Nexus 6 and Moto Maxx are two smartphones manufactured by Motorola, but the former is sold by Google under its own Nexus brand, while the latter is a pure Motorola device.

The US-based phone maker is Google’s newest partner for the development of a Nexus smartphone, after Samsung, LG, and HTC. However, unlike the aforementioned companies, Motorola was given the task to make not one, but two Nexus handsets.

Speculations claim that Google initially wanted to launch a phablet and a standard-sized Nexus smartphone this year, but it changed plans at the last minute.

After testing both Nexus handsets proposed by Motorola, Google decided to drop the 5.2-inch version in favor of the larger, 6-inch one, which is now known as the Nexus 6.

Motorola has done a great job design-wise with both high-end phones

Many fans of the Nexus family, as well as developers who need a Nexus smartphone to test their apps and games in a clean environment, were pretty skeptical about such a large handset and hoped that Google would also announce a smaller version later this year.

That won’t be the case though, as Google has already announced that there won’t be a smaller Nexus 6 launched under its brand. Instead, those who aren’t happy with its decision can choose to go with Motorola’s Moto Maxx, which is exactly the smartphone that the search giant dropped a few months ago.

That’s one of the reasons these devices have similar specs, with a few exceptions like display, camera, and battery. Also, the Nexus 6 comes with a newer version of Android, but let’s take it one step at a time.

As we mentioned earlier, the Nexus 6 boasts a huge 6-inch AMOLED Quad HD capacitive touchscreen display that supports 1440 x 2560 pixels resolution. The Moto Maxx has a similar OLED Quad HD display, but it’s much smaller, at 5.2 inches.

Another difference between the two smartphones would be the fact that Motorola Moto Maxx includes an impressive 21-megapixel rear-facing camera, while the Nexus 6 is armed with a 13-megapixel camera.

Even so, both feature dual-LED flash, autofocus, and 4K video recording. In addition, the two pack 2-megapixel front-facing cameras.

On the inside, the Nexus 6 and Moto Maxx are similar. They are powered by a 2.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, an Adreno 420 graphics processing unit, and 3GB of RAM.

Both smartphones are water-resistant, but lack microSD card slot

It’s also worth mentioning that the Nexus 6 will be available in both 32GB and 64GB variants, whereas those going for Motorola’s flagship will only be able to choose the latter.

While both smartphones have non-removable batteries, the Moto Maxx has a much larger one, even if it’s smaller. The Moto Maxx is powered by a huge 3,900 mAh battery, while Nexus 6 has a 3,220 mAh battery.

On top of that, the Moto Maxx is fully compatible with Motorola’s Turbo charger, which allows users to charge the battery up to 60% in just 30 minutes. Also, both devices support wireless charging.

Connectivity-wise, Motorola Moto Maxx comes with LTE Cat.4 (150Mbps download) support, whereas Nexus 6 features LTE Cat.6 (300Mbps download). Moreover, the former offers Bluetooth 4.0, while the latter comes packed with Bluetooth 4.1 support.

On the other hand, the Moto Maxx packs IrDA port, while Nexus 6 does not. On the negative side, neither of the two flagship smartphones includes microSD card slot for memory expansion.

Motorola has confirmed that the Moto Maxx will receive the Lollipop update at some point

Before making your purchase, you should also take into consideration that Nexus 6 will be the only smartphone to ship with the Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system out of the box.

Motorola Moto Maxx runs Android 4.4.4 KitKat, and even though the US-based company has confirmed that it will provide the handset with a Lollipop upgrade, it will take some time to tweak the new OS.

As it is, both devices are solid choices for those looking for a flagship smartphone. However, the Nexus 6 will probably be mostly purchased by those who are keen to use a phablet as their daily phone.

The Moto Maxx, on the other hand, should be favored by customers looking for a handset that perfectly fits into their hands. Let us know in the comments which of the two top-tier smartphones you would pick.