WE LIKE • Stunning design • Well built • Eye-popping Quad HD Display • Android Marshmallow • Decent camera
WE DON'T LIKE • 5.7inch display makes this phone a pocket-buster • Rear-mounted fingerprint scanner can be annoying
Google is back with its next generation smartphone and it's a belter.
The Nexus 6P has just gone on sale and it features a number of updates over its predecessor – including a stunning new all-metal design.
Built by Chinese smartphone giant Huawei and running the latest version of Android, there is no doubt that the 6P is the best Nexus smartphone to date.
But can it beat Samsung and Apple in the race to be the best smartphone of 2015?
Daily Star Online has squeezed the giant call maker in our pocket and here's our full review.
Out of the box, the first thing that will grab your attention is the 6P's ludicrously good 5.7inch display.
Brimming with an eye-watering 518 pixels-per-inch, the Quad-HD AMOLED screen is thing of absolute beauty.
Colours are crisp, content looks sharp and the whole visual experience is as good as all of the 6P's competition.
The bouncy material design animations baked into Android Marshmallow also shine on this display and it's a total joy to use.
However, users do need to be warned that this phablet is big and the staggering 16:9 display comes at a hefty cost to your pocket real estate.
Measuring 159mm by 77.8mm, the Nexus 6P is frustratingly tall and can be difficult to use one-handed.
As a result, unless you have extendable fingers you'll struggle to swipe down the notifications shade, or select any menu items at the top of the display without some serious hand gymnastics.
This is of course the price you pay for going large but watch the latest Star Wars trailer on Huawei's immersive 5.7inch QHD display and you soon realise it's well worth the inconvenience.
Aside from the eye-popping QHD display, there's plenty of other extras to get smartphone fans excited.
Huawei has included a frighteningly-fast, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor which unlocks the device the minute you get it in your hand.
It works well, although unfortunately Huawei has removed the small swipe gestures it introduced for its own fingerprint scanner on the recently unveiled Mate S smartphone.
It's a shame swipe option doesn't feature on the Nexus 6P as it's genuinely a nifty way of interacting with your phone.
Powering the Google Nexus 6P is a 2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor and 3GB of RAM.
That's more than enough to keep Android 6.0 Marshmallow running smoothly – and even the most intensive power users will struggle to notice any lag or stutter while using the Nexus 6P.
The 6P also includes a large 3,450mAh battery which should keep your smartphone powered throughout the day and well into the evening, too.
Google reckons its device will keep going with 10 hours of web browsing over a 4G data connection, and we found that to be fairly close to the money.
To fill the phone with juice Google has opted for the new USB Type-C connection.
There is no longer any doubt this nifty new reversible connector is on the verge of becoming the new standard for flagship smartphones, but for now, you'll still find spare cables all too rare in a world filled with microUSB cables.
Fortunately the Nexus 6P supports fast charging – and you can quickly top-up the device with seven hours of battery life in just ten minutes.
Huawei has also made a lot of noise about its new rear camera. And it's easy to see why.
Compared to the dull shooter bundled with the Nexus 6, the new 12.3MP rear camera is a staggering upgrade.
The Nexus 6P takes a great photograph in the vast majority of situations and manages to capture crisp and vibrant images with a huge amount of detail.
The IR laser-assisted autofocus is also impressively fast at zeroing in on your subject.
However, like most smartphones, the 6P does struggle when the lights get low and in gloomier conditions your snaps won't be winning any awards.
Ultra HD 4K video at 30-frames-per-second is also supported, which means your home movies will be future-proofed, ready for your next TV.
The front-facing camera is good enough for your selfies, Skype and Hangout calls, but it's not headline worthy.
OUR VERDICT
Huawei has built a truly stunning smartphone with flagship specs and a distinct personality.
Coupled with the impressive functionality of Google's new Android 6.0 Marshmallow, the Nexus 6P is a formidable flagship.
Whilst it will make a large dent in your pockets, the 5.7inch display is thing of beauty and geniunely one of the best screens on the market.
The fingerprint sensor is a nice addition although there will be times when you'll wish it had been placed neatly on the front of the smartphone.
But this is a small quibble on an otherwise faultless phone.
In fact, this is the best Google Nexus smartphone ever released. And it's the best Android smartphone, too.
For our money, the curvaceous Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge still trumps the Nexus 6P in terms of design. And the staggering camera on the LG G4 beats the Nexus 6P shooter, too. But that's OK.
Fast updates direct from Google, solid hardware design and quality from Huawei and a reasonable £449 price tag for the SIM-free handset, make this the no-compromise Android smartphone of the year.
Source: Google Nexus 6P review: You'll need big pockets for this killer smartphone
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