beauties should satisfy any smartphone enthusiast, but which one has the most advanced specifications and features, while still offering a good value.
The Z5 Premium and the Nexus 6P have a few things in common besides being quality smartphones. These two devices are very close in physical size and even weigh within 2 grams of one another. They both sport a fingerprint sensor for unlocking the device and to use as verification for Android Pay mobile payments with Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The displays are very close with the Z5 Premium coming in at 5.5-inches and the Nexus 6P measuring 5.7-inches. These two devices even share the same 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core processor and even share 3GB of RAM. You can even have 32GB of internal memory in either device. For sound, they both have dual front-facing stereo speakers. Even their non-removable batteries are also close with 3430mAh in the Z5 Premium and 3450mAh in the Nexus 6P.
They both have the usual suspects – Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (4.1 in the Z5 and 4.2 in the 6P), GPS, NFC, a microUSB port (v2.0 on the Z5 and Type-C on the 6P) and both have quick charge.
Please take a deliberate look at the detailed Specifications Comparison chart below and here you will see just how these two great devices stack up against one another – click on the “View Full Comparison” link at the end of the chart to expand the details. After that, we will look at each individual device in greater detail and point out some of its pros and cons. From all of this information we will try to determine the winner based on specs and execution of design and functions.
Specifications
Sony Z5 Premium
The new Xperia Z5 Premium is the usual Sony recipe of a squared-off metal and glass construction, with good, but not the highest-end specifications. There is one exception this time around – Sony jumped from a 1080p display to a 4K display with 806 PPI, but it is in service only when needed…most of the time it is running at 1080p to conserve battery life. The rest of the device is the usual components in the early 2015 smartphones, but the trouble is, the Z5 Premium will not be out until November or December.
The Sony Xperia Z5 Premium comes with a new twist on its display – it is a 5.5-inch IPS LCD 4K with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 and an astounding 806 PPI. It will actually operate in 1080p or Full HD mode the majority of the time and use the 4K resolution when you are actually watching something that takes advantage of the 4K. Why they did not just put in a QHD that runs all of the time is what many people are asking, but it seems that Sony will do anything to save its battery life. This stacks up to the 5.7-inch QHD AMOLED display found on the Nexus 6P with 518 PPI. The Z5 Premium uses the much-maligned Qualcomm Snapdragon octa-core processor with four cores clocked at 1.5GHz and four cores clocked at 2.0GHz. Sony seems to be using some extra cooling techniques to keep the overheating to a minimum. The Nexus 6P uses the same processor, only v2.1, in hopes of keeping it from overheating. The Z5 Premium uses 3GB of RAM and 32GB if internal memory, but has the option to expand an additional 200GB via a microSD card. The Nexus 6P uses 3GB of RAM and 32GB, 64GB or 128GB internal memory, with no means to expand.
Sony knows camera lenses and the camera on the Xperia Z5 Premium should not disappoint with its new 23MP sensor with phase detection autofocus and an LED flash, but still no OIS. For the FFC, Sony used a 5.1MP with wide-angle for selfies and video chatting. It goes up against the Nexus 6P and its 12.3MP sensor for its main camera and a large 8MP FFC. When it comes to power, the Z5 Premium uses a large 3430mAh non-removable battery that Sony claims will get you through two days. The Nexus 6P uses a slightly larger 3450mAh non-removable battery, and both have quick charging.
Xperia Z5 Premium does have an FM Radio and dust and water resistance. It should be available in November or December and will cost about £629 in the UK, which is about $995 here in the U.S. It will come in Chrome, Black or Gold.
Huawei Nexus 6P
The Huawei Nexus 6P is the high-end and more expensive of the two Nexus devices. Both devices should make many people happy and both have a unique look and build. The Nexus 6P is a beautifully designed and well-built device with an all-metal unibody construction and available in three colors – Aluminum, Graphite or Frost.
The Nexus 6P comes with a Samsung-made AMOLED QHD display that measures 5.7-inches with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 and 518 PPI. This compares to the 5.5-inch IPS LCD 4K display on the Z5 Premium with 806 PPI. Huawei generally uses its own HiSilicon Kirn processor, but instead decided to go with the 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core processor, version 2.1. It has four cores clocked at 1.55GHz and four cores clocked at 2.0GHz. The Z5 Premium uses the same Snapdragon 810 and both devices have 3GB of RAM. The Nexus 6P comes with 32GB of internal memory with an option of 64GB or 128GB and no room for external expansion. The Z5 Premium comes with 32GB of internal memory, but has a microSD card slot for expansion up to 200GB.
The camera on the Nexus 6P was recently rated highly by DxOMark with a score of 84, not far from the 87 score of the Z5 Premium. It has a 12.3MP sensor, laser autofocus and dual-tone LED flash…but no OIS. This goes up another terrific camera on the Z5 Premium with a 23MP sensor, laser autofocus, LED flash and OIS. The Nexus 6P has a large 8MP FFC for selfies and video chatting, while the Z5 Premium has a 5.1MP FFC. The Nexus 6P has a large, 3450mAh non-removable battery that includes Quick Charge. The Z5 Premium has a large 3430mAh non-removable battery with Quick Charge feature.
The Nexus 6P has a few features not found on the Z5 Premium – let’s start with a full metal body and Samsung-built AMOLED QHD display…all of the time. It uses the Type-C reversible microUSB port for faster charging and data transfer. Last, but certainly not least, it is running pure Android 6.0 Marshmallow and will always get the fastest upgrades possible when new versions come out. It will cost you $500 for the 32GB model.
…And The Winner Is…
Summary
The Sony Xperia Z5 Premium is a terrific device and yes, it does have a 4K display (sometimes), expandable memory and dust and water resistant…but it also costs almost $500 more than the Huawei Nexus 6P.
The Nexus 6P has an AMOLED QHD display, fingerprint sensor, the same processor, same RAM, same 32GB of internal memory, front-facing stereo speakers, Type-C reversible plug, highly rated camera, quick charge, large 8MP FFC, a large 3450mAh battery and the pure vanilla Android with the fastest updates possible. You get all of this for only $500 and that is why I pick it as the winner of this comparison.
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