The Phablet
market has really heated up this year with Apple, Samsung, and Google launching
their phablet devices to gain the attention of consumers worldwide. Unlike last
year, when the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 had virtually no direct competition, the
Galaxy Note 4 has more than one major rival to take on. And interestingly both
its rivals are from companies that have no prior experience in the phablet
market – Apple and Google. We’ve already seen how the Galaxy Note 4 fared
against the iPhone 6 Plus in our previous versus article, this time we’re going
to see if the Galaxy Note 4 will be able to dominate its Android rival the
Google Nexus 6 in the same way as it did with the Apple iPhone 6 Plus.
Samsung has a
long experience in the phablet segment. The Korean tech giant literally created
the phablet segment with the Galaxy Note three years back. Google on the other
hand has no experience in the phablet market and the Nexus 6 is the first
phablet product from Google as well as the manufacturer of the device –
Motorola.
Display
The display
is one of the most important criteria when buying a new phablet. Both the
Google Nexus 6 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 have very impressive displays with
Quad-HD 2560 x 1440 resolution. The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has a 5.7-inch
display while the Google Nexus 6 has a slightly bigger 5.96-inch display. That
translates to a pixel density of 515PPI on the Galaxy Note 4 and 493 PPI on the
Google Nexus 6. Both feature Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection on the front.
Even though
there is a slight difference in the pixel density, in real world you won’t
really notice much difference in sharpness between the two. In fact even
compared to a smartphone with 1080p resolution display, the difference in
sharpness will not be very apparent. As far as the actual quality is concerned,
the Galaxy Note 4 display is definitely superior, but not by much. The main
advantage of the Galaxy Note 4 display is the significantly higher brightness,
which means outdoor visibility is much better on the Note 4. Color accuracy is
largely similar on both.
This round
could have been a draw but the low peak brightness means the round has to go to
the Galaxy Note 4.
Dimensions
Being
phablet, both of these devices are definitely not going to be comfortable to
hold for people with small hands. And even for those with large hands,
single-handed usage is only going to be barely manageable at best.
The Galaxy
Note 4 has overall dimensions of 153.5 x 78.6 x 8.5mm while the Google Nexus 6
measures 159.3 x 83 x 10.1mm. Not only is the Google Nexus 6 taller and wider,
but it is also thicker. So for a lot of people out there, the Nexus 6 is going
to be simply too big to handle easily.
As far as the
weight is concerned, both are roughly the same. The Google Nexus 6 only weighs
around 8 grams more than the Galaxy Note 4.
So picking a
winner here is a pretty easy task. The Galaxy Note 4 is easily the more compact
device of the two
Processor
2014 hasn’t
seen a major jump in CPU performance for mobile devices. In the beginning of
the year we saw Qualcomm release the Snapdragon 801 chipset, which was barely
any faster than the Snapdragon 800 that launched last year. The Snapdragon 805
is a bigger upgrade over the Snapdragon 800 though, and that’s what you will
find inside both the Galaxy Note 4 and the Google Nexus 6.
The Qualcomm
Snapdragon’s four CPU cores are clocked at 2.7GHz and it comes with the new
Adreno 420 GPU. The Adreno 420 GPU is the biggest improvement the chipset brings
as the new GPU is significantly more powerful than the Adreno 330 GPU on the
Snapdragon 801 chipset. The Adreno 420 GPU has been designed to deliver
high-performance graphics on displays with Quad-HD resolution, so performance
with high-resolution screens does not bog it down much like the Adreno 330.
Between the
two phablet, performance is largely similar as the two have identical CPU and
GPU. So this round is a tie.
Camera
Cameras on
our smartphones have seen a big upgrade this year in the sensor size as well as
overall performance. The Optical Image Stabilization feature has also become
more popular and most high-end flagships currently come with OIS equipped rear
camera. The Galaxy Note 4 and the Google Nexus 6 are no exceptions either.
The Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 has a 16MP rear camera with a 1/2.6” size Sony Exmor RS IMX240
sensor with f2.2 aperture wide-angle lens, dual-LED flash, Fast AF, Live HDR,
and support for 4K video recording at 30 fps.
Google Nexus
6 has a slightly lower resolution 13MP Sony Exmor RS rear camera that also has
a lower sensor size of 1/3.06”. The Nexus 6 features a slightly brighter f2.0
aperture lens, dual-LED flash, HDR+, photo sphere, and records 4K videos at 30
fps.
As far as the
front-facing cameras are concerned, the Note 4 has a 3.7MP unit with a
wide-angle f1.9 aperture lens while the Nexus 6 has a 2MP front-facing camera.
When it comes
to the overall quality, the Galaxy Note 4 is superior thanks to the bigger
sensor and higher resolution. But the difference between the two isn’t huge
though. The Galaxy Note 4 thus wins this round.
Memory
Over the past
2-3 years, smartphones have seen major upgrades in many areas but the one thing
that hasn’t seen much of an upgrade is the internal storage size. The amount of
internal storage on the latest flagship devices isn’t any higher than
smartphones from 2-3 years back.
Samsung has
in fact dropped the 64GB internal memory option from the Galaxy Note 3 with the
Galaxy Note 4. The Note 4 only comes with 32GB of internal memory in all
markets. Thankfully the memory is expandable, so you can get a microSD card and
expand the memory by up to 128GB.
Like the
earlier Nexus devices, the Nexus 6 doesn’t come with expandable memory. You
have the option of 32 or 64GB internal memory with the Google phablet. While
the higher 64GB option is certainly welcome, it still might not be sufficient
for some users.
The amount of
RAM on both devices is identical at 3GB.
Since 64GB
memory should be sufficient for a lot of smartphone users, we are going to
declare this round a tie.
Connectivity
Connectivity
features largely depend on the chipset that has been used on a device. Since
both the Galaxy Note 4 and the Google Nexus 6 are using the same Qualcomm
Snapdragon 805 chipset, you would expect them to have similar connectivity
options. And that is actually the case, almost.
Both devices
come with Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac dual-band, Bluetooth 4.1, LTE Cat.6, NFC,
microUSB v2.0, and USB host connectivity options. The Galaxy Note 4 does have
one advantage over the Google Nexus 6 though – it comes with a built-in IR
blaster. So you can use it to control all your home entertainment devices as
well.
LTE Cat.6 is
the biggest upgrade connectivity wise that Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chipset
brings. The previous LTE Cat.4 standard came with support for maximum download
speeds of up to 150Mbps, but the new LTE Cat.6 standard can support download
speeds of up to 300Mbps.Upload speeds remain the same at 50Mbps though.
This round
could have been a tie but thanks to the IR blaster, the Galaxy Note 4 edges out
the Nexus 6 in this round.
Operating System
The hardware
of a device doesn’t give you the complete picture of the performance of a
device. Software optimization is also a key factor.
Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 comes with Android 4.4.4 KitKat out of the box with Samsung’s
TouchWiz UI layer on top. Unlike the previous generations of TouchWiz, the
latest version on the Galaxy Note 4 is leaner than earlier and isn’t as
resource intensive as earlier. Even on the Galaxy S5, TouchWiz negatively
affects the performance. So it is good to see that Samsung has decided to bring
positive change with the Galaxy Note 4’s software. What hasn’t changed is the
amount of features added on by Samsung. Apart from the hugely popular and
functional Multi-Window feature, there are other great S-Pen related features
like Smart Select, Air Command, Photo Note, Action Memo, Image Clip and a few
others. The usual Samsung S Voice, S Health, S Note, Motion Gestures are all
there too.
Google’s
Nexus 6 is the launch device for the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop version.
Android 5.0 brings new changes like the Material Design UI, new Notifications
view, redesigned recent apps menu, switch to the Android Runtime (ART) for
improved performance, multi-user support, new battery saving mode with Project
Volta, smart lock and more. As the earlier Nexus devices, the Nexus 6 is free
from bloatware. There aren’t any apps that you would feel shouldn’t have been
on it. It does get the always on voice command feature that is seen on Motorola
devices, with the same Ti C55 hotword processor as on the Moto X.
Thanks to all
the new improvements with Android Lollipop and a much cleaner UI, the Google
Nexus 6 wins this round. Samsung is making good progress with TouchWiz but
there is still some more work to be done to get it to perform as good as stock
Android.
Design
One of the
biggest changes with the Galaxy Note 4 is the improvement in design and build
of the device. If there has been one consistent complaint with Galaxy devices,
it has been the poor design and build. The Galaxy S5 for instance looks
virtually similar to the two year old Galaxy S3. And the traditional plastic
build only made matters worse. With the Galaxy Alpha, Samsung decided that it
had enough and needed to step up in terms of design and build on its Galaxy
smartphones.
The Galaxy
Note 4 actually draws a lot from the Galaxy Alpha. It has a similar aluminum
frame as the Alpha and has a much more premium feeling back that finally gets
rid of the visible stitching pattern that nobody found appealing on the Galaxy
Note 3. The front glass is also 2.5D curved, adding to the visual appeal of the
design. The leather used on the back is also a lot more premium feeling this
time, so finally we have a Galaxy device that looks and feels worthy of its
high price.
Made by
Motorola, the Google Nexus 6 is a charmer when it comes to design. It looks
very similar to the 2nd gen Moto X, with the same curved back
and shiny aluminum frame on the side. There is no doubt that it is the best
looking Nexus device yet and one of the better looking flagship devices
launched this year. Thanks to the use of metal and high-quality polycarbonate,
the device feels solid in the hand and is every bit as good as the Note 4 in
terms of build quality, if not better. It also has a water resistance coating,
so that’s another advantage over the Note 4.
The Galaxy
Note 4 is an improvement over previous Galaxy devices, but the Nexus 6 simply
looks better. That makes Nexus 6 the winner of this round.
Battery Life
Apart from
the large display, phablet are also popular for their impressive battery life.
The Galaxy Note 4 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 do not disappoint in this area.
It is quite
interesting that both the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and the Google Nexus 6 have the
exact same 3220mAh capacity battery. Since the two phablet have the same
battery, chipset, and screen resolution, you might be thinking battery life on
both would be very similar too. Right? Well unfortunately that is not the case.
According to
the battery life tests, the Google Nexus 6 actually has significantly lower
battery life than the Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The reasons behind this aren’t
clear but it could be due to various reasons. But it does have one advantage
over the Note 4. Thanks to the Quick Charge feature, the Nexus 6 can deliver 6
hours of usage with just 15 minutes of charging. It comes with support for
Wireless charging as well.
The winner is
quite clear in this round, the Galaxy Note 4 it is.
Price
When it comes
to flagship devices, the prices don’t play a major role in the decision-making
process for most buyers, but it is still important to be sure if the device is
worth the price or not.
The Google
Nexus 6 is available on the Play Store at $649 for the 32GB variant and $699
for the 64GB variant. But since this time the Nexus 6 is available through
carriers as well, you can get it through the major US carriers such as
AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile on a 2-year contract. AT&T and Sprint are
selling the phablet for $249 down, while T-Mobile will sell it to you for $0
down.
Samsung’s
Galaxy Note 4 is available unlocked at around $750 if you purchase it outright
or you can get it on a 2-year contract from the carriers at $299. That’s the
price you would need to pay upfront from AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon Wireless.
T-Mobile is selling it at $0 upfront payment, just like the Nexus 6.
Clearly, this
round goes to the Nexus 6.
Conclusions
Now that
we’re done with the comparison. Let’s see which smartphone managed to win most
categories. The Nexus 6 managed to win in three categories – Operating System,
Price, and Design. Two rounds were a tie – Memory and Processor. The Samsung
Galaxy Note 4 won 5 rounds – Display, Dimensions, Camera, Battery Life, and
Connectivity.
So does that
mean the Galaxy Note 4 is the better phablet here? Well if you were to consider
how good each of these devices are as a phablet, then the Galaxy Note 4 would
obviously be the winner as it comes with the S-Pen. The Nexus 6 doesn’t come
with stylus support and that limits its appeal to customers who are looking for
a phablet that can do more than the average smartphone.
