Until recently, Google has only released one Nexus-labeled smartphone per cycle. Last year the popular Nexus 5 was followed-up by the Nexus 6 – Google’s first phablet. Some were eager to adopt the new form factor, others weren’t too enthusiastic. Although it has has its ups and downs, the Motorola-made Nexus 6 has fared pretty well over its first year of life.

This time Google went all-in, releasing not only a successor to last year’s Nexus 6 phablet, but also a 5-inch smartphone. We’ve already talked about the Nexus 6P and the Nexus 5X, and more coverage will follow as soon as we have devices to review in our hands.  The big questions everyone seems to be asking are which phone should they get (the Nexus 6P vs Nexus 5X), or should they take advantage of some of the bargain-basement prices being offered on last year’s Nexus 6.

To answer those questions, let’s look at the specifications in a bit more detail.

Specs

[table],Nexus 6P,Nexus 5X,Nexus 6
Screen Tech,AMOLED,LCD,AMOLED
Size Size,5.7 inches,5.2 inches,5.96 inches
Screen-to-body ratio,71.4%,69.8%,74.1%
Resolution,1440 x 2560,1080 x 1920,1440 x 2560
Pixel Density,518 ppi,423 ppi,493 ppi
Protection,Gorilla Glass 4,Gorilla Glass 3,Gorilla Glass 3
Maximum Internal Storage,128GB,32GB,64GB
RAM,3GB,2GB,3GB
Dimensions,159.3 x 77.8 x 7.3 mm,147 x 72.6 x 7.9 mm,159.3 x 83 x 10.1 mm
Weight,178 g,136 g,184 g
SIM,Nano-SIM,Nano-SIM,Nano-SIM
Chipset,Snapdragon 810 v2.1,Snapdragon 808,Snapdragon 805,
CPU,Quad-core 1.55 GHz Cortex-A53 & Quad-core 2.0 GHz Cortex-A57,Quad-core 1.44 GHz Cortex-A53 & dual-core 1.82 GHz Cortex-A57,Quad-core 2.7 GHz Krait 450
GPU,Adreno 430,Adreno 418,Adreno 420
Fingerprint Sensor,Yes,Yes,No
USB Connector,Type-C 1.0 reversible,Type-C 1.0 reversible,microUSB v2.0 (SlimPort)
Charging Technology,USB Type-C quick charge,USB Type-C quick charge,Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0
Wireless Charging,No,No, Qi
Battery,Non-removable Li-Po 3450 mAh,Non-removable Li-Po 2700 mAh,Non-removable Li-Po 3220 mAh
WiFi,802.11 a/b/g/n/ac dual-band,Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac dual-band,Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac dual-band
Bluetooth,4.2/A2DP/LE,4.2/A2DP,4.1/A2DP/LE
NFC,Yes,Yes,Yes
Main Camera,12 MP with laser autofocus,12.3 MP with laser autofocus,13 MP with autofocus & OIS
Pixel Size,1.55µm,1.55µm,1.12μm
Front Camera,8MP,5MP,2MP
[/table]

Hands On

Specifications are a great starting point. They can answer questions like is it too big, is it too heavy, does it have the features I’m looking for, and so on.

Specs can also be confusing and even misleading.  For example, the Nexus 6P includes a 1.55GHz quad-core processor, whereas the older Nexus 6 has a 2.7GHz quad-core processor. That might give some the impression that the old Nexus 6 is significantly faster than the new Nexus 6P. That’s likely not the case. Different processor architectures have different benefits and advantages, speed being paramount among them. How the processor’s speed plays out is something that’s best left to an in-depth and practical hands-on experience. That’s something which is not available today.

For now, putting performance and battery life aside and comparing the rest of the specifications, weigh what’s important to you when making your decision. If your deciding factors put extra emphasis on performance and battery life, you might be best served by waiting until the new devices have been put through their paces before you pull out your wallet. We’ll go into much more depth in our full reviews of the the new phones when we get them, and you can always check up on our full review and After the Buzz coverage of the original Nexus 6.

In the meantime, we’d like to get a sense of what you think is the best bang-for-buck, given what information we currently have. If you were to buy a Nexus today, which would it be? Let us know in our poll, then head down to the comments and let us know why.