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Google Nexus 6P: deserves wider audience

Tim Bradshaw

Just like its predecessors, the new Nexus 6P is a powerful showcase for Google’s latest software advances. Usually, these features take months to filter through to the majority of Android smartphones, while Nexus devices sell only to a small number of hardcore Google fans. But this Nexus has greater potential to appeal to the wider market — especially when it has a relatively low price of $499 for a well-built device.

The Nexus 6P, made by China’s Huawei but designed by Google in California, deserves a broader audience. A slim handset with a fast processor, crisp 5.7in screen and decent camera, it is unburdened by the operator apps and kludgy user interfaces often superimposed on Android by manufacturers.

In fact, this phablet shows just how narrow the gap has become between the iPhone and its Google rival. That convergence is evident in the full range of apps available and the clean design, as well as the aluminium casing.

Fingers and thumbs The most obvious distinguishing feature from the iPhone is that the fingerprint reader is on the rear, which means it is operated with a forefinger rather than the iPhone’s thumb-friendly positioning on the front.

With a large screen — on a par with the iPhone 6S Plus — having the reader on the back makes the Nexus 6P easier to hold and operate with one hand. It is also easier to unlock in one smooth move as you take it out of a pocket — although, of course, it works less well when the device is flat on a table. The technology works just as quickly and reliably as Apple’s Touch ID.

Another distinguishing feature is the new USB-C charging socket. While USB-C is still rare, it will be harder to borrow a friend’s charger if you forget your own. But the Nexus’s “rapid charging” restores power much faster than an iPhone.

Meaningful difference It is, however, Google’s software that makes the more meaningful difference from the iPhone.

First, the user interface feels more solid than in the past, though I found the touchscreen keyboard tougher to type on than Apple’s.

I like the ability to create widgets that preview messages, appointments or headlines. New iPhones have their 3D Touch “peeks”, but Android homescreen widgets are a faster way to glance at new information.

Google Photos is still my favourite way to back up and organise smartphone pictures, even if the Nexus camera feels a little slower and performs less well in low light than the iPhone 6S Plus. Speech recognition is just as good as Siri, in my experience, and some of Google Fit’s workout-tracking features (such as automatically detecting a bike ride) are better than Apple’s Health app.

The way Google’s services are baked into the operating system creates new possibilities. The biggest advance is Google Now on Tap, which allows you to ask contextual questions about the onscreen content of an app. Just as the Google Now virtual assistant extracts useful traffic alerts, scheduling reminders and travel tips from Gmail and Google Calendar, Now on Tap pops up when you hold down the home button inside apps, drawing on text and images to create useful links and extra information. While listening to an album in Spotify, Now on Tap brings up links to YouTube videos and Soundcloud remixes of the artist’s songs.

However, at this stage, it works well only intermittently. It has not added a lot to my experience, but neither did Google Now feature at first. Yet today, it is Apple trying to play catch-up with Google Now through its new “proactive” Siri features.

Verdict Now on Tap is a prime example of why Google does Nexus phones — to test new ideas on early adopters. But with the Nexus 6P, it is hoping to go further.

If you want a smartphone with all the fit and finish of an iPhone, including well-designed software and a slim casing, but you prefer to live entirely in Google’s world, the Nexus 6P is worth a look. Android need no longer come with trade-offs.