After I initially saw the Nexus 6 after its release my first reaction was - what the hell are Google doing.
The Nexus brand had gone from sensible showcase of how stock Android should look to, a one trick pony targeted at a niche crowd. "Phablet" Fan Boys mostly, but it didn't seem to make any sense why anyone would want a device that big....
......until I got one.
Moving over from my daily driver of a Sony Xperia Z3 Compact to the Nexus 6 is like jumping from Fiat 500 into Humzilla. That's not an easy jump to make, and not without losing a few features along the way. I'm already missing small apps, dare I say it, I also miss Sony's contact style and the 20mpx camera. Battery life isn't too shabby on the N6 but not in the same league as the Z3 Compact, so who knows what else Ill find along the way.
What makes the Nexus 6 so great is its size, I never thought I'd get used to it but within a few days I forgot all about my little Sony and now I have all this sexy screen estate to play with. Great for games and typing emails for work. The work part is an important note to make, I can get quite a bit done because I feel I can sit down and actually type out long emails and feel more comfortable working from the device. Something I never experienced on iPhone or any of my previous Androids with the exception of the LG G2 maybe, so as a work horse its amazing.
The support for Exchange is all there, and syncs with your Gmail in Lollypop really well, including your calendar.
Getting over the size so quickly was a surprise for me, as I don't have the biggest shovel hands in the world much to the amusement of the colleagues but the handset never feels like I'm holding a newspaper from the 1960's. I know I mocked the 6" Nexus before it was released last year on this very blog. I thought it would never work but I'm not alone in that thought - maybe that's why I haven't seen them around like the N4 or N5 of old, could be the $600 / £600 price point either.
It does fit into rear pockets of your favorite denim, and inside pocket in your jacket / blazer, something which turned my head with the Blackberry Passport too - which by that way is a brilliant device. If only Blackberry would let you install Google Services out the box then it would conquer all. The Nexus 6 fits with the same gusto, but just don't sit down with it or wear a seat belt in either case, unless your covered with insurance and like to play risky
The lack of memory microSD slot is also a huge loss for me, having had a 64Gb card in my old Sony, I thought I would miss it, but having looked at the data there and realized 70% of my data is up on Google Drive / Google+ / Picasa anyway. So no biggie.
All in all, the move, and size, and OS changes didn't mean I was chopping off an arm to buy two gloves. The device does stand up well against the competition but it does feel less Nexus-like because of the price point and size.
Is that so bad, maybe not but a confusing message from Google regardless.