Nexus 6P: Problems Users Have and How to Fix Them

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The Nexus 6P is by far the best Nexus phone ever, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. Unfortunately, every new phone seems to have a few issues, and the Nexus 6P is no exception. We have compiled a list of the top complaints from Nexus 6P owners, along with how to either fix or workaround them, until Google offers a remedy through an update.

Bluetooth and battery life

Bluetooth connectivity issues

Bluetooth issues are very common with smartphones, but this one has some people sending their phone back to Google because it’s so frustrating. Users are dealing with everything from random disconnects, no sound at the beginning of phone calls, and stuttering or skipping sound while streaming Bluetooth audio.

Poor battery life

The Nexus 6P has a monster 3,450mAh battery and the new Doze feature, so it really should have tremendous battery life. This happens to be the case for a lot of people, but some users are having a hard time getting through a day. This is most likely due to an app, but it isn’t always easy to find out which one, since Google’s Battery manager doesn’t reveal a lot of information.

The first thing you need to understand is that Google’s Battery Saving option will not help you. It will reduce power, as well as limit vibration and location services, but it only kicks in when you have either 15 percent or 5 percent remaining life. You’re most likely reading this because your phone is reaching the 15 percent plateau too quickly.

However, there are some other things you can do that will improve the battery life.

Stop using High Accuracy for Location services:

Open Settings.
Select Location.
Select Mode.
Choose either Battery Saving or Device Only.

Turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth scanning:

Open Settings.
Select Location.
Tap on the three dot menu at the top right, and choose Scanning.
Turn off Wi-Fi Scanning and Bluetooth Scanning.

Wiping the device’s cache partition is simple enough and won’t erase your data.

Power down your Nexus 6P
Turn on the phone by pressing Volume down and the Power button at the same time.
Tap the Volume down button to highlight Recovery Mode.
Select Recovery Mode by pressing the Power button.
When you see the Android mascot, hold down the Power button, then press and release the Volume up button quickly.
Tap the Volume down button to highlight Wipe Cache Partition.
Select Wipe Cache Partition by pressing the Power button.
Tap the Volume down button to highlight Yes.
Select Yes by pressing the Power button.
When completed, press the Power button to Reboot System Now.

If you’re still having problems, it’s likely that an app is causing the problem. You can head into Settings and choose Battery to find out which apps are using the most power, but that list isn’t always accurate. A lot of apps cause wakelocks that will destroy your battery life by not allowing your device to sleep. You can examine which apps are causing wakelocks, but your Nexus 6P needs to be rooted in order to do that. That’s probably not the case for most of you, so you’ll have to look at all the apps on your device and try to figure out which ones you installed around the time you started having problems. Uninstall these apps one by one and see if your battery life increases.

If none of the above works, you will need to factory reset your Nexus 6P. Keep in mind that this will erase everything on the phone, so make sure to back up all your data, including pictures, music, and videos. Once you have reset your device, don’t install all your apps at once. Only install the essentials, and add apps slowly to see how battery life is affected.

Here’s how to factory reset your Nexus 6P:

Open Settings.
Select Backup & Reset.
Select Factory Data Reset.
Select Reset Phone.
Select Erase Everything and then Reboot.

Speakers, camera software, microphone

Top speaker is louder than the bottom speaker

This is an interesting one. Many people are reporting that the top speaker is louder than the bottom speaker, which can make for an unpleasant experience when watching videos in landscape mode. In most cases, the difference isn’t dramatic. Users are reporting a 60/40 split, but we have seen some complaints in which it’s more noticeable than that.

Unfortunately, this issue doesn’t appear to be a software-related, since users have tried to factory reset their device with no luck. As it’s most likely hardware-related, you’ll need to call Google support (855-836-3987) and ask for a replacement unit. You can still use your current phone while waiting for the replacement. After you receive your replacement, you will have one week to send the defective unit back.

Although a factory reset doesn’t appear to solve the issue, it certainly won’t hurt to try it. You’ll need to reset your phone before sending it back to Google anyway. Keep in mind that this will erase everything on the phone, so make sure to back up all your data, including pictures, music, and videos.

Here’s how to factory reset your Nexus 6P:

Open Settings.
Select Backup & Reset.
Select Factory Data Reset.
Select Reset Phone.
Select Erase Everything and then Reboot.

Buggy camera software

The Nexus 6P takes amazing pictures, but the stock Google Camera app is very buggy. Sometimes the app freezes when opening, and other times the picture you just captured doesn’t appear in the Gallery.

This is an obvious software issue that Google will fix, but the best workaround for now is to reboot the device when you know that you’re going to be taking a lot of pictures. My personal experience is that rebooting seems to keep the issue at bay for several hours.

Another complaint is choppy performance with slow motion video recordings. There has been a lot of back and forth as to whether this is really an issue or not, but the the problem arises when there isn’t enough light because it doesn’t appear in outdoor or well lit indoor settings. Photographers have pointed out that this is a common issue with a lot of cameras since capturing that many frames per second in low light isn’t easy. Based on this fact, it remains to be seen if Google will be able to fix it. The best workaround at this point is to capture slow motion video only when there is a decent amount of light.

Microphone issues during phone calls

It has been reported that people on the other end of calls can’t hear the caller when using a Nexus 6P. This appears to be due to the noise cancellation microphone, which is on the back of the phone, just under the camera bump.

Users have found that the problem arises when the noise cancellation microphone is accidentally covered during calls. This can happen with your finger or even when resting the phone between your head and shoulder.

While this appears to be a hardware issue, it’s likely software-related. Google has already acknowledged the issue and is investigating it, but there is no word on a fix.

There are two workarounds for this issue:

The first it to make sure you don’t cover the noise cancellation microphone while making phone calls.
The second workaround is for those users that happen to have a rooted Nexus 6P. You can disable the noise cancellation microphone completely by changing the persist.audio.fluence.voicecall build.prop setting from true to false.

If the problem continues to drive you absolutely bonkers, you can always call Google support (855-836-3987) and ask for a replacement. You can still use your current phone while waiting for the replacement. After you receive your replacement, you will have one week to send the defective unit back.

These are all the Nexus 6P problems and solutions we have right now, but we’ll keep updating as more arise. Let us know in the comments if you’ve had an issue or you know of a solution.