The Android mobile market just got shifted again after three key announcements from Google today to refresh the Nexus family of products that have served as the flagships for Android devices for several years.
First up is the Nexus 6, a phone or phablet depending on your vocabulary preferences, a device with a 5.96-in screen with a resolution of 2560×1440 and a pixel density of 493 ppi. Built by Motorola and sharing a lot of physical design with the recently released Moto X update, the phone is sleek and attractive and will ship in both black and white color schemes.
Other specifications include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 quad-core processors running at up to 2.7 GHz and an Adreno 420 graphics core. Capacities of both 32GB and 64GB will be available.
The Nexus 6 and its 6-in screen makes it larger than the Galaxy Note 4, larger than the iPhone 6 Plus and basically anything else considered a "phone" on the market today. The resolution of the phone is also much higher than the iPhone 6 Plus (only 1920×1080) and this should give Google's flagship a big advantage in clarity and media consumption – as long as the new Android Lollipop lives up to its claims.
Camera features are updated as well to include an f2.0 lens with optical image stabilization and a 13MP resolution. Fast charging is becoming particularly important in modern phones and Google claims the Nexus 6 will be able to get 6 hours of use from only 15 minutes of charging and more than 24 hours use from a full charge. We'll see how that pans out of course.
Google says that the Nexus 6 will ship in November with a pre-order in "late October". Expect an unlocked version on Google's Play Store while you can find on-contract versions at ALL US carriers including AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and even Verizon. On a side note, this marks the first time Verizon will carry a Nexus-branded phone since the Galaxy Nexus in December of 2011.
Be prepared to pay full price for this phone though. Google lists pricing for the 32GB model at $649 and for the 64GB model at $699.
Screen | 5.96" 1440×2560 display (493 ppi) 16:9 aspect ratio |
Size | 82.98mm x 159.26mm x 10.06mm |
Weight | 6.49 ounces (184 grams) |
Camera | Rear Camera: 13MP, Dual LED ring flash Front Camera: 2MP @ 1.4 um pixel |
Audio | Stereo front facing speakers; 3.5mm headphone jack with 4 button headset compatibility |
Memory | 32GB, 64GB |
CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon™ 805 – Quad Core 2.7 GHz |
GPU | Adreno 420 |
RAM | 3GB RAM |
Wireless | Broadcom 802.11ac 2×2 (MIMO)
|
Network (+ Mobile Sku) | Americas SKU: GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz CDMA: Band Class: 0/1/10 WCDMA: Bands: 1/2/4/5/8 LTE: Bands: 2/3/4/5/7/12/13/17/25/26/29/41 CA DL: Bands: B2-B13, B2-B17, B2-29, B4-B5, B4-B13, B4-B17, B4-B29 Rest of World SKU: GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz CDMA: not supported WCDMA: Bands: 1/2/4/5/6/8/9/19 LTE: Bands: 1/3/5/7/8/9/19/20/28/41 CA DL: B3-B5, B3-B8 |
Power** | 3220 mAh Talk time: up to 24 hours Standby time up to 300 hours Internet use time up to 8.5 hrs Wi-Fi, 7 hrs LTE Wireless charging built-in Turbo charger gives up to 6 hours of power in 1 minutes |
Sensors | Accelerometer, Gyro, Magnetometer, Prox, Ambient Light Sensor, Haptics, Hall effect, Barometer |
Ports & Connectors | Micro USB Single nano SIM Power and Volume key on Right Hand Side of the device 3.5mm audio jack |
OS | Android 5.0 Lollipop |
When will this smartphone fad
When will this smartphone fad die?
Better yet, when will the
Better yet, when will the resolution race on phones die? All we hear is how monitors/tv’s at 4K less than 50″ are not needed and here we have 6″ phones coming in at half that resolution and nobody from the industry says a word. Because they’re full of shit on pixels, but also marketing BS numbers to consumers.
What makes it worse is finding affordable screens greater than 1080p are a PITA.
Never, but being an owner of
Never, but being an owner of the first Palm phone it has gotten ridiculous. I’m self employed and I need my contacts and calender, maps are nice, everything else is crap.
You know what can make the
You know what can make the battery charge from 0 to 100% in less than a minute?
Having a swappable battery.
I don’t want a phone with enough processing power to run AutoCAD. I want a below 5” phone with an OLED display an a battery that’s as easy to swap as those on Motorolla’s radios.
$649? I’m now glad I decided
$649? I’m now glad I decided to hold onto my Nexus 5. Yeah, I get that the N6 is a better phone. I don’t see it being a $300 more better phone though.
There better damn well be
There better damn well be less ads in your face, at that price, and what is Google up to with that pricing structure. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 is still a 32 bit CPU. So the A8 in the iPhone 2 cores, 6(?) IPCs per core, to the 805’s 4 cores, 3 IPCs per core. I would rather have the 64 bit data bus and instruction set, as even on 32 bit code, 2 instructions could be fetched on the 64 bit processor, in the same amount of time that one instruction could be fetched on a 32 bit processor(at an equal clock rate). So both the A8, and 805 have the same total IPCs, but the 805 needs 4 cores to match the 2 on the iPhone. What about the SIMD instructions on the 805 compared to the A8(?) this is where things will get interesting, and the 805 is Qualcomm’s last 32 bit Krait core, this alone does not justify Google’s pricing. One thing for sure the Google phone at that price has a very good chance of turning people off, and making sales for the competition.
I guess $350 is not enough
I guess $350 is not enough money for a phone? They did it with the Nexus 5, OnePlus did it with the One… Just when good phones were starting to be priced reasonably, *yank*!
Smartphones won’t die – oh no, next we’ll have jeans with pockets that go down to our knees. Want your wallet? Touch your toes!
If you break the screen on this one, you could really open up your femoral artery.
I bought my wife her first
I bought my wife her first smart phone 2 months ago, it was a Moto G, it was $200.00. I spent 30 minutes manually transferring all of her contacts. When I finished, I picked up my GS4 and was immediately reminded how thin it was and stupid. The Moto G with the curve in the back just feels good in the hand.
No micro-SD card slot,
No micro-SD card slot, then?
Into the trash it goes…
nice meme
nice meme
493 ppi? What is this? A
493 ppi? What is this? A display for eagles?
now imagine that the majority
now imagine that the majority of desktops are @ 100ppi…
and the latest 4k push promises to bring that to a BLAZING 160ppi or smth
They really need to stop at
They really need to stop at 1080p a focus on battery life and the camera.
As soon as you start to beam stuff up to your (1080p) TV the screens just match for all of the content, including screen mirroring.
Anything else is just overkill for the gadget kiddies IMO.
Putting the focus on the higher resolution number is just another form of built in redundancy as well.
OK, so I work for one of the
OK, so I work for one of the two big us carriers. I can say that before I got to use the LG g3 I thought the same. Just increase battery life and stay at 1080p. Now I still believe that the route to go but… I get it…. 2k on a phone is awesome. The g3 has the clearest screen I’ve ever seen. I use a galaxy s5 as my daily driver currently and it has a great screen but I am excited for 2k.
Already wasn’t getting
Already wasn’t getting becasue of the stupid screen size but lol at those prices also WTF happend to google
“The Nexus 6 and its 6-in
“The Nexus 6 and its 6-in screen makes it larger than the Galaxy Note 4, larger than the iPhone 6 Plus and basically anything else considered a “phone” on the market today. ”
My Lumia 1520 – which I have had since November 2013 – rocks a 6 inch screen. Like the iPhone 6 Plus the screen is 1080p but no complaints.
The size of the phone has not been an issue for me. Pretty awesome to have that real estate. Obviously a large phone is not for everyone (most people).
I think the One plus One just
I think the One plus One just got all of the N5 upgraders.
Doubtful. As the owner of a
Doubtful. As the owner of a OnePlus One I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. Spend the extra money to get a phone from a reputable company. You’ll be glad you did the moment you have an issue with your device.