The Nexus 6P is available in Singapore with either 64 GB or 128 GB of storage capacities, and with aluminium (silver) or graphite (black) colour options. Storage capacities are sometimes easily decided by budget and, well, your storage needs. Colours, on the other hand, can make for tough decisions. If you’re struggling to choose, let’s see if I can help.
I’ve actually had the opportunity to try both the aluminium and graphite Nexus 6P for a period of time. I started with the colour I thought would not be so nice. That would be the aluminium, or silver as some might refer to it.
You see, I thought the aluminium colour was a little too bright, and its contrast would call too much attention to the visor, as it has come to be called, on the back of the Nexus 6P. Like many people, I started out with an initial impression that the visor was ugly, based on some pre-launch renderings and leaked photos. The visor with its black glass, surrounded by the silver coloured aluminium, would be just too jarring.
But so what if I was wrong, that the visor wouldn’t actually look all that bad, I still thought the silver was too flashy. Previous Nexus smartphones had tended to fly a little under the radar. I thought aluminium would simply be too attention-seeking.
After a few days with the aluminium Nexus 6P, I realised I was so wrong about the colours. The visor turned out to look quite cool after all, something that is unique and immediately identifiable as a Nexus 6P. I originally held the belief that a smartphone should just blend in. But it turns out that the Nexus 6P looks so good that it should just stand out and make its presence felt, drawing the attention of everyone around it.
Aluminium, it turns out, seems to be just the right colour for Google’s premium flagship smartphone of 2015.
Graphite, on the other hand, blended in too well, and made the Nexus 6P less immediately recognisable, you know, if you only had a really brief glance at it through the corner of your eye.
Once upon a time, Nexus smartphones were all about the software contained in them, and less about the exterior design. It used to be right for a Nexus smartphone to sport an understated design that blends in. The Nexus 6P, however, wants to stand out. It’s Google’s first Nexus smartphone that’s built to really look good, and aluminium, alas, helps it to shine. Aluminium gives it character.
The Nexus branding on the aluminium back is also far more visible than on the graphite back. I would prefer it to have been more subtle, like how it is with the graphite colour.
Another more down-to-earth aspect about the colour choice has to do with how easy it is to maintain, in terms of keeping the device clean. In my experience, fingerprint smudges are more noticeable on the graphite colour back. With aluminium, your grimy fingerprints are barely visible at all. If you’re one to fuss over these sort of details, the aluminium option will work out better for you.
Would you have a Nexus 6P that screams out its identity, or one that tries to be subtle?
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