Google Nexus 5X vs iPhone 6S: Android 6.0 vs iOS 9 smartphones compared head-to-head

Google has just announced the new Android 6.0 Marshmallow flagship smartphone, the LG Nexus 5X and Huawei Nexus 6P and earlier this month, Apple also came up with its iOS 9 flagship smartphones. The new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus houses pretty neat features and upgrades.

So with no further ado, let’s proceed to compare the new LG Nexus 5X – which is one of Google’s new Nexus smartphones with the other one being the Huawei Nexus 6P – with the also new iPhone 6S.

Both devices are prides of their companies thanks to their top of the class specs, features and performance.

Design

Let’s not fall into the loop of explaining why the design of each device is subjective even though there are some pretty distinctive guidelines; we all must know that by know. So between the two, the Nexus 5X definitely has a more playful look due to its camera hump, the plastic cover and the metal frame. Even the colours that come in black & white, or blue convey this message of a more stylish device with the branch “nexus” being written on the back side as if we could get tricked into confusing it with any other smartphone.

The iPhone 6S on the other hand, follows the path of its predecessors and visually, it is almost identical to last year’s redesigned iPhone 6, with the same ceramic metal feel and slightly protruding camera which means you can place the two devices side by side and not really be able to tell the difference. But to the trained eye of an Apple fan, the iPhone 6S is slightly thicker, and that is very likely included to accommodate the new 3D Touch technology on the screen. Still the iPhone 6S manages to portray the elegant feeling that the owner gets when holding the device.

Display

This is not such a hard field to compare as the numbers speak for themselves. The LG Nexus 5X has 5.2inch display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels with a 424 ppi pixel density whereas the iPhone 6S features a 4.7inch screen with a lower resolution of 750 x 1334 pixels and 326ppi pixel density. Despite the resolution there is also the technologies used but the Nexus 5X seems to be taking the lead here as well having Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and oleophobic coating while the iPhone 6S features Ion-strengthened glass, oleophobic coating and 3D Touch display.

Specs

This is where things could get a bit trickier as the LG Nexus 5X embodies a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 with a Quad-core 1.44 GHz Cortex-A53 & dual-core 1.82 GHz Cortex-A57 processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB or 32GB of inter. So clearly it is a surprise under the hood, but the iPhone 6S can definitely keep the pace with its Apple A9 Dual-core 1.84 GHz. For the record, the A9 is an improved version of the A8 which is a 64-bit architecture, which means some efficiency when opening and closing apps (although their size is larger and therefore take up more space on the phone, which makes Apple’s decision to keep the 16GB variant of the phone all the more infuriating – at this point we should mention that there are 16GB, 64GB and 128GB variants).

Camera

The cameras of the two smartphones are identical in terms of the megapixels – both sport a 12MP main shooter and a 5MP front one – but there are some slight differences in the technologies used. More specifically, the Nexus 5X has some pretty impressive features such as 1.55µm pixel size, geo-tagging and touch focus. The iPhone 6S has some powerful features as well of course, with the most notable of them being the Geo-tagging, simultaneous 4K video and 8MP image recording, and the touch focus feature.

Software

The iPhone 6S is powered by iOS 9 right out of the box and has noted some great improvements such as the “Smarter Siri” feature, the Zoom display and of course the multitasking. The LG Nexus 5X on the other hand runs with Google’s latest operating system, the Android v.6 (aka Marshmallow). The two OS are different and so they are also used in different ways. The iOS 9 for instance is more user friendly and is suitable even for beginner users. The Android OS on the other hand allows the user to have an extra level of control over the device, but in order for that to be done, one needs to have a certain skillset and experience.

Battery

Just like the specs, things are pretty clear here as well. The Nexus 5X carries a non-removable Li-Po 2700mAh battery while the iPhone 6S is powered by a non-removable Li-Po 1715mAh battery. And while some may claim that the numbers are not that accurate due to the difference on performance, unfortunately that’s not the case when the one battery is almost 1000mAh larger than the other.

Price

As mentioned on a previous article, Google will circulate the Nexus 5X at 399$ fully unlocked. At the same time, the company will add the device to its Project Fi mobile network – that currently only supports the Nexus 6 – with the following prices:

$20 base price for unlimited domestic talk and text, unlimited international texts, low-cost international calls, and Wi-Fi tethering, as well as coverage in 120+ countries

Plus $10 per 1GB of extra data. If you want to add 5GB of data, just add $50 to the base price.

No fees for unused data which means that if you bought 4GB of data and used just 3.2GB, you would pay $32 instead of $40.

As for the iPhone 6S, the 16GB version costs $650 outright and $100 on contract (see monthly installment pricing below). The 64GB version goes for $750 outright, and $200 on contract, and the 128GB model costs $850 all-in and the same $200 on contract (carrier contract rates may vary, so check yours for the final word).

Verdict

Google has shown already with the Nexus series that its plan is to take it on other companies’ flagship smartphones by releasing equally powerful smartphones at half prices. So if the budget matters for you but you still want to carry around a tool with great performance, then the LG Nexus 5X is the smartphone for you. But if you care more about style and want some extra prestige, then you should consider looking for the closest Apple store to you, because we have to give it to Apple and its iPhone series, that they have established a great name around the market. The choice is yours, so do your homework  and choose wisely.

Senior reviews editor at Technology News Extra.

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