The joy of owning a Nexus device is that it is a “clean” device in the sense that not only is the hardware chosen and approved by Google, but the version of Android is as what Google had intended. This compared to Android phones built by other companies who tend to modify Android to a certain style and who throw in a ton of other apps and features that might not be necessary.
Unfortunately if you are looking for a clean Nexus 6 handset, you might have to get it from Google directly because according to reports, it seems that AT&T’s version has been slightly modified. No, AT&T has not throw on a skin/theme. Instead the carrier has decided to emblazon the back of the handset with their own logo.
They have also preinstalled carrier ringtones on the phone which is something that is traditionally kept off Nexus devices. They have also locked the SIM card in the phone, meaning that if you wanted to switch carriers, you’d have to get AT&T to unlock it by buying out of the contract, or by buying the phone separately before bringing it onto AT&T.
This is on top of bloatware reportedly being installed on the phone as well. AT&T’s Nexus 6 will also not allow users to setup mobile hotspots unless you subscribe to that feature, but if none of this matters to you and you just want the phone without paying its full price, then we guess this shouldn’t really matter then.