If you are in the market for a new phone, there are quite a number of options you can get yourself out there. However, it is always good practice to browse around in order to get the best deal, especially if you are probably running on a budget.
In this review, we take a look at the 2015 Google Nexus 6P, a phone that has been regarded by many as the best yet to come from Google, against the newly released Apple iPhone 7 Plus. You will enjoy the variety of colors available to choose from, but given that the latter is a newer model as compared to the former, the prices are pretty much the opposite of each other.
As far as the builds are concerned, the Nexus 6P has a metallic body with a glass panel on the upper part of the back. As for the iPhone 7 Plus, you get a full metal body that resembles what you already know with the iPhone 6S Plus, but with a much better finish. In terms of weight, the Apple phone is heavier ay 188g as compared to the 178g of the Nexus 6P.
Apple made things a little niftier with the iPhone 7 Plus design by adding IP67 certification, but there is no such certification on the Google Nexus 6P. This means that where the former can survive in rains, shower or even shallow dives in water of about 1 meter, the latter cannot.
Despite the lighter nature of the Google Nexus 6P, it comes with a larger screen size of 5.7 inches as opposed to the 5.5 inches found on the iPhone 7 Plus. The resolution on the latter is lower at 1080p while the former comes with a high-quality QHD AMOLED panel of 1440p resolution. The iPhone 7 Plus’ display gets the better of Nexus 6P through the addition of 3D Touch, a pressure-sensitive technology that displays various actions depending on the pressure you exert on the touch screen.
Specs-wise, the two are flagships and as such, they offer the best. They share the same 3GB RAM as well as 128GB of onboard storage, but you will find an A10 SoC on the Apple phone as opposed to the Snapdragon 810 used on the Nexus 6P. The processors are clocked at speeds of 2.3GHz and 2.0GHz, respectively, giving the newer phone an edge over the 2015 model. As for the software part, there is iOS 10 on the iPhone while the Nexus phone is currently running on the latest Android Nougat OTA.
Even though the two share the same storage option of 128GB, there are other alternatives on either model. The Nexus 6P has lower storage options of 64GB and 32GB while the iPhone 7 Plus gets a smaller 32GB variant and another 256GB option.
You might be a little disappointed in the camera offered on the Google Nexus 6P as compared to its Apple counterpart. Where the iPhone 7 Plus packs a 12MP dual-lens setup on the back with OIS, there is a 12.3MP single-lens camera on the back of the Google phone with no OIS. The Apple phone also adds a quad-LED flash setting to the lens as compared to the dual-LED flash on the Nexus phone.
On the front of the phones you get decent selfie cameras of 7MP for the iPhone 7 Plus and 8MP for the Google Nexus 6P. Battery-wise, there is 2900mAh on the former while the latter has a larger and much better 3450mAh unit.
When it comes to the pricing aspect, you might want to go with the Google Nexus 6P, especially if you are running on a budget. With the arrival of the successor of the phone imminent, the phone’s initial asking price of $499 is expected to depreciate further, probably by more than $100. As for the iPhone 7 Plus, you’ll need to part with at least $749 for the base model or go as high as $949 for the high-end model.