Battle of phablets: Nexus 6 vs Note 4 vs iPhone 6 Plus

Now that the dust has settled and the Google Nexus 6 is officially out, we have three top-of-the-line phablets in the form of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, the Apple iPhone 6 Plus and the Google Nexus 6.

How do they compare? We will talk about the each one in detail when we review them but for now let's see how they fare against each other on the basis of their specifications.

Display

The Galaxy Note 4 has an incredible 5.7-inch quad-HD Super AMOLED display, which offers vivid colours. The display is so good that DisplayMate called it the best display they have seen in a mobile phone. The Nexus 6 too has a quad-HD AMOLED panel, but it is slightly larger at 5.96-inches. If the display on Moto X is any indication -- after all the Nexus 6 is based on the Moto X -- we expect the Google's phablet to show vivid and punchy colours. But at the same time, we don't think it will be as bright as the display on the Note 4. Super AMOLED was specifically created to address the brightness and sharpness related issues with the AMOLED screens. Though for average consumers difference between the Note 4 and the Nexus 6 screens wouldn't be all that noticeable.

The iPhone 6 Plus is the smallest of the lot at 5.5-inches. It also has the lowest resolution at 1080P and its uses LCD technology, which shows natural colours and has excellent brightness and contrast. The screen in the iPhone 6 Plus too has been rated by the DisplayMate as among the best .

Bottom line: While the Note 4 screen has the edge we expect that consumers will be satisfied with the screens of all three devices.

Camera

All the three phones in question seem to have great rear cameras. Though we suspect that Apple iPhone 6 Plus may turn out to be better than the rest. After all it has been judged the best camera in a mobile phone by DxOMark .

The Galaxy Note 4 packs a 16-megapixel snapper with optical image stabilisation, the Nexus 6 has a 13-megapixel camera with optical image stabilisation and the iPhone 6 Plus has a 8-megapixel camera with optical image stabilisation. While the Samsung camera has the highest resolution, it will be fool hardy to thing the camera on the iPhone 6 Plus will be inferior because of its lower resolution. The ISP on the A8 chip has proven to be excellent and in terms of colours and dynamic range and previous iPhones have been better than most Android phones in terms of photography. This should remain true even in this case. The Galaxy Note 4 will be able to produce images that are easily cropped. The Nexus line of devices have never come with a great shooter, though we hope that this time it is different. But for now, we can't confidently says that the Nexus 6 camera will compare favourably to the cameras in the iPhone 6 Plus and the Note 4.

Bottom line: iPhone 6 Plus is likely to be the best shooter in the pack

Software and features

As far as a big screen experience goes, the Galaxy Note 4 should be the best of the lot as software wise Samsung offers many tweaks, especially the multi-window mode and some of the features that use the stylus bundled with the device. If you can master the stylus and associated features offered with it, Note 4 will allow you to do more. That said, mastering these features may not be easy and not everyone is likely to use the gazillion features offered by Samsung as part of the TouchWiz user interface, which runs on top of Android in the Galaxy devices.

The Google Nexus 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus will likely offer a simpler, less complex software experience. The Nexus 6 is powered by Android Lollipop, and the iPhone has iOs 8. For the time being the Note 4 will be running an outdated OS in the form of Android KitKat. Also, both the Nexus 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus will receive the fast OS updates for at least two years. We can't say the same for the Note 4.

Bottom line: Galaxy Note 4 offers more features, the iPhone 6 Plus and Nexus will be easier to use.

Internal hardware

The Galaxy Note 4 and the Nexus 6 are both powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chip and the Adreno 420 GPU. This means both will be faster than the current Android flagship phones, but the Nexus 6 may have an edge in the day-to-day performance as it will have better optimised software. After all, it is a Nexus smartphone and it runs on Android Lollipop.
The iPhone 6 Plus on the other hand uses Apple's own dual-core A8 chip which has a 64-bit architecture. In terms of raw performance, the Apple's processor is noticeably faster. At least this is what the benchmarks like GFXBench and the GeekBench reveal. Though in real-life we expect both the Nexus 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus to offer smooth and similar performance. The user interface on the Note 4 may not feel equally smooth because of the TouchWiz which has a tendency to lag in animation for no apparent reasons. While gaming, we expect all three devices to offer similar performance.

Both the Galaxy Note 4 and the Nexus 6 have 3GB of RAM. The iPhone 6 Plus has 1GB RAM. While under most circumstances it is not going to matter, considering Apple software is well optimised, in case of multi-tab web browsing or multitasking while playing games etc, the device with 3GB RAM may offer slightly better experience.

In terms of memory, the Galaxy Note 4 is the most adaptable of the lot as it offers 32GB of storage and has a microSD card slot. The iPhone 6 Plus offers the most SKUs ranging between a 16GB, 64GB and a 128GB model. The Nexus 6 only offers a 32GB and 64GB model.

Bottom line: The iPhone 6 Plus has theoretically a faster processor but all three devices have enough power to please even most demanding users.

Extras

The iPhone 6 Plus and the Galaxy Note 4 have extra features like a fingerprint scanner. In the case of the Note 4, there is even a heart rate monitor. The Nexus 6 does not have these niceties.

Bottom line: Do you need a fingerprint scanner? We don't find it particularly useful but if you want to have it, go for it. At least on the iPhone it is known to work reliably and it does add an extra layer of security.

Design and build quality

The iPhone 6 Plus is the sleekest of the lot. It is also the only one among these three to have a metal body. But then it is also susceptible to bending. Ouch! The Galaxy Note 4 and the Nexus 6 both have a metal frame around their plastic bodies. Though in terms of design, the Nexus 6 has a really good-looking shape with all the curves and rounded edges. That should also help it fit well in hands. Again, going by the Moto X (which we reviewed a few days ago) we believe that the nexus 6 will look really good and have the kind of plastic that will feel and look better than the plastic back cover used in the Note 4.

Bottom line: iPhone 6 Plus is the sleekest and most premium looking but the Nexus 6 will hold up well.