Why you should buy a Galaxy Note 4 instead of a Nexus 6

Last week my pal Scott Adam Gordon wrote a pretty persuasive article entitled Why you should buy the Nexus 6 instead of the Galaxy Note 4. While he made some salient points, I'm not entirely sold. He even called me out in advance, knowing that I would have to respond. So here's my argument for why you should buy the Galaxy Note 4 instead of the Nexus 6.

The Nexus and Note series have never been so close as they are now. / © Google, Samsung, ANDROIDPIT

• Galaxy Note 4 vs Nexus 6 comparison

Full disclosure: I have not yet used a Nexus 6, so these opinions are either based on educated guesses or generalities, not on actual first hand experience with the device. And before the fanboy name calling begins, I'll remind those of you that aren't regular readers just how much of a Nexus fanboy I usually am, and how often I am accused of being a Samsung hater. This is why my love for the Galaxy Note 4 is as surprising to me as it was to Scott.

The S Pen stylus and Note 4 software is unbeatable by any other  Android. © ANDROIDPIT

The Nexus ain't no Note

This is one of the most obvious points to make: that despite the Nexus 6's ''phablet'' scale, it's missing the one feature that makes the Note series so indispensable: the S Pen stylus. Sure, a massive screen is good for multi-tasking, media consumption and all-round phone operation. But you know what makes multitasking, media and phone operation even better: the precision and flexibility of a stylus.

Anyone who's ever used a Note and then done similar things without the S Pen would know just how clumsy, awkward and imprecise the whole thing feels when you revert to using your fingertips. Like an animal. The Nexus 6 doesn't even give you the option. You're stuck clumsily thumbing the screen while Note 4 users are writing notes with a calligraphic S Pen.

While I like Material Design, it makes stock Android look like a manufacturer skin. © AndroidPIT

The Nexus 6 ain’t pure no more

The original reason I bought a Nexus 4 was the price and stock Android. The reason I bought a Nexus 5 after that was the price and stock Android. But now stock is starting to look more like a manufacturer skin with Material Design everything and groovy animations and Google Everything. Android 5.0 Lollipop is hardly the clean white canvas on top of which the nasty manufacturers ladle their terrible artwork anymore. No, Android 5.0 is more like a pre-made painting that manufacturers have the option of painting over, but it's anything but ''pure'' in the sense it used to be.

• Everything you need to know about Android 5.0 Lollipop and our Android 5.0 Lollipop review

Plus, stock Android is now jam packed full of the kinds of stuff I used to turn to custom launchers, OEMs, third party apps or custom ROMs for. So the customization options of stock are less attractive than they used to be too. So if stock is becoming more and more like an OEM skin, then why not just deal with an OEM skin and be done with it? Heck, even Motorola is doing ''stock plus'' these days, so stock Android is hardly the domain of the Nexus series alone. And if Samsung has Android 5.0 out for the Note 4 in December then the update delay is practically moot too.

Nexus devices used to have price going for them, but not anymore. © Google

The Nexus 6 ain’t cheap

As I just mentioned, a large part of the Nexus allure for me was the price. I loved getting a rock solid specs beast for a low price. But if the Nexus 6 costs only $100 less than a Galaxy Note 4, which I firmly believe to be the best Android smartphone so far this year then why not just cough up a little extra and get the absolute best that Android has to offer? Look at the Motorola Droid Turbo for example: it's cheaper than the Nexus 6 and it has a better camera and much larger battery. If bang for your buck is top of your priorities then spending an extra Benjamin on a Note 4 seems obvious to me.

The list of extra features on the Note 4 is staggering. And this time they're almost all useful. © ANDROIDPIT

• Best cheap Android phones


• Best Android phones

The Nexus 6 ain't feature-packed

The Nexus 6, despite adding a battery saving mode, Guest Mode, Knox sand-boxing, Google Fit and a few other nice tidbits, the simple fact is that the Note 4 already has these. Plus, the Note 4 has tons more too: heart rate monitor, S Pen software, finger scanner, microSD expansion, removable battery, Download Booster, IR blaster and plenty more. There's even heaps less bloatware on the Note 4. Admittedly, the Nexus 6 is water-resistant and the Note 4 is not, but the list of added extras on the Galaxy Note 4 puts the Nexus 6 to shame.

• Everything you need to know about the Nexus 6 specs and features

Sure, the Nexus 6 is a pretty great device and I fully expect to be impressed when I get one in my hands. But the simple fact is that in many ways it is still a base device. Want more storage? Tough. Want a higher resolution camera? Tough. Want more battery life? Tough. The Note 4 has a better camera, microSD expansion and a replaceable battery, meaning that if it's not already better than the Nexus 6 it can be easily made that way. And if you simply hate TouchWiz, then buy a Note 4 GPe or flash a custom ROM on it.

While the Nexus 6 is surely a great phone, the Galaxy Note 4 is just a better one. © ANDROIDPIT

Conclusion

There will always be good reasons to buy Nexus devices and I doubt my Nexus honeymoon is over, but for the first time the Nexus seems to be kind of aspiring to Galaxy Note status. At the same time the design of the Note 4 has improved, the bloatware is lighter, the interface is cleaner, the gimmicks are largely gone and the basics are rock solid. So if the Nexus and Note, two devices that were previously polar opposites, suddenly start meeting on more common ground, you know that only one of them is coming out alive. And perhaps for the first time, the Nexus 6 has bitten off more than it can chew.

Which phone would you buy? Which offers better value for money?

 

Source fromhttp://www.androidpit.com