Welcome to my Huawei Nexus 6P review. The Nexus 6P may be well over a year old with a release date of 2015, but it’s still worth a review right now and the reason for that is that it is officially the last ever Nexus branded smartphone. The Pixel line replaced the Nexus line in 2016, but that doesn’t mean support for the phone has stopped, in fact, you can still pick it up from many places online, I’d like to thank the Ideas network who kindly sent me a review sample on behalf of Vodafone. Unfortunately, Vodafone no longer stocks the phone.
Listed below are bestselling Huawei Nexus 6P review which satisfy both affordability and quality.
Nexus 6P Review: Specifications and performance
The Nexus 6P is manufactured by Huawei for Google and is in no doubt one solid phone, both in terms of specifications and design. Since it was released in 2015 the specifications are a tiny bit out of date as of now, but when the phone was released these specifications were some of the best and even today they are really good, especially as you can pick this phone up for less than £300 for the 32GB version, however do be aware that most of these are in fact seller refurbished models and finding the phone brand new is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
| Operating System | Android 7.0 Nougat |
| Display | 5.7-inch 2560×1440 AMOLED Gorilla Glass 4 |
| Processors | Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 Processor Adreno 430 GPU |
| Memory & Storage | RAM: 3GB Internal storage: 32/64/128GB |
| Rear Camera | 12.3MP 1.55 μm pixels f/2.0 aperture IR laser-assisted autofocus 4K video capture 240fps slow motion video capture Broad-spectrum CRI-90 dual flash |
| Front Camera | 8MP 1.4 µm pixels f/2.4 aperture |
| Battery | 3450 mAh |
| Dimensions | 159.3 x 77.8 x 7.3 mm |
| Weight | 178 g |
| Sensors | Fingerprint sensor Sensor Hub Accelerometer Gyroscope Barometer Proximity sensor Ambient light sensor Hall sensor Android Context Hub |
| Ports | USB Type-C 3.5 mm audio jack Single Nano SIM slot |
| Other | RGB LED notification light |
Given this impressive specification list, it’s no wonder why people loved the Nexus 6P when it was released and people still love it today. I have had only had the pleasure of using this device for two weeks but during that time I have greatly fallen in love with the power it offers.
As well as the Octa Core Snapdragon 810 that powers this device, there’s also 3GB of ram under the hood, which makes this phone one of the fastest in the Android world. This makes multi-tasking on the Nexus 6P a pleasurable experience. I was able to run games while leaving applications like Facebook, Spotify and Twitter open in the background with no lagging issues at all. This is with the phone running Android 7.1.1 after I rather cheekily updated it via OTA since it seemed to arrive with its original Android version installed.
The graphics produced by this phone are amazing. Playing games such as GTA: San Andreas and Need for Speed, made my jaw drop, thanks to the beautiful graphics I was being presented with. Since I’m not rich, I tend to own budget devices such as the Redmi 4A which is a fantastic phone but comes nowhere near to producing beautiful graphics like the Nexus 6P.
I ran a Geekbench 4 test on this phone and the scores were pretty good. The single-core score comes in at 1333, while the multicore score came in at an impressive 3745. Not as good as say the S6 that was released in the same year, but still quite good.
On the subject of specifications and performance, the Nexus 6P was originally released with Android Marshmallow, however, it now runs on Android Nougat. It uses ‘Vanilla Android”, which is the stock version of Android not seen on many phones, with the exception of the Nexus line, Pixel line and Motorola’s current generation of smartphones. This makes its one of the best phones for performance as Google don’t overload the experience with too many unremovable applications or heavy skins which all lead to slight performance hiccups. This is one of the reasons next to hardware, that the Nexus 6P runs so well.
Nexus 6P Review: Design
Being a premium phone, it’s no surprise that Huawei has sourced some of the finest materials to produce the Nexus 6P. It has a glass front and metal rear end with a uni-body design. The front end of the phone is a bit dull to look at as it looks like a black rectangle. The front is home to two front facing speakers though, which is fantastic as front facing speakers are often better than rear speakers. Also present are the other essentials you find on all premium phones such as a front facing camera and various sensors for light input and proximity.
Turn the Nexus 6P over and you are instantly greeted by one of the finest behinds to ever grace a mobile phone. Daubed vertically on the rear is the ‘Nexus’ branding and just above this is the fantastic fingerprint scanner. Then at the top is a protruding area that is home to the rear camera and the flash. All of these things together with a metal casing make this a fantastic looking phone from behind.
The right-hand side of the phone is home to a textured power button and a smooth volume rocker, both of which are located in the middle of the side. On the opposite side of the phone is a sim card tray. The bottom of the 6P is home to the USB-C type cable port, while the top is home to a 3.5mm audio port.
Unfortunately, there is one issue that affects the metal bodywork of the 6P and other metal phones in fact. It’s just too easy to damage the surface with scratches and dents as well as the fact the paint rubs off over time to reveal the silver-colored undercoat. This is the case with the Nexus 6 review unit I had my hands on. The once gorgeous grey paint job of this phone is now a ground of disappointment and sadness that shows what happens when a phone like this isn’t protected with a case. It’s scratched in places and even worst of all, paint has rubbed off from areas all around the phone to reveal that silver undercoat. It would also appear that somewhere down the line a careless reviewer has dropped the phone, which in turn has caused damage to the top hand corner of the rear that consists of two awful looking deep scrapes to the metal. If you are considering buying this phone, GET A CASE!
Nexus 6P Review: Battery performance
This is a Nexus 6P review unit, which means it has been passed around quite a few times and as such, by the time of my review, the battery life isn’t as good as it once was, but I’m still impressed with what my device is capable of in the battery department. I was able to do general tasks on my review unit such as gaming, calling, browsing the web, and sending texts all day long, with about 20 to 30% of battery left by 10.00pm and that was with a battery that was 100% fully charged at the beginning of the day. Now when I over did things like gaming and watching movies, I was lucky to get around 7 hours of battery life per day. Of course, the results would have been much better when the phone was new.
Instead of the more popular Micro-USB connection found on most devices back in 2015, the Nexus 6P comes with a USB-C connection instead. This gives the phone an impressively fast quick charging option. Charging the phone from 1% to 20% takes roughly 15 minutes, which is quite impressive. The other bonus of a USB-C cable is that you can put it in any way you like as it’s reversible. This means none of that messing about in the dark trying to connect your cable the right way, as I have done many times with older phones. This does, however, mean that the collection of MicroUSB cables you have built up over the years are going to be useless with this phone.
Nexus 6P Review: Display
The display of the 6P offers gorgeous color reproduction and overall clear images. Since it uses AMOLED display technology it does suffer from a bit of yellow tinge in areas of white coloring. I also had a bit of an issue with seeing the display properly in bright conditions, which has often meant having to lean the phone away from the sun in order to see it clearly. This was improved by raising the brightness of the display as expected, but even at its highest setting, I was still having issues.
Also present is Ambient display, which is a feature that originally launched on the Moto X. This allows the phone to make use of AMOLED technology’s ability to not have to use any black colouring on the display and instead using the natural black colouring that already there, this means most of the screen isn’t activated for black areas and thus saves on battery power.
Nexus 6P Review: Camera
The Nexus 6P comes with a 12.3MP rear camera, that is actually capable of producing some decent images. It features a 1.5 microns sensor, which allows it to take in lots of light to ensure it produces lovely bright images, even during low light situations.
If you love taking selfies or find yourself on Skype a lot, then the 8MP front-facing camera will be a pleaser for you. It’s not the best on a phone, but it is good. It provides a clear image that is perfect for video calls and snapping yourself as you do something stupid.
The stock Google camera application is simple and easy to use. There are no complications and everything is pretty much self-explanatory. I love that the power button can be pressed twice in quick succession to launch the camera application without having to unlock the phone, perfect for those once in a lifetime photo opportunities.
Nexus 6P Review: Little things that matter
The first thing’ I’m going to mention in this section is the fingerprint scanner. It’s fantastic and not once did it ever fail to identify the finger I used. It also allows for multiple fingers to be registered and used. This means you could set up fingers on each hand or even have a finger registered from a loved one so they can access your phone if need be in emergencies.
Unlocking the phone with the fingerprint scanner literally, takes less than a second from touching the sensor. The screen can be off as well so you don’t even have to press the unlock button to open the display first. This is simply fantastic.
The next thing to mention is those front facing speakers. They work a treat. The audio they produce is clear and loud enough for a mobile phone. They’re not as good as the Boomsound speakers from HTC, but none the less they rock.
Nexus 6P Review: Overall
Despite receiving a slightly worn Nexus 6P review unit, my time with the device was nothing short of amazing. The phone is fantastic and despite its age is still a good runner for anyone after a decent phone in 2017 but doesn’t want to pay Galaxy S8 prices. The Nexus 6P truly is a fantastic swan song for the Nexus brand. It’s hard to find brand new, but there are a number of decent refurbished deals out there.
Nexus 6P Review: Check it out below
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- All-metal design Unlocked, LTE smartphone with a powerful 2GHz Snapdragon 810 V2.1 Processor and the newest Android software, Android 6.0 marshmallow.
- A 5.7-Inch, high-resolution WQHD AMOLED display and front-facing stereo speakers to experience your photos and videos in cinematic Quality.
- The powerful 12 MP Camera was built to capture your world in true-to-life detail. Larger 1.55 µM pixels absorb more light¹ in even the dimmest conditions to make your photos Brighter.
- Quicker access and more security with a fingerprint sensor placed on the back to complement the way you naturally hold your Phone.
- Long lasting 3,450 mAh battery with quick charging USB Type-C plug. it's reversible, so there’s no more guessing which way is up.
Last update on 2023-11-28 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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