During our time w/ the Nexus 6, we wanted dive a little deeper into the optics department. Our goal here is to test its rear shooter in real-world situations based on its performance. Since the Nexus 6 is a Moto X phablet, I'm sure many of you want to make sure the camera is actually better or more consistent than Moto's flagship.
The newest Nexus retains its 13MP sensor + dual LED ring flash but Google added optical image stabilization and lowered the aperture slightly down to f/2.0. So w/ that said, I'm sure plenty of you are curious to see if this improves things. So let's dive in.
The performance isn't as consistent as I would have liked it to be but for the most part. Mostly I get clear concise images then every hear and there I get noisy images. The colors can be a tad bit diluted. Surprisingly enough, the N6 performs quite stellar in low-light environments. A lot better than I thought it would. The software handles the ISO just right. I'm glad to see Motorola is getting a handle on their cameras. It is a whole lot better than last year's model and previous Moto cameras as it is a step in the right direction. Shooting video in 1080p + 4K handles wonderful as well. Good frame rates and all. Surprisingly enough, the on-board mics do a great job of capturing sound + filtering out background noise. There's some noise-canceling involved somewhere in here, I'm sure.
The Nexus 6 easily has the best shooter on a Nexus in quite some time but holds up a bit differently against the rest of the smartphone shooters in the market. While I wish there was a bit more clarity and consistency within the photos, it is definitely one of the more adequate Android shooters as for casual, HDR+, or 4K video will suit you just fine. But if you're already a fan of the Note 4 or G3, this isn't going to sway you away.