Google Nexus 6P vs. iPhone 6s Plus: Flagship Phablets Face Off

Though it was just announced yesterday, the Huawei-built Nexus 6P looks like it will be the flagship of the year for Android enthusiasts. Google hopes phone manufacturers and consumers will keep the 6P in mind as they craft premium devices running Android 6.0 Marshmallow. But it has some tough competition with the iPhone 6s Plus ($649.99 at AT&T Wireless) , a device Google repeatedly referenced during its Tuesday press event, comparing camera functionality, design, and features.

At its most basic level, the new Nexus 6P looks like a premium device. That hasn't always been true of the Nexus line, which has tended toward affordable plastic devices like the Nexus 4  and the Nexus 5 . That started to change when the Nexus 6 ($194.00 at Amazon) incorporated a metal frame and the Nexus 6P builds on that with an aluminum unibody.

The phone incorporates a fingerprint sensor on the back, a slightly protruding black bar for various sensors and a 5.7-inch WQHD AMOLED display on the front. The new aluminum build puts the Nexus 6P on par with the iPhone 6s Plus design, while the display has an impressive 515ppi, which could blow the 6s Plus's 5.5-inch 1080p display with 401ppi out of the water.

Still, despite the screen size difference, the Nexus 6P has roughly the same footprint as the iPhone 6s Plus. It's still lighter than Apple's smartphone (6.27 ounces to 6.77 ounces) but part of the reason for the increased weight of the iPhone 6s Plus is 3D Touch. And the ability to recognize pressure adds lots of functionalities that the Nexus 6P doesn't have.

The differences in the two devices show up under the hood. The Nexus 6P has a Snapdragon 810 processor with 3GB of RAM, so with stock Android 6.0 Marshmallow, it should be a solid performer. The iPhone 6s Plus is no slouch, though, with its A9 processor and 2GB of RAM; it's one of the fastest phones we've ever tested. Both devices share three memory options: 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB for the Nexus 6P, and 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB for the iPhone 6s Plus.

Neither has a microSD card slot. That's a feature that's never been on Apple or Nexus devices (aside from the Nexus One), so no loss there. One feature that has been lost is wireless charging. Despite having it on the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5, the Nexus 6P will not be Qi-capable. The trade-off seems to be that the device will charge quickly via USB-C.

When it comes to battery, the Nexus 6P has a monstrous 3,450mAh battery, compared with the 2,750mAh battery of the iPhone 6s Plus. The larger battery on the 6P, combined with new Android Marshmallow features like Doze, which puts the phone into sleep mode when it is not being used, should make this the longest-lasting Nexus phone yet. The iPhone 6s Plus has perfectly average battery life, but nothing to write home about.

The camera test between the 6P and the 6s Plus will be particularly intense. Google took a page out of Apple's playbook and opted to increase the size of the sensor pixel rather than add megapixels. As a result, the camera can take in more light and perform better in low-light settings. Both can also capture 4K video. The Nexus 6P has a 12.3-megapixel rear-facing camera and an 8-megapixel selfie camera, while the 6s Plus has a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera and 5-megapixel selfie cam. We will need to do a side-by-side shootout to get a real idea of how the two devices stack up—but if what Google has said about improvements to the camera and the camera API are true, then this might be the best Nexus camera yet.

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Hands On With the Google Nexus 6P

Both devices have a few interesting features that set them apart, but that gap has narrowed now that Google incorporated a fingerprint sensor into the Nexus 6P. We expect that will be utilized for Android Pay, just like Apple uses Touch ID for Apple Pay.

Another area of convergence for both companies is the move away from carriers. Google will only sell the Nexus 6P unlocked through the Google Store, though it will be compatible with all carriers. This will help reduce bloatware, but also encourage customers to move toward Project Fi, Google's MVNO that allows consumers to have a simple data plan with Google—supported by the T-Mobile and Sprint networks. Apple's iPhones have always been bloatware free, and with its new iPhone upgrade program, consumers can head straight to Apple rather than the carrier.

Ultimately, it is unlikely that many iPhone owners will be making the switch to the Nexus 6P, and vice versa. But it is interesting to see how the design and feature gap has narrowed. We'll see how the two stack up in terms of real-world performance as soon as we get our hands on a Nexus 6P review unit.