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Phones · Google Nexus

Google Nexus 6

8owners with an opinion
20%of verdicts positive
0/2positive/negative since 2024
7 yrslongest happy owner
1happy after 3+ years

Criticized for reliability and design.

What owners wrote

Likes itOwned 7 years
This, to me, feels like the most important comment on the page! It is great to develop a sweet new offering, but if one of the main selling points of your product is longevity, repair-ability, and long-term support, then I don't want to hear about all the Fairphone fans jumping up to by the next gen. I want a phone that folks are happy to stick with for years! As a side note, for years I used a Nexus 6. Great phone (the battery was getting sketchy, but the rest of the hardware held up well for 7 years of use)! With LineageOS, I was getting a steady stream of software updates. I was finally forced off of the phone when they killed the 3G networks here in the USA (and apparently the Nexus 6 did not support VoLTE....).
NeutralOwned 2 years
I hate the trend that the "pro" versions of all these flagship phones need to be an XL Phablet monstrosity. Human hands haven't gotten any bigger. I have owned most of the Nexus & Pixel phones throughout the years. After having the Nexus 6 as my daily driver for 2 years, I have always opted for the smaller option ever since. I would totally pay flagship prices for a regular ~5.5-6" phone with flagship specs, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Make it 50% thicker if there are space/heat concerns, but making it wider and taller just makes it super difficult to use consistently with one hand. I also say this as somebody with larger-than-average hands!
Doesn’t like itOwned 1.25 years
I pre-ordered the Pixel 2 XL, and got it as part of the first ship... I don't care for the rounded display, it's almost impossible to use input without issue unless you have a case on it (didn't have the case for the first few days). Beyond this, the bluetooth issues since Android 8 have been outright painful. The recent update has helped a lot, but it's still not right, about to cancel Pandora. Other than the bluetooth issues really enjoying the device.. The look/feel (beyond round edges effecting input) is spot on. I am hoping to not have to replace the battery on this device in less than 2 years though. My Nexus 6 literally caught fire after battery issues around 15 months in use.
Doesn’t like it
> I've since moved to the apple ecosystem... Set and forget. Careful, you'll get blasted for that in these parts. Until about 7 years ago, I had been an Android absolutist. Custom ROMs, launchers, you name it. I sneered at those Apple-loving simpletons. Then, after missing several important phone calls in a day due to the phone 'app' not working properly, I got fed up and got a Nexus 6, the official Google phone and the reference implementation for Android. The phone was big and ugly, but at least I was still using a "real" operating system. Then, as I went through the app store looking for some needed apps, I realized that I couldn't find what I wanted. What I downloaded and installed turned out to be scams and hijacked the phone as ad-riddled malware. It slowly dawned on me: The Play Store is anarchistic, lawless hellscape. I was too old for this shit. I went and got an iPhone and never looked back. I turn it on, it does things. I don't have to worry about it. Yes, the software quality isn't near perfect, and they seem to be gradually enshittifying their app store. But at least they make a token effort to keep things in a somewhat curated state. It's night and day, far as I'm concerned. I've gotten to the point where I just want my things to work. I don't want to spend hours tweaking and troubleshooting. I realize I'm in a cult compound, but it's better than the Mad Max world outside.
Doesn’t like it
All of my phones (except the iPhone, actually) had hard reboot issues at around the 2-3yr mark. Usually at under 30% battery charge under high load. HTC Incredible, Galaxy S4, and Nexus 6. Nexus 6 was the worst, but I also had that one the longest. My iPhone X didn't have shutoff issues, but the battery did swell enough to push out the screen, which Apple replaced for free even with an expired warranty.
Neutral
I have had only a single problem with my Nexus 6, as far as hardware goes: the USB port on the bottom sucks. On the other hand, there is an obviously superior way to charge the phone, since it supports Qi charging, which I have stations for at my office and home. I only need to use the port when flashing a new ROM (it works, but only in precise alignment). You should provide some actual claims about the problems you had with the hardware rather than just complaining.