It’s not hard to find an argument against Samsung’s latest when we compare it to Google’s pure Android offering. But that goes both ways. While the Nexus 6P is a great phone, it’s certainly not perfect. Samsung actually did a better job in numerous ways. “How so?” you ask? Let’s run through it.
1. Display
When I heard that the Nexus 6P packs a current Samsung AMOLED panel, I was content. I had the previous Nexus 6 and was dissatisfied with Motorola’s AMOLED implementation (the outdoor visibility was terrible). Unfortunately, the 6P’s display pales in comparison to how it looks on a Samsung device (I also owned last year’s S6 and Note5). It goes to show ya that it’s not just about the hardware, but how you use it. Huawei was not equipped to make that panel shine.
Therefore, when I put the S7 Edge and Nexus 6P side by side, to my eyes, there’s just no comparison. The 6P’s display looks duller and has a color tint to it. It also can’t get as bright and doesn’t perform nearly as well as the S7 Edge’s display outdoors. I can barely see what’s on the 6P’s screen when the sun is shining.
2. Camera
The camera on the 6P is a vast improvement from its predecessor (which actually doesn’t say a lot in itself). The move to large 1.55µm pixels really gives it a low-light advantage in the flagship arena. The Galaxy S7’s camera pixel size technically falls short, at 1.4µm.
However, the performance of the S7’s camera clearly outshines Google’s sensor is a couple ways. First, Samsung’s Dual Pixel system allow for extremely fast auto-focusing. It’s way faster then the 6P’s auto-focus. This is because each and every pixel in Samsung’s sensor helps the process. In my experience, the 6P’s focusing can be hit or miss, while the S7 is consistent.
The lens’s aperture (size of the opening) is larger on the S7 – f/1.7 vs f/2.0 on the 6P. This also helps capture more light in those tricky low-light situations. Check out my Nexus 6P vs S7 Edge camera comparison; several of the images are brighter and more vibrant.
3. Form Factor
I could not believe how much top and bottom bezel is on the Nexus 6P when I first saw it. The phone is much taller than a 5.7″ device should be. Granted, there are two front-facing speakers, but the Nexus 6 had them too and kept reasonable bezels.
Samsung continually keeps bezel in check and compacts the phone dimensions as much as possible in its designs. For instance, the Note5 is 153.2mm tall while the 6P is 159.3mm. This also means a screen-to-body ratio of 75.9% on the Note5 vs 71.4% on the 6P. The screen-to-body ratio of the S7 Edge is 76.1%.
4. Storage Expansion
It’s no secret that Google dislikes microSD expansion. The company dropped it from Nexus phones a long time ago, and despite manufacturers fighting back, Google continues to stand its ground.
But from a consumer’s perspective, it’s hard to deny how nice microSD expansion is. We usually get charged an arm and a leg to increase the internal storage, leaving many of us to just settle with the base option because we can’t afford any more. We also can’t forget that the OS takes up a chunk of that storage.
Expanding via microSD is such a cheaper alternative, and you can potentially get a lot more storage than any internal storage option would offer. The Galaxy S7 lets you add 200GB more on top what you already have.
5. IP68 Rating
Many of us get swept away by the oohs and awws of a premium-built smartphone. It’s easy to forget that phone’s live on our hands and are always in a state of danger. I personally hate cases and always baby my phones, but sometimes there’s no stopping life from messing with it.
While the Galaxy S7 is far from a rugged phone, it at least can survive water and dust attacks. An IP68 rating says that it can be submerged in up to 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes and supposedly be fine. The Nexus 6P just has its looks, so users need to be more careful with it.
Final Thoughts
The point of this discussion comes down to this: Samsung easily bests the Nexus 6P in terms of hardware. You’ll see many Android enthusiasts say that the 6P wins hands-down because software is most important, but what actually matters most depends on you. Samsung’s TouchWiz interface isn’t deficient, it works. And if you put hardware at the top of your list (like I do), then the better phone is clear.
100% agree with everything you said. I just swapped my 6P for an S7 for my wife.
I agree with everything but a brand new S7 (cheapest i’ve found was $850 CDN) costs almost 50% more than then 6p ($600 CDN).
Kinda expect the phone to be much better considering the price tag.
You sound like a paid shill for samsungs lackluster phones
What about the lumia you took the photos with…..
That’s a Nexus 5X in the Note5 and 6P pic :-P
Theres something to be said about stock. The software has a big impact on hardware
A mediocre writing of a Samsung Galaxy commercial with no analysis. In fact the 6P performs better and faster because it has none of the Galaxy’s bloat ware a/K/a shit. And what about the updates? Good night.
In a year or more, the S7 will probably see it’s last upgrade ever, to android N, while I’ll be enjoying the beta of android O..
I get what your saying and I lover the updates on my 5x. However I also love SD cards, waterproof, wireless charging, better screen and camera, better battery life on my s7 edge. The 6p is a great device but it doesn’t have everything I want.
I went from Nexus 6 to s7. Loved the large screen and dual speakers but the s7 is way more practical for me day to day. It has some annoyances compared to Nexus but the benefits outweigh any negatives
You can by the max storage 6p for $150 less than the Samsung. If you save to drive you only need storage for apps.Waterproof and wireless charging are nice and also the camera on the Samsung.
True but the max storage is 128gb on the 6p though. With the s7 it’s 200gb + 32gb. So it’s about 100gb less capable.
And no frigging physical buttons. I love AOSP soft buttons
Not meaning to be argumentive , but a split second faster opening an app doesn’t make a huge plus in my book, I have one of the older very bloated touchwiz note 4’s,
and out of the box it was a slug no argument, but you can optimize it , I still have mine .
I have had a go of current galaxy’s and the improvement is huge, they are very fast,
I also have a 64 GB 6p and to be sure it’s a fairly good device, but it lacks lots of features, in my eyes if it didn’t have good performance and a decent camera , you would ask the question how is it rated as a flagship?
Pure Android is pretty Spartan of features, and some people like that.
But i think the best thing about it is you can throw a launcher on it on a minute or two.
The article seems on the money to me,
my note 4 has better screen color than my 6p whites are whiter and tuned grey. the screen is about 20 % brighter,
don’t get me wrong the 6p still has a beautiful screen , but it’s not implemented as well.
So we’ll have to agree to disagree.
Anyone using the 6p’s screen as an example of something that is negative on it is clearly grasping at straws here.. the 6p’s screen is absolutely beautiful. And unlike samsung I believe there is the added ability to tweak the RGB values to account for how AMOLED’s are too over-saturated for some people. So, yea. If the screen is what you’re going to use you are essentially saying the 6p is better, and I agree.
Sorry mate , I have a 6p, granted it’s still a very nice screen, but put it next to a Samsung phone and you you will see the difference , I have both, and when they are together the differences stand out like dogs balls,
but nothing I can say will change your mind because you are a believer. So we will just leave it there bud, have a good day.
Yep, I am a believer in the truth.
: ). : ). : )
You’re right though, the 6p’s screen is really nice.
Bullshit fitnesspro22. .. stop being a commercial for stock android
Lol, on every step it’s like ‘So the 6p’s whatever is technically better, but..’ Haha, this article seems to just be saying what we all already know: the 6p smokes the 7 edge is every way, and then Is cheaper to boot. You can get the 5x new for 199$ and it’s still a better phone than the edge.
Wow your very wrong. The sd820 over the sd810 is a vast improvement in itself. The s7 is faster than the 6p. I have a 5x and an s7 edge. The only thing I like better on the 5x is nexus imprint. Nexus phones are barebones and some people are OK with that. I would be too if the hardware wasn’t lacking. No SD card, waterproof, wireless charging, huge battery, camera to a lesser degree since nexus has gotten better there. I love the nexus line but I love my s7 edge more. Just my preference.
You’re*.
The SD card is the one and only thing the S7 has over the 6p, and that is a really nice feature. Personally, I never need more than 32GB on my phone, and I have 64GB on my current one so it doesn’t really affect me.
Other than that, though, the 6p’s statistics are overwhelmingly better in virtually every aspect.
The Nexus 6p is a flagship phone, not a barebones phone. What that means is that it is a high end device. You may be referring to the Nexus 5 and earlier, which were not meant to be flagship phones, but that was a while ago so you may need to read up on the latest Google phone releases.
Some more huge advantages to the Nexus phones over samsung are the fact that they are updated for YEARS longer (The very first google Nexus 7 Asus tablet from over 4 years ago still has the very latest android updates available. I have samsung tablets that are barely 1.5 years old which no longer receive any updates from samsung whatsoever), and updates are released many months sooner. They don’t come with any bloatware like samsung does. You can answer and make calls from your computer and tablet and any other device with the stock installed google hangouts software easily, without the need for additional apps or services like mightytext which you’d need on samsung.
The google fi network is cheaper and better than any cell phone network you could use with your Samsung device (it starts at 20USD/Month), and I can go to essentially any foreign country and make and receive calls for free with no roaming charges.
The truth is, it’s no contest. Samsung is great and so are their phones, but this is the flagship phone from Google, the guys who own Android. It’s really difficult for any other company to compete at all, so it’s not a bad thing that the S7 edge is worse, it’s just a fact. Not to mention that the 6p is 200 dollars less expensive.
Not even close.
Hmmmm where to start….the sd 820 is much faster than the sd810. The s7 has more ram. It has a better camera. It has a larger batter with a slightly smaller screen so a little better battery life. Touchwiz is toned way down so the bloatware is not really much of an issue anymore. I tried fi with my 5x and its good in the middle of a city, go even a few miles outside it and its crap. Zero to 2 bars at my house and fluctuates. Cant even make a call so fi is a no go for me. And dont tell me about wifi calling. My cell has to work when there is no power or wifi. The 6p has no water resistance, doesnt support wireless charging and no sd card. So your right it is no contest. Plain vanilla android is the only advantage the 6p has. For me thats not enough.
It’s* You’re* That’s*
Maybe you didn’t read my last comment. I live in a small town in a small state and the Fi network works better than Verizon, Sprint or T Mobile. Also, there is this cool thing called “Google Maps” made by the same guys who make the 6p (you may have heard of them) where you can check out the Fi network coverage before you buy. I did that before I bought it to make sure I was inside the covered area and sure enough it works at the highest network speed. If you think someone will notice the 810 OCTA CORE processor slowing them down in any way, shape or form you’re an fool If you think a 3,450 mAh battery is somehow not good you’re a fool. I haven’t been able to even get this thing to low battery yet a single time, and I forget to charge it often. Every small point you make in favor of the 7 edge is shadowed by a HUGE advantage of the 6p, be it the network, the utility of using your number on dozens of devices for calls and texts, the ability to travel and have to do absolutely nothing to use your phone essentially anywhere on the planet, etc etc.
It’s not even a big deal to lose to the company who run the Android OS that samsung phones use, and you’re free to like their phones. They’re just not as good. I’m sorry that that bothers you so much.
Haha it doesn’t bother me at all grammar Nazi. I just disagree with you and millions agree with me. I never once said the 6p is bad phone. It in fact is a very good one. However for my uses the s7 edge works better in my daily life. I would also submit that the “small advantages” are actually quite huge to a lot of people. If I didn’t need and/or want the hardware the 6p is missing I would probably use it. And about fi I was referring to my usage. I actually tried it out and frankly it’s not very good where I live and work. I bought the 5x with reduced price to try the service out. After 6 calls to fi support they finally just admitted our service isn’t good enough where you live. I did check the map before I bought it and it says lte coverage where I live. Fi said their map isn’t always accuse. You can say the s7 is inferior all you want, sadly it won’t make it true. Your cheaper and I love the nexus imprint. Our than that the 6p is just another phone that’s getting passed up with each new release. Your welcome to your opinion but please you can keep your condescending attitude. You assume no one is as informed as. I am a tech myself so I don’t need any lecture from you. I don’t agree with you but that’s OK. Both are great devices, I just prefer my s7 edge.
Disagree all you wan’t, doesn’t change the fact that you’re wrong.
Wow name calling thats all you got? You cant back it up with any facts and the fact is I am only wrong to you. Any phone can be the greatest phone to the person that owns it. If they love it doesnt matter what you think. Calling me dumb just shows your immaturity. Good luck in life with that lol.
Still wrong, and starting to sound a bit pouty. Stop crying already, the s7 is fine for the average consumer, so long as you just need something basic to make calls and texts from.
Your entitled to your opinion but I still think your wrong. Doesnt really matter though. You are happy with your device and I am as well everyone wins. But its obvious your the pouty one. Calling someone dumb because you dont agree with them is childish and immature. Youll go far in life i’am sure lol. Take care!
Hahaha, just remember: You’re the one who got upset because someone had an opinion different than yours! Time to grow up.
Lol I am probably twice your age. And I never got upset or offended. Obviously you didnt understand my points. I am very hard to actually upset. Honestly its a phone after all, why would anyone get upset about someone else choice? You dont like it when someone disagrees with you thats clear. Its cool though. Good luck to you.
http://www.walltor.com/images/wallpaper/baby-photography—a-crying-little-girl-89258.jpg
I wouldn’t bother entertaining this troll, Vincent, clearly that’s his only agenda. Nothing he says is true and the username, etc he is using says it all. If he has some balls he will use whatever his usual username is but clearly he doesn’t. Definitely a nexus fan boy. Reminds me of the apple fanbois. No brains and too much time on is hands.
Very true. It’s sad he can’t have an intelligent mature debate. What’s more bizzare is I said several times I really like nexus phones. I just can’t use one as a daily driver due to some missing features and hardware. I own a 5x and it’s great. I use it to preview new Android versions and maybe trying out different carriers before committing. At least there are some objective people on here.
It usually stems from insecurity and jealousy. Only the weak are cruel. At least he gets to fulfill his dream of being strong by trying to bully people online. There’s no advantage in behaving the way he is but hey some people just can’t help themselves
Your gonna be that guy in two years talking and how bad ass his 3 year old phone still is ( but it won’t be cause it’ll lag like Richard Pryor doing math).
And to all the touch Id rejoicers, nexus 4 was one of the first phones to release with it, had it 4 years ago. Its cool if you never use your phone when its low on charge.
What are you even talking about? I don’t keep a phone than 1 to 1.5 years tops. I’ve had a lot of major phones and I have 5 lines on my account. I currently have an iPhone 6s ,LG 4, s7 edge, turbo 2 and a Sony z3. I buy a phone for hardware and features I want and couldn’t give a flip about pure android. I have had 3 menus phones. They are nice but always lacking somewhere. It’s not a huge deal since they are cheaper. But on my daily driver I need an SD card since I carry about 70 gigs of music video and pics with me. Also I love wireless charging that the nexus line ditched a few years back. I’ll never fault anyone for buying a nexus they are excellent phones. But they are never the best phones with the most features. Which is why they cost less. Pay for what you want. No need to bash someone because they don’t think nexus is the best.
Your a real primadonna. Homosexual? I ain’t judging if you are. Hey you people should be able to get married. 70 gbs of music and videos. Damn. Your a pervert too? Hey if you want to be that weirdo and go jack off in a public fitting room watching porn that’s your choice.
Last year I bought a G4, s6 s6 edge and edge plus, v10 note 5 6p one plus 2. And that’s just last year. Didn’t get an iPhone they’re just too boring anymore. I get any device I choose. Nexus makes a habit of doing things before anyone else like the wireless charging that was my point. They set the bar.
Home? Wow. Someone doesn’t agree with you and they are gay or you slur them in some way. Another Internet tough guy lmao! I have 70 gigs of stuff because I like my music mostly. The rest is pics for work. I travel aloto and need info for parts and engineering purposes. I don’t delete the info since years later I may need it. Not that I need to explain anything to you. You ass-ume someone is a perv because they use their phone different than you. It shows your ignorance and childish nature. I suggest you grow up and be a real man. And btw Nokia had wireless charging on their windows phone before nexus. Again I like nexus phones and even own one currently. I own the 4 and the 5 too. They just don’t have everything I want to use as a daily driver
Hidden in the kernel is the outdoor brightness mode that makes the 6P’s brightness the same as the Note 5, sadly you need a custom kernel for it. I actually prefer the 6P display because I can turn on sRGB and enjoy accurate and not over blown colors.
You win on the camera, Samsung has always scored high there.
Bezels are an easy trade for front facing stereo speakers. With Samsung you chose watching the video, or listening to the video, never both.
MicroSD has never been included on a Nexus, sadly, and it’s another small win for Samsung. I used to buy the biggest storage and microSD but I’ve found I just don’t use more than 64gb on the phone.
The water resistant is another win for the S7, but I wouldn’t risk purposely taking the phone into water, I’d use it as accident protection.
Overall, I’d easily stick with the 6P and I’ll enjoy quick and snappy Android O or even P in a few years while you’d simply need a new galaxy phone to get that.
Edit: Note that this article doesn’t cover the glaring advantages of the 6P, like Nexus Imprint, much better fingerprint sensor, software, etc.
I loved my Nexus 6 on N, and it even had wireless charging. The s7 is just more practical for me daily with the waterproofing. The single speaker sucks in comparison(I knew it was going to in advance) but it’s livable. Probably the best bonus is I can use an Otterbox Defender again(holster case was sorely missed), wireless charging will work properly through the thick case
Glaring advantages ? There’s nothing in it as far as speed in the finger print sensor goes, software is subjective, add to that the galaxy phones have very good battery life and wireless charging , better ergonomics, but to reach his own.
Where can I get the wallpaper that is on both nexus6p and s7
Does anyone have the link
Here ya go: https://goo.gl/photos/XUbYsRQBsxkJGfHw9
Thanks for such a quick reply and wall
You missed a big plus for the Nexus 6p, cost!
Nexus 6p 64gb = $549
Galaxy S7 64gb = $849.99
Price point for me wins!
Old saying………… You get what you pay for .
The stats are better for the 6p too. It’s faster. It has better hardware. It gets updated far more often. If the prices were the same, I’d still buy the 6p hands down. And I like Samsung, it just can’t compete with Google now that they’re entering into the flagship phone ring.
I love all you stock lovers. Heck I even fell for this BS once and bought a nexus device and found out just how bare bones and dysfunctional stock android really is. Gave my nexus device away after a couple of days and bought a proper functioning device. If I wanted a featureless phone I’d have bought an iPhone. Sadly the best phones and tablets I’ve ever used initially were made by HTC and then by Samsung especially now. I skipped the sub par S6 and note 5 range for sure because common sense wins out. No micro sd expansion , are you kidding me? My view is the opposite to you guys so feel free to down vote me as much as you like. I want a fully featured device when I pick it up and that ain’t the nexus line sadly
I mean look at the pixel c. Great screen but terrible functionality . Even the ipad pro can run 2 apps side by side. What a big fail by the nexus guys. It was so crap that I decided to buy a Microsoft tablet instead. For people who want an android version of apple products , sure go nexus and good luck to you all.
2 reasons why all of your reasons do not matter, one the front facing speakers are amazing on the 6p and 2 no bloatware at all on the 6p and will get timely updates before Samsung or the carriers ever have a chance and of argument!
This is a very silly article. You’re comparing two devices in completely different price ranges. Also, the 6P came out 6 months ago which is a lifetime in terms of technology. The S7 is no doubt a great device, but the 6P is equally great given its price tag.
Nexus devices were never for the masses, nor really were they marketed as being top of the line flagship phones. I believe Google’s intent is to offer a phone with very respectable specs and a pure Android experience, which comes with the added benefits of a guaranteed upgrade path and or development environment. The 6P accomplishs all this and is no slouch in comparison to $800+ flag ships offer by Samsung, etc.
Well brought nexus 6p few days ago. The phone beats s7 hands down. No bloatware and all. I would love to use he s7 as a flashlight if its so bright.#nooffence
Easy root, Xposed with Gravitybox, monthly security updates, and no need to optimize it by removing bloatware means Nexus (6p currently) devices will always win for me. Samsung just cannot compete in these areas, and these areas are what impact my smartphone usage the most.
But you know what they say, opinions are like a**holes…
Product too early of a release to compare. Galaxy phones are famous for bogging down after awhile with all their bells and whistles. Compare again after a year later.
In two years when the 6p is on Android Oreo or whatever and your complaining of your irrelevant Android lollipop or marshmallow on your lagging as hell s7 you’ll realize why the 6p is ultimately better
This entire article is ridiculous. When you have to resort to minutiae that no one cares about to attempt to make a point you’ve already failed. Of course anyone who “owned” that many phones in one year is already lacking in sense if not outright credibility.
As a Nexus 6p owner I got the phone because I want updates. That being said there a lot of 6p nut huggers. These guys have an Android news site. You can’t expect them to write nothing but articles praising the 6p.
I literally just sold my gs7 edge, cause I prefer nexus 6p , it’s a good phone but the nexus is superior
Shitwizz, end of story.
The author has overlooked a feature especially important for readers in the United States. That is the capability of working on all major mobile/cellular networks in the country.
When people in other countries have ability to switch mobile carriers/MVNOs (mobile virtual network operator) at will for best fitted mobile plan for more than a decade without getting new handset, most people in United States still lack of such ability thanks to handset manufacture like Samsung continues to make only carrier specific handset for the United States in favor of carriers instead of consumer. Where I believe the author should be in favor of consumer in the United States, stop high rating handsets without this important capability at the first place.
With over 80% of population in the country live in urban areas, and Wi-Fi is widely available at home that very well means any major carrier/MVNO can serve vast majority of people well enough.
Competition has been heated up since government blocked Sprint and T-Mobile merger. Almost all carriers have dropped two years contract and subsidizing handset in favor of lower plan pricing. There are even three MVNOs offer no monthly fee (basically free) mobile phone plans, but require BYOD (bring your own device — phone) if one is not willing to pay for a compatible device.
With phone manufacture like Samsung offers high priced phone with complete lock down, carrier specific mobile communication technology and radio bands, consumer once brought their phone effectively also mean they have to stay with same carrier or its MVNO for two years even they paid for the phone in full out right.
Some may argue that is not the case for GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications, originally Groupe Spécial Mobile) handsets without knowing the handset simply lack of complete bands support for both GSM carriers in the United States and requires domestic as well as international unlock separately by carrier/MVNO that is in addition to regional lock from Samsung. Let alone carrier/MVNO modification for their own benefit such as removing SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) capability from native Android Phone app so carrier/MVNO can continue to include voice and text as separate items in their plans when everything eventually will be just over LTE (Long-Term Evolution), and these items have been totally free of charge from multiple third parties for years. Not to mention those modifications caused months of delay for the operating system update.
To sum up, the author opts to consider the capability of working on every major mobile/cellular network in the country as essential instead of non factor at all for the benefit of consumer as that is his readers.
Great article and bang on the money. Not sure why Nexus users hate Samsung so much. They make brilliant phones and Android is so dominant in the world because of them. Without Samsung Android market share would be WAY less.
As for updates, Samsung phones are already great out-of the box especially the new Galaxy models and the Note 5. Security updates come 2 weeks or less after Google releases them. The big issue seems.to revolve around always having the latest version of Android. And that’s not an issue for 99% of people, just the Nexus fanboys. Everyone else is happy when the phone works and dies what they need it to.
Android N on the whole only introduces multi window support, which Samsung had had for years, and probably gave Google the code for, so they could add it to N. Basically if you have a Samsung on Marshmallow you already have N in a way. There’s nothing new there which Samsung doesn’t already have.
And in 2 years time when the Galaxy no longer gets the latest OS, just sell the phone and get the latest or root it and install stock/custom firmware.
Samsung definitely wins in every way.
No skin will ever be better than stock android.