Samsung Galaxy Note5 vs Google Nexus 6 vs Motorola Moto X Style: specs comparison

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After months of rumors, leaks, and nail-biting anticipation, Samsung's shiny new phablet warrior, the Galaxy Note5, has been unveiled. As usual, it brings a pristine, sharp 5.7" AMOLED display, the proprietary S-Pen, and is dressed in Samsung's premium design language seen on the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge.

The prestige looks came at a cost, however, as Sammy stripped down some fan-favorite features, such as the IR blaster, user-removable battery, and microSD memory expansion slot. Will the glass sandwich and shiny, shiny looks manage to outweigh these losses in the eyes of the consumers? Only time will tell.

However, the Note5 is not all about pretty looks – it, naturally, packs bleeding-edge hardware under its hood, easily positioning itself as a phablet of the year candidate – at least on first look. However, there are quite a few interesting flagships floating out there at the moment – both in the regular-sized and phablet fields. So, let's check out how the Note5's hardware measures up when compared to two other unorthodox offerings – Google's gargantuan Nexus 6 and Motorola's surprising Moto X Style!

Samsung Galaxy Note5 Motorola Moto X Style Google Nexus 6

Design

Dimensions
6.03 x 3.00 x 0.30 inches
153.2 x 76.1 x 7.6 mm
6.06 x 3.00 x 0.44 inches
153.9 x 76.2 x 11.06 mm
6.27 x 3.27 x 0.40 inches
159.26 x 82.98 x 10.06 mm
Weight
6.03 oz (171.0 g) 6.31 oz (179.0 g) 6.49 oz (184.0 g)
Materials
Back: Glass
Frame: Metal
Back: Plastic
Resistance
Splash, Dust; IP52 Splash
Biometrics
Fingerprint (touch)
Features
Stylus, Touch sensitive control keys
Keys
Left: Volume control; Right: Lock/Unlock key Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key Right: Volume control, Lock/Unlock key
Colors
Black sapphire, Gold platinum, Silver titan, White pearl Black, Gray, White Blue, White

Display

Size
5.7-inch 5.7-inch 6.0-inch
Resolution
2560x1440px, 518 PPI 2560x1440px, 520 PPI 2560x1440px, 493 PPI
Technology
Super AMOLED IPS LCD AMOLED
Screen-to-body
76.62 % 75.03 % 74.03 %
Features
Scratch-resistant glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 4), Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor Scratch-resistant glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 3), Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor Scratch-resistant glass (Corning Gorilla Glass 3), Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor

Hardware

System chip
Samsung Exynos 7 Octa 7420 (14 nm) Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 MSM8992 Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 APQ8084
Processor
Octa-core
2100 MHz
ARM Cortex-A57 and ARM Cortex-A53
Hexa-core
1800 MHz
ARM Cortex-A57 and ARM Cortex-A53
Quad-core
2700 MHz
Krait 450
GPU
Mali-T760 MP8 Adreno 418 Adreno 420
RAM
4GB (LPDDR4) 3GB (LPDDR3) 3GB (LPDDR3)
Internal storage
64GB, available to use: 54.1 GB 64GB 64GB, available to use: 58 GB
Storage expansion
not expandable microSDXC up to 128 GB
OS
Android (7.0 Nougat, 6.0 Marshmallow, 5.1 Lollipop), Samsung TouchWiz UI Android (7.0 Nougat, 6.0 Marshmallow, 5.1 Lollipop) Android (7.1 Nougat, 7.0 Nougat, 6.0 Marshmallow, 5.1 Lollipop, 5.0 Lollipop)

Battery

Capacity
3000 mAh 3000 mAh 3220 mAh
Type
Li - Ion Li - Ion Li - Polymer
Charging
Qi and Powermat wireless charging Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 Qi wireless charging

Camera

Rear
Single camera Single camera Single camera
Main camera
16 MP (OIS, PDAF, CMOS image sensor, BSI sensor)
Aperture size: F1.9
Focal length: 28 mm
Sensor size: 1/2.6"
Pixel size: 1.12 μm
21 MP (PDAF, BSI sensor)
Aperture size: F2.0
Focal length: 27 mm
Sensor size: 1/2.4"
Pixel size: 1.1 μm
13 MP (OIS, Autofocus)
Aperture size: F2.0
Flash
LED Dual LED Dual LED
Video recording
3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps), 2560x1440 (QHD), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (60 fps), 1280x720 (HD), 640x480 (VGA)
OIS, Continuous autofocus, Object tracking, EIS, Video calling
3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (60 fps)
HDR, Continuous autofocus, EIS, Video calling
3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps), 1280x720 (HD) (30 fps)
Front
5 MP 5 MP (Flash) 2 MP, Video capture: 1920x1080 (Full HD)

Connectivity & Features

Bluetooth
4.2 4.1 4.1
WLAN
802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band
MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot
802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band
MIMO, Wi-Fi Direct, Hotspot
802.11 a,b,g,n,ac,dual-band
MIMO, Hotspot
USB
microUSB, USB 2.0 microUSB, USB 2.0 microUSB, USB 2.0
Hearing aid compatible
M4/T4
Location
GPS, A-GPS, Glonass, BeiDou GPS, A-GPS GPS, A-GPS, Glonass
Sensors
Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Hall (for flip covers), Gesture, Barometer Accelerometer Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Barometer
Other
NFC, ANT+, Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync NFC, Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync NFC, Tethering, Computer sync, OTA sync

Multimedia

Headphones
3.5mm jack 3.5mm jack 3.5mm jack
Speakers
Earpiece, Loudspeaker Earpiece, Multiple speakers Earpiece, Multiple speakers
Features
Album art cover, Background playback Album art cover, Background playback Album art cover, Background playback
Screen mirroring
Wireless screen share Wireless screen share

Cellular

4G (FDD)
Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700 a), 17(700 b), 18(800 Lower), 19(800 Upper), 26(850+), 28(700 APT) Bands 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(AWS-1), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700 a), 17(700 b), 20(800 DD), 25(1900+), 28(700 APT) Bands 1(2100), 3(1800), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 19(800 Upper), 20(800 DD), 28(700 APT)
4G (TDD)
Bands 40(2300) Bands 40(2300), 41(2600+) Bands 41(2600+)
3G
Bands 5(850), 8(900), 2(1900), 1(2100) Bands 6(800), 5(850), 8(900), 4(1700/2100), 3(1800), 2(1900), 1(2100) Bands 6(800), 5(850), 8(900), 4(1700/2100), 2(1900), 1(2100)
Data Speed
LTE-A Cat 9 (450/50 Mbit/s), HSPA, HSUPA, UMTS LTE-A Cat 6 (300/50 Mbit/s), HSPA, HSUPA, UMTS LTE-A Cat 6 (300/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSDPA+ (4G) 21.1 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s
SIM type
Nano SIM Nano SIM Nano SIM
VoLTE
Yes

Phone Features

Notifications
Haptic feedback, Music ringtones (MP3), Polyphonic ringtones, Vibration, Flight mode, Silent mode, Speakerphone
Other features
Voice dialing, Voice commands, Voice recording, TTY/TDD

Regulatory Approval

FCC approval
Date approved: Jul 15, 2015
FCC ID value: A3LSMN920A
Date approved: Jul 07, 2015
FCC ID value: IHDT56UC1
Date approved: Oct 24, 2014
FCC ID value: IHDT56QD1
Measured SAR
Head: 0.22 W/kg
Body: 0.76 W/kg
Simultaneous Transmission: 1.27 W/kg
Wireless Router: 0.98 W/kg
Head: 0.49 W/kg
Body: 1.43 W/kg
Simultaneous Transmission: 1.59 W/kg
Wireless Router: 1.36 W/kg
Head: 0.86 W/kg
Body: 0.36 W/kg
Simultaneous Transmission: 1.56 W/kg
Wireless Router: 0.42 W/kg

Availability

Officially announced
Aug 13, 2015 Jul 28, 2015 Oct 15, 2014

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