Nexus 6

First, let's acknowledge the pink elephant in the room: Yes, the screen is HUGE. Yes, this will turn a lot of people off. Way off. You can put this phone in your pocket, but it's hard to sit down comfortably with it. If you can, you're probably wearing JNCOs. lol 6 inches is not a screen size a lot of people will be able to live with.

Now that we have that aside, let's talk the phone itself. The screen is gorgeous at 2xHD (1440 x 2560) resolution. At 493 ppi, it's far beyond "retina". I've always preferred AMOLED screens to LCD (such as Apple uses), and this phone is no exception. I do a LOT of reading at night, and having a screen that goes to true black (no backlit pixels) at 6 inches is perfect for that. I've compared it to the iPhone 6 Plus and Note 4, apt considering their "massive" screen sizes at 5.5" and 5.7" respectfully. The N6 beats them both out at screen size and matches the resolution of the Note 4. 

As with past Nexus devices, this is a completely stock device, getting updates directly from from the big G in sky with no carrier intervention. (Of note, the AT&T version of the Nexus 6 does have carrier bloatware and branding on it, so updates will likely be delayed there.) Lollipop (Android 5) is gorgeous to look at and really brings the Android UI into maturity, feeling less like a "cool design" that an engineer thought up and more like a very calculated, modern interface. Indeed "Material Design" infuses the entire interface of the phone and just about every Google app. Already, many app developers are adopting this design standard, making everything feel more and more "integrated". Going from one app to another is less jarring now as more apps abandon their proprietary designs, though this is starting the debate of whether or not an app should be consistently designed across platforms (Android, iOS, Windows Phone, etc), which all have very distinct design differences, or if they should match the interface of the platform they're run on. That said, early leaks from Samsung indicate they are going to adopt a lot of Material Design in future versions of Touchwiz.

But enough about the software. That's only a very temporary differentiator as OEMs roll out updates. Let's get to the meat of the review: The Hardware. Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 2.7Ghz quad-core processor with 3GB of RAM, the phone flies. The only "lag" to complain about is the beautiful animations that Google introduced with Lollipop. Don't want the "lag"? Enable Developer Options and either speed them up or turn them off completely. Me? I'm a design guy, so I like 'em.

The camera is good. Not the best camera I've used on a phone, but easily good enough for day-to-day use in just about every situation. 13MP OIS (optical image stabilization) f2.0, it captures crisp detail quickly. It works well in lowlight, too, though it doesn't brighten up dark shots as much as the iPhone 6 Plus or Note 4. That said, the Note 4 captures a lot more grain in those brighter lowlight shots, so it's a trade off. I haven't done extensive shooting with it yet, but I already like it more than the Note 4. I'm optimistic so far.

Oh, one last bit: The sound. The N6 features dual front-facing speakers that offer loud, clear sound. It's probably not a match for the vaunted Boom Sound of the HTC One (M8), but it allows for great stereo sound to pair with the big screen. I don't really feel like watching something on this sized device is a compromise anymore. 

One thing is for sure: I will have a very hard time moving to another phone from this one. And that's something I can't remember saying in a very, very long time.

Galaxy Note 4

The screen is drop-dead gorgeous (5.7" SAMOLED 2K display), the battery life is pretty dead on with what I was loving with the iPhone 6 Plus, and the camera is noticeably better than any phone I've ever had. It's super-fast (no surprise there) and the Note features are really nice. I like having a stylus on something that big, and the popup/split windows are great, even if only some apps support it. I'm glad they did away with the USB 3 port, and the metal edges are a really nice upgrade over the plastic of the Note 3.

It wasn't too long ago that I thought "phablets" were dumb. I was comfortable with a 4.7" screen (still probably the largest single-hand phone screen I'm comfortable with) and a tablet, and I saw clear differences in their uses. The Note 3 started to change that for me, but it still felt incomplete on some levels. The iPhone 6 Plus really solidified the place for a phablet for me, enough so that I even did away with my small tablet. But with that much screen, a grid of icons always feels a waste (something I've thought from day-one with the iPad). Android just makes better use of larger screens, and phablets have hit a point of maturity in Android that just wasn't really there even 6 months ago. Samsung really nailed it with the Note 4 (even if there's still a lot of touchwiz crap I could do without), and I'm very happy with it.

On a side note, I also got a Gear 2 Neo when I traded phones. I set it up and used it for all of about 15 minutes before I went back to my Pebble. Having already had a Gear 2 before, I quickly remembered why I prefer the Pebble or Android Wear devices. It's just a bit clumsy to navigate, and I need media controls and notifications to take center stage. Samsung has their watches geared (no pun intended) around different ideals. It's just a preference thing. I'll probably put that watch up on Craigslist in the next day or so and I'll definitely be getting a Moto 360 watch this week, as I really love the interface of Android Wear, the watch is gorgeous, and I was going to get a fitness tracker anyway. :)

A week with the iPhone 6 Plus

First off, no, it hasn't bent at all. There, that's done.

This is the near perfect replacement, for me, for a phone and a tablet. Is it big? Yes, but it's also small. I look at it from the perspective of someone who, up until now, has done certain things on a phone (daily surfing, social media, photography, etc) and certain things on a tablet (reading books/comics, watching videos, playing games). This screen is easily large enough to do everything I've done on a tablet, while also being small enough to fit in my pocket. You'd think that the additional activity would be killing my battery, but I used the phone pretty intensively all day yesterday from 10am to 10pm and still had 50% of my battery left. The only issue I've had is that reading comics is a little tough, but Comixology's Guided View mode more or less negates that. I just can't read full page at a time. No big deal though. Using it paired with my Mac mini Plex server at home has worked flawlessly, enabled by my unlimited data plan (I love T-Mobile), and as more and more apps are properly optimized for the screen size, things just keep getting better and better. And as someone who actually used Google Wallet for NFC payments, I'm looking forward to Apple Pay rolling out later this month. Oh, and the camera? It's FANTASTIC. It's not going to replace my DSLR, or even my Canon G15, but for snapshots or times where I don't want to carry my cameras with me, it does a great job. I really do love it.

It should be noted that this is not my first "phablet". I had a Galaxy Note 3 that I liked a lot, but it just didn't work out as well, for some reason. Battery life was good, but not this good, and the overall experience just wasn't as good

Nest Thermostat, Hue Light, and a Plex Server

Installed the Nest (fairly harrowing, as the wires coming from the wall weren't long enough to reach the leads) and Hue lights last night. The Nest, while fun, is more practical, but we played with the Hue lights for about an hour. One light in the living room, and two in our room. I'd like another in the living room, and then I need three for the kitchen and three for the dining room... Yeah, this could get expensive fast. LOL Seriously though, it's super cool to have all this stuff automated and connected, and I can control both the Hues and the Nest through my Pebble as well.

The media server is working great as well. I'm using Screen Sharing on my MacBook Pro to connect and control the Mac mini I'm using as a server to search and download shows, and then sort them properly. The mini acts as a Plex server, and I have a lifetime Plex Pass, so I can stream content no matter where I am. It's a near perfect setup; I just need to automate my TV episode downloads, and I'll be super happy. I know it can be done, so I just need to figure it out...