Larger screens are increasingly popular on mobile devices, and if you’re looking for a flagship device in a phablet size there are many contenders. Two of the biggest rivals are the already available Apple iPhone 6 Plus and Samsung Galaxy Note 4, and they are to be joined very shortly by the Google Nexus 6 made by Motorola. Today we’re looking at the iPhone 6 Plus vs. Galaxy Note 4 vs. Nexus 6 in a straightforward specs rundown.
We won’t be going into the many features of these smartphones here or the designs, as that is very much a case of personal preference. We’ll show you the key specs of each of these handsets and more though, so that you have a good idea of what they each have to offer and how they compete against each other in this respect.
Processors
The iPhone 6 Plus has a 1.4GHz Apple A8 dual-core processor and PowerVR GX6450 quad-core GPU. The Galaxy Note 4 has either a 2.7GHz Snapdragon 805 quad-core processor or an Exynos 5433 octa-core processor dependent on region. This comes with Adreno 420 or Mali-T760 graphics respectively. The Nexus 6 also packs a 2.7GHz Snapdragon 805 quad-core CPU and Adreno 420 GPU.
Display
The Apple phone has a 5.5-inch IPS LCD display with resolution of 1920 x 1080 and 401 ppi. The Samsung Note 4 has a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display with Quad HD resolution of 2560 x 1440 and 515 ppi. Finally the Motorola Nexus 6 phone has a whopping 5.96-inch display with Quad HD resolution of 2560 x 1440 resulting in 493 ppi.
RAM and Storage
There’s 1GB of RAM for the iPhone 6 Plus and it comes in 16, 64 or 128GB models for internal storage (non-expandable). The Galaxy Note 4 has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage that’s expandable via microSD to 128GB. The Nexus 6 has 3GB of RAM and 32 or 64GB models for internal storage, but like the iPhone this is non-expandable.
Camera set-up
There are a huge amount of camera features for all of these phones. The basic arrangement of the iPhone 6 Plus consists of an 8-megapixel rear camera with phase detection autofocus, dual-LED flash and optical image stabilization. Video capture is 1080p@60fps or 720p@240p and it also has a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera. The Galaxy Note 4 has a 16-megapixel rear camera with autofocus, LED flash, optical image stabilization and video capture of 2160p@30fps or 1080p@60fps. It has a 3.7-megapixel front-facing snapper. The Nexus 6 has a 13-megapixel rear camera with autofocus, dual-LED flash and optical image stabilization, with video recording capability of 2160p@30fps. It has a 2-megapixel rear camera
Battery
The iPhone 6 Plus has a non-removable 2915 mAh battery while the Galaxy Note 4 has a removable 3220 mAh battery. The Nexus 6 has a non-removable 3220 mAh battery.
Connectivity
All of these phones support 4G LTE, GPRS and EDGE. The iPhone 6 Plus has WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with dual-band and WiFi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC (Apple Pay only), and USB 2.0. The Galaxy Note 4 has Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with dual-band, WiFi Direct and WiFi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, and microUSB 2.0 with USB OTG (on-the-go). The Nexus 6 has WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with dual-band, DLNA, WiFi Direct and WiFi hotspot, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, and microUSB 2.0 with USB OTG.
Operating System
A differentiating factor of the iPhone 6 Plus is that it runs Apple’s iOS 8.1 whereas the other two are both Android. The Galaxy Note 4 runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat that will be upgraded to Android 5.0 Lollipop at some stage. The Nexus 6 will release running Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box.
Dimensions and Weight
The iPhone 6 Plus measures 158.1mm x 77.8mm x 7.1mm and weighs 172g. The Galaxy Note 4 measures 153.5mm x 78.6mm x 8.5mm and weighs 176g. The Nexus 6 measures 159.3mm x 83mm x 10.1mm and weighs in at 184g.
Price
Obviously pricing will differ by region and often retailer and carrier. As they are all high-end flagship devices they have prices to match as you might expect. As a general guide the cheapest model of the iPhone 6 Plus starts at $299 on a two-year contract, the same as for the Galaxy Note 4. Meanwhile Google Play US is selling the Nexus 6 off-contract for $649. The contract price from carriers hasn’t been confirmed yet but is thought to be around $199.
As you can see from the above specs, all three of these phones have plenty to recommend them. The different software experiences could be a deciding factor. Also, we should point out that it isn’t always straightforward to compare specs and assume that the higher numbers mean the best, as different technologies are used to optimize performance for many aspects.
There are also a multitude of features for each phone, which we haven’t room to go into here. As an example though, the iPhone 6 Plus has a fingerprint sensor and Apple Pay, while the Galaxy Note 4 also has a fingerprint scanner as well as use of the S Pen stylus, and the Nexus 6 is water-resistant and features wireless charging. Once you’ve taken a look at the respective specs of each device it would be really interesting to hear where you stand in this phone debate.
Is your choice the iPhone 6 Plus, Galaxy Note 4 or the Nexus 6 and why? Let us know with your comments.