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Google Nexus 6P Smartphone Preview

First impressions. Short measurements before our full review on the Google smartphone.

Our full review page is coming soon for the Nexus 6P, but we'll be providing a few of our initial measurements and comparisons beforehand. Stay tuned!

Google Nexus 6P (Nexus Series)
Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 MSM8994 8 x 2 GHz, Cortex-A57/-A53
Graphics adapter
Memory
3 GB 
, LPDDR4
Display
5.70 inch 16:9, 2560 x 1440 pixel, capacitive touchscreen, AMOLED, glossy: yes
Storage
32 GB eMMC Flash, 32 GB 
, 24.8 GB free
Connections
1 USB 2.0, Audio Connections: 3.5 mm stereo jack, 1 Fingerprint Reader, Sensors: accelerometer, proximity sensor, gyroscope, hall sensor, ambient light sensor, barometer, compass, GPS, GLONASS, NFC, OTG, Nano-SIM
Networking
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (a/b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4/ac = Wi-Fi 5/), Bluetooth 4.2, GSM/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), UMTS/WCDMA (Band 1/2/4/5/6/8/9/19), TD-SCDMA (Band 34/39), CDMA (BC 0/1), LTE (Band 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/9/17/19/20/28/38/39/40/41) Cat. 6 (300 Mbps/50 Mbps), GPS
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 7.5 x 159.3 x 77.8 ( = 0.3 x 6.27 x 3.06 in)
Battery
13 Wh, 3450 mAh Lithium-Ion, Battery runtime (according to manufacturer): 440 h, Talk time 2G (according to manufacturer): 23 h
Operating System
Android 6.0 Marshmallow
Camera
Primary Camera: 12 MPix Autofocus with IR laser f/2.0, 2160p-Video @ 30 fps
Secondary Camera: 8 MPix Fixed-focus f/2.4, 1080p-Video @ 30 fps
Additional features
Speakers: stereo speakers (front), Keyboard: virtual, PSU, 2 USB cables (type C to type C, type C to type A), SIM tool, 24 Months Warranty
Weight
178 g ( = 6.28 oz / 0.39 pounds), Power Supply: 88 g ( = 3.1 oz / 0.19 pounds)
Price
649 EUR
Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

 

Display

AMOLED subpixel array
AMOLED subpixel array

Right off the bat, we can see that the display of the Nexus 6P provides accurate and grayscale with a virtually perfect contrast This comes at a cost, unfortunately, as the AMOLED panel is simply not as accurate as the panel on the Nexus 5X, especially at higher saturation levels. The backlight is weaker than its smaller counterpart as well.

362
cd/m²
372
cd/m²
386
cd/m²
353
cd/m²
363
cd/m²
376
cd/m²
349
cd/m²
356
cd/m²
371
cd/m²
Distribution of brightness
tested with X-Rite i1Pro Basic 2
Maximum: 386 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 365.3 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 90 %
Center on Battery: 363 cd/m²
Contrast: ∞:1 (Black: 0 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 2.34 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5
ΔE Greyscale 1.03 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
Gamma: 2.23
Google Nexus 6P
5.7-inch 2560x1440
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 SM-N920A
5.7-inch 2560x1440
Google Nexus 6
6-inch 2560x1440
Apple iPhone 6S Plus
5.5-inch 1920x1080
Motorola Moto X Play
5.5-inch 1920x1080
OnePlus 2
5.5-inch 1920x1080
Response Times
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% *
44 ?(15, 29)
Response Time Black / White *
25.6 ?(9.2, 16.4)
PWM Frequency
Screen
-7%
-108%
-43%
-92%
-61%
Brightness middle
363
394.8
9%
274
-25%
583
61%
641
77%
451
24%
Brightness
365
397
9%
264
-28%
560
53%
620
70%
446
22%
Brightness Distribution
90
91
1%
89
-1%
91
1%
93
3%
90
0%
Black Level *
0.46
0.4
0.3
Colorchecker dE 2000 *
2.34
1.49
36%
6.99
-199%
3.55
-52%
5.37
-129%
3.84
-64%
Greyscale dE 2000 *
1.03
1.98
-92%
4.01
-289%
3.88
-277%
6.01
-483%
3.97
-285%
Gamma
2.23 99%
2.19 100%
2.03 108%
2.2 100%
2.44 90%
2.46 89%
CCT
6429 101%
6382 102%
6329 103%
7280 89%
7806 83%
7283 89%
Contrast
1267
1603
1503
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998)
59.05
58.07
Color Space (Percent of sRGB)
92.8
90.14
Total Average (Program / Settings)
-7% / -7%
-108% / -108%
-43% / -43%
-92% / -92%
-61% / -61%

* ... smaller is better

Grayscale
Grayscale
Saturation Sweeps
Saturation Sweeps
ColorChecker
ColorChecker

Performance

The heart of the Nexus 6P is the same Snapdragon 810 SoC as found on the OnePlus 2. Even with this in mind, 3DMark Ice Storm unlimited scores are still higher on the Google device. Processing power is worst than the Exynos used for the Galaxy Note 5, yet graphics power from the Adreno 430 is higher.

3DMark
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Physics (sort by value)
Google Nexus 6P
14983 Points
Motorola Moto X Play
6839 Points -54%
OnePlus 2
10985 Points -27%
Google Nexus 6
18113 Points +21%
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 SM-N920A
17380 Points +16%
Apple iPhone 6S Plus
12854 Points -14%
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics Score (sort by value)
Google Nexus 6P
34758 Points
Motorola Moto X Play
7796 Points -78%
OnePlus 2
31858 Points -8%
Google Nexus 6
25480 Points -27%
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 SM-N920A
26964 Points -22%
Apple iPhone 6S Plus
41615 Points +20%
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Score (sort by value)
Google Nexus 6P
26876 Points
Motorola Moto X Play
7561 Points -72%
OnePlus 2
22400 Points -17%
Google Nexus 6
23368 Points -13%
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 SM-N920A
24020 Points -11%
Apple iPhone 6S Plus
27795 Points +3%

Legend

 
Google Nexus 6P Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 MSM8994, Qualcomm Adreno 430, 32 GB eMMC Flash
 
Motorola Moto X Play Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 MSM8939, Qualcomm Adreno 405, 16 GB eMMC Flash
 
OnePlus 2 Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 MSM8994, Qualcomm Adreno 430, 64 GB eMMC Flash
 
Google Nexus 6 Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 APQ8084, Qualcomm Adreno 420, 32 GB eMMC Flash
 
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 SM-N920A Samsung Exynos 7420 Octa, ARM Mali-T760 MP8, 32 GB UFS 2.0 Flash
 
Apple iPhone 6S Plus Apple A9, Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600, Apple AP0064K (iPhone NVMe)

Emissions

Temperature

Surface temperatures remain surprisingly low considering the overheating hoopla that the Snapdragon chips have been experiencing. At worst, we were able to record a maximum of 37 C when under Stability Test stress.

Max. Load
 38.5 °C
101 F
35.7 °C
96 F
33.9 °C
93 F
 
 38.8 °C
102 F
36.7 °C
98 F
33.9 °C
93 F
 
 37.6 °C
100 F
35.3 °C
96 F
33.3 °C
92 F
 
Maximum: 38.8 °C = 102 F
Average: 36 °C = 97 F
33.8 °C
93 F
36.1 °C
97 F
36.7 °C
98 F
33.2 °C
92 F
36.7 °C
98 F
35.7 °C
96 F
33.8 °C
93 F
35.5 °C
96 F
35 °C
95 F
Maximum: 36.7 °C = 98 F
Average: 35.2 °C = 95 F
Power Supply (max.)  28.6 °C = 83 F | Room Temperature 22.3 °C = 72 F | Voltcraft IR-260
(±) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 36 °C / 97 F, compared to the average of 32.7 °C / 91 F for the devices in the class Smartphone.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 38.8 °C / 102 F, compared to the average of 35 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 56 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 36.7 °C / 98 F, compared to the average of 33.8 °C / 93 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 27.3 °C / 81 F, compared to the device average of 32.7 °C / 91 F.

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Allen Ngo, 2015-11- 7 (Update: 2015-11- 7)