Nexus 6 • Hacker News Board

Re: Nexus 6

#211

Post by lekanwang » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:40 PM UTC

StavrosK wrote: post #116

the_mitsuhiko wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I mean, does anyone actually notice the difference? Absolutely.

Really? Your eye can resolve the difference between 300 ppi and 500 ppi at arm's length? Also, don't be a stranger.

Human visual acuity of 20/20 is being able to discern 1 arcmin in bright light. With trig, you get that, if you're holding the screen a foot away, that amounts to 0.000349 inches, which is 1432 dpi. If you're holding the device 2 ft away, it's 716 dpi. And against your face at 6 inches, you get 2865 dpi.

Re: Nexus 6

#212

Post by chjj » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:40 PM UTC

benmorris wrote: post #94

I bought the Nexus 5 as soon as it was released and have really liked it, however, I'm not sure I'll be buying this one. The biggest issue I have is the screen size. I just think 6" is over my threshold. At $649 I can basically buy any other phone off contract. One of the original appeals of the Nexus 5 was the low price. No wireless charging either? Not a dealbreaker, but I did use it on my 5.

Size really gets to me. Don't get me wrong, I really like the Nexus 5, but I'm sick of phones that are borderline tablets.

I ended up buying a Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (amami). It's damn near the same specs of a Nexus 5 except it actually fits in my hand (5.0"x2.56"x0.37"). Works flawlessly with Cyanogenmod. Best purchase I ever made. I bought two of them I liked it so much. Good on Sony for making an excellent smartphone.

If I have to use two hands to handle it, it's not a phone, it's a tablet.

Re: Nexus 6

#213

Post by lmm » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:40 PM UTC

bcohen5055 wrote: post #93

Can anyone confirm what is driving this larger screen war? I know when LTE was rolling out manufacturers needed space for larger batteries but couldn't make the phones thicker due to market backlash so bigger screens began to trend. Now I can't help but think it is completely consumer driven but if that is so what are the larger screens enabling users to do? Is it the resolution? The multitasking? This just doesn't l…

I've been wanting 6" for years; it's the sweet spot where it's large enough to watch videos comfortably but small enough to fit in a pocket. A better question is why it took so long to get here.

Re: Nexus 6

#214

Post by mladenkovacevic » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:41 PM UTC

With the increase in price and out-of-the-gate contract subsidies, the Nexus line has now transitioned from a developer-targeted effort to a full-fledged mass-consumer brand.

Having said that, this transition demands that they compete with the iPhones and Samsungs. Taking that into account they should've released an additional 4.5" phone, along with the 6". This could steal away the people who hesitated in getting the 4.7" iPhone 6 due to the size, and if someone is into getting a humongous 5.5 inch iPhone 6 Plus, they'd be even more into getting a 6" device with not much larger physical dimensions. The goal should be find the perfect two offers to cover the whole spectrum of buyers.

Re: Nexus 6

#215

Post by jordanpg » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:41 PM UTC

enraged_camel wrote: post #174

freehunter wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Clearly carrying large phones in pockets is impossible... impractical... and... undesirable. People keep saying that and time and time again it's proven wrong. It has been wrong for years, and it will keep being wrong. If large phones were impossible, impractical, and undesirable, people would stop buying them. But they're not. They're demanding them in such large numbers that even Apple has put out a massive, massi…

>>If large phones were impossible, impractical, and undesirable, people would stop buying them. I think you're conflating several different things here. Something can be impractical but still desirable. For example, big SUVs are a pain in the ass -- they are inefficient, difficult to maneuver and hard to park. Yet people still buy them because of a simplistic "bigger is better" mindset. How many people with big SUVs…

I don't see the connection with SUVs. They aren't impractical in the same way. For example, for many people (men and women alike), a device above a certain size cannot be carried hands-free. This is a fact. For me, this would be a dealbreaker. It's not about status; it's more closely linked with my unwillingness to type anything longer than a sentence or two on a small keyboard and screen.

On the horizon, I see a disconnect between the ideal size of mobile devices and the practicality of carrying them around everywhere. Poolside, hiking, on the toilet, out to dinner.

Something will have to change to fix this. I see the solution as new fashion trends that will be ushered in by people who are young -- young enough not to think that, for example, wearing a cell phone on a hip holster is symbolic of greybeard-ness, etc.

Re: Nexus 6

#216

Post by pisarzp » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:41 PM UTC

Many people here complain that phone is too big without ever using phablet. I was in this camp too until I started to use N6. I was testing this phone for last couple months. It's an amazing device, and even though sometimes it does feel big, on day to day basis it was never an issue for me. Consuming any type of content was much easier and more pleasurable. I noticed the difference especially when I sometimes moved back to Nexus 5 which I thought was perfect size. Well, it turns out I changed my mind now:)

If you can, try to use phablet at least for 1-2 days before discarding it.

One thing that might have helped is that I'm also using a smartwatch now and I take out my phone less frequently, but I don't think this change anything much.

Re: Nexus 6

#217

Post by portmanteaufu » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:42 PM UTC

cryptoz wrote: post #160

coldpie wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious, what do you use it for? :)

I make a platform that automatically collects the atmospheric pressure sensor reading on a schedule, and sends it to scientists for analysis. The idea is to build the best weather forecast (higher accuracy, hyperlocal) by using this dramatically denser data source as inputs to models. We make an open source app called PressureNet: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ca.cumulonimbu... We also build an SDK an…

Intriguing! How frequently does the SDK sample the barometer's readings? Does having the phone in one's pocket affect the perceived atmospheric pressure?

Re: Nexus 6

#218

Post by pierrec » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:43 PM UTC

Slightly off topic, but is it just me or does this page brutally ignore your browser's language settings? (as well as those of your google account.)

Apparently it guesses a language based on your IP address and serves you an inappropriately localized version. Kind of a noob-ish mistake to make for such a campaign. Too bad for you if you're abroad! There's a language drop-down in the "help" section, but it's not stored in the session and it's completely ignored by the other pages. So you simply cannot view the landing page in your own language!

Re: Nexus 6

#219

Post by StavrosK » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:43 PM UTC

mkozlows wrote: post #201

StavrosK wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Your eye can resolve the difference between 300 ppi and 500 ppi at arm's length? Also, don't be a stranger.

It is easy for me to see jaggies on a 300 dpi device (the N7 and N10 are both in that ballpark, as was my old 720p phone). You can too -- go to a browser, and type "www" and then look at those letters. The jaggies are just what you'd expect from 300 dpi. On the Nexus 5 (440 dpi), I can't see them anymore. Resolutions above this seem unnecessary to me -- but for the N6, 1080p would mean 360 dpi, so that might be sub-p…

Hmm, weird. I was going by my HTC One M7, which has a 1080p screen, but its ppi is 460ish, and the Nexus 6 is 493. I didn't realize an extra inch would require 1440p to have roughly the same resolution. I can't see jaggies anywhere at this resolution, though.

Re: Nexus 6

#220

Post by bsimpson » Wed, Oct 15, 2014, 5:45 PM UTC

ccozan wrote: post #4

Finally, a Motorola Nexus! A mighty succesor to the Moto X-es.

The Moto X has been a Nexus-ish device at carrier prices. This is an actual Nexus device, still at carrier prices.

If it was < $400, I might have sold my 5 and given it a go. At $650, I have no incentive to go for this vs. any other device (or to upgrade at all for that matter).