[Nexus 6  General] air2k57:
Hey everyone, I do not mean to start a whole Android vs iOS flame thread, I simply wanted to put up my experiences as I have been a huge advocate of Android for years prior to switching to iPhone for work and being away for a few months prior to getting Nexus 6.

With the Nexus 6 there is so much to love. At first, when it was announced, I really wasn't going to buy it due to the screen size. At the time I had an iPhone 6 and didn't think I wanted a device that was bigger. I was considering buying N5 again, though I didn't want much older hardware. The reason I wanted an Android device again was due to Lollipop!

I hated iOS 6, it looked dated and didn't have anything I was looking for, other than app quality. With iOS7 I loved the design. From every little aspect that Apple added to it, everything felt as a whole and functioned amazing (I do web design for a living). The fact that it worked so well with my Macbook Pro, was also something I liked. With iOS8, my Macbook and my phone talked better than ever before. I could text straight from my computer, resume what I was doing on the go, and vice versa. Made usability testing a breeze, everything synced so well together. Not to mention the smoothness! Oh, and to this day Android does not have a thing that would match iPhone on backup out of the box.

I may sound like an Apple fan boy there, but I really do like both platforms. I missed certain features that Android had big time. The way platform was open sourced and allowed you to really do anything you wanted with it. From deciding on the browser, to the mail app. Granted, you could still do that with iOS, but integration is not even close to being up to par compared to the way apple apps are. Then the keyboard, I hate how you can't have a comma on iOS instead of that stupid voice key. And disabling SIRI only makes the space bar bigger, still no comma... Then the file manager, ability to literally put anything I would like on my device and actually open it without the need to sync with the computer or do anything else...

So, when my business switched to Verizon (ugh DO NOT get a Nexus on their network) we were forced to get the 6+ since 6 was on backorder. I ended up actually getting used to the size quick, and loved the display on it. That made me realize that Nexus 6 would not be too big, and I decided to get it... THERE IS SO MUCH TO LOVE!!! And yes, with Lollipop Android has made huge strides visually, almost to the point where it makes iOS seem dated... almost...

What I love:

Now, all of this is subjective as it is based on all of my experience and others may or may not care about this stuff...

-- Display: Now, iPhone 6+ does produce better whites and more natural colors. Nexus 6 has a very good display and everything is as sharp as it could be. But, it does have higher contrast that produces rich colors. While they may not look as natural, I actually think I prefer it to the Apple IPS. The fact that the phone is the same size but has a larger display makes a difference when watching videos, really makes it look premium.

-- Ambient Display: Genius! It works well. Most of the time I pick my device up, it literally lights it up so I could see my notifications without using much of the battery. Tapping on notification turns the colors on. The transition is so well done, sometimes I wish I have notifications so that I could see it in action :).

-- Battery Life: This one is impressive! When I got iPhone 6+ I really thought it had pretty good battery life. I am a heavy user. I often stream Spotify or Pandora, watch videos, play World of Tanks while doing cardio at the gym. iPhone 6+ took ages to charge up, expected for such a large battery. I downloaded world of tanks beta app on the Nexus and while I couldn't really play as lag was too bad (10fps vs 60 on iPhone). So, with that, my usage changed some as I was not playing the game... But, it lasts a really long time. I could leave my device overnight and only lose 1%, very impressive. The stats that I see on Android also really help to determine what is draining and what is not. On iOS... total mess..

-- Charging Time: I didn't believe the hype... But, it is true. An hour and a half charges my phone to full pretty much. Considering how massive the battery is, crazy good! It also begins displaying how long it will take to charge to full, which is very helpful.

Google Music: If you buy your nexus from GPlay... 6 months free of Google Music! If not, 1 month! Either way, check it out. The redesigned app for Android 5.0 offers a ton of features to get it on par with Spotify. Except it now looks better and adds Youtube integration. I ended up canceling my Spotify for it.

-- Software: Now, this is kind of a mixed bag to be honest. Lollipop is very very nice. I did not expect to like material design quite this much, but I do. Everything flows together, there is animation for literally everything. I really like the dialer for example, same goes for contacts app and calendar. Multitasking view is nice and they are much better than what is offered on iOS. I could literally use 10 new apps and the first app I opened would still be where it was left, no need to reload. Now, there is sometimes delay between hitting something and device going to it, but it is not huge. I am not going to go in detail about Android 5.0 as I am sure everyone knows it very well. However, I will say that it is very much improve Android and made it a very good contender to what iOS was offering.

Dislike:

-- Camera: Yes, it is much improved and sounds great on paper. Reality, doesn't even compare to iPhone's camera. Double the shutter time, less focus, bad low light images. Yes, it is better than any other Nexus camera... That doesn't say much though.

-- iMessage: Hate Apple or love it, but there is no denying that iMessage is great! All you need is their phone number and the device will recognize if the user has iMessage or not. If they do, you can literally send HD videos, sound clips, full res images among other things. It also integrates amazing with OS X. I wish there was something like that on Android. Hangouts does not count. You need to use their email address vs phone number, nobody really uses it that much and you can't send the same type of files nor HD video.

-- App Quality: coming from iOS, same apps are either not available or are not as good as what they are on iOS. There are a few exceptions though. There is currently a huge issue with apps not being optimized for iPhone 6 and 6+ resolutions resulting in them looking as if yo are watching a 480p movie on 1080p tv. The Play Store is very sexy though :).

-- Chrome: improved a ton since I've last used it. Loads as fast as Safari, but not as responsive. Often times I notice stutter when browsing websites where it is like butter on Safari.

Bottom line:

Android has come a long way since 4.4.4. I am really enjoying my Nexus 6 and I would really like to keep me from going back to iPhone 6+. Google would easily win my heart with something similar to iMessage as I really really miss it :(. While there are some drawbacks, the positives of Nexus 6 combined with Android 5.0 go such a long way that I can not recommend anyone using anything else. For the price, it is a steal. Comparable Apple product is $200 more. I know that iPhone 6+ is 750, but it doesn't count. iOS takes up way more space than Android leaving close to 11gb of free space on base model. Install couple of good games and have a few videos, and you are screwed... I never had issues with space on Android. And with the Nexus, 32gb base makes it even better!

Verizon:

DO NOT GET IT FOR VERIZON! Now, this may change in the future.. .but right now, do not. Yes, it works on Verizon 3g as well as LTE, but it really ruins your experience. Voice quality is OK at best as it isn't using VOLTE and Voice + Data doesn't work... If you are like me, this is a big deal. Also, if you are on the go and call a number, data obviously goes out. Problem with that is that Google Caller ID does not work at that point. I find that feature very useful. Voicemail is a nightmare. Not only is there no dedicated voicemail app, but you DO NOT get voicemail notifications.. you need to dial in order to get them. Google Voice? Forget it! I was testing it and noticed something odd... ALL CIRCUITS ARE BUSY. Began testing it... happens almost half of the time. Basically, phone rings... but instead of going to your voicemail it has a 10 second pause and all circuits are busy prompt happens.