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SpecEagle review · Google

Nexus 6 review: The Motorola-built 2014 phablet — stock Android at 5.96 inches.

SpecEagle Editorial·Nov 2014·$649 (launch)
Overall
56/100
Class rank
#1 of 1
Tier
Legacy
Buy?
Look elsewhere
The verdict, up front

The phablet that launched Lollipop.

Nexus 6 was Google's Motorola-built 2014 flagship — the launch device for Android 5.0 Lollipop and Material Design. Its 5.96-inch screen was divisive then but normal now. A milestone in the Nexus program before the Pixel era.

01Display

78/100

78/100 — right at the average for legacy phones of 2014.

TypeAMOLED
Size5.96 inches
Resolution2,560 × 1,440 px (493 ppi)
ProtectionCorning Gorilla Glass 3

02Camera

60/100

60/100 — right at the average for legacy phones of 2014.

Main13 MP, f/2.0, OIS, dual-LED ring flash
Selfie2 MP
Video4K @ 30 fps

03Performance

62/100

62/100 — right at the average for legacy phones of 2014.

ChipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 805 (28 nm)
CPUQuad-core 2.7 GHz Krait 450
RAM3 GB
Storage32 / 64 GB

04Battery

64/100

64/100 — right at the average for legacy phones of 2014.

Capacity3,220 mAh
Wired15 W Turbo Charge
WirelessQi

05Build

76/100

76/100 — right at the average for legacy phones of 2014.

06Value

58/100

58/100 — right at the average for legacy phones of 2014.

What works
  • Launch device for Android 5.0 Lollipop + Material Design.
  • Dual front-firing stereo speakers.
  • Qi wireless + Turbo Charge.
  • Pure stock Android with fast updates for the era.
What doesn't
  • Discontinued — stopped at Android 7.1.1.
  • 5.96" was polarisingly large in 2014.
  • 3,220 mAh modest for the screen size.
  • 184 g heavy.

How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 1-phone cohort of legacy devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .