It's official! Google's much awaited Nexus 6 smartphone has been launched ahead of the crucial festive period. The tech-giant on Wednesday quietly added two new Nexus-branded devices (Nexus 6 and Nexus 9), via an online press release.
The long-awaited Nexus 6 is manufactured by Motorola, with prices starting at $649 (32GB) and $669 (64GB). The 5.96-inch QHD smartphone is expected to launch in 28 countries worldwide in the next few weeks. Initially, the Google Nexus 6 will be made available in the U.S in November.
This Motorola-made Nexus 6 is bigger, better and pricier than its predecessor. Unlike previous generations LG-made Nexus phones, this year's Nexus 6 is made by Motorola. That's why the Nexus 6 looks a lot like the second-generation Moto X.
The device has the same curve design with aluminum molding around the sides of the phone. The new model, however, is cosmetically and functionally equivalent to premium range handsets available onto market today.
At 6.27 inches tall and 10.6mm thick, the Nexus 6 is the best Nexus handset to date. The premium phone now houses a 5.96-inch QHD screen with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440 pixels. This definitely puts the Nexus 6 at par with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and LG G3 in respect of screen resolution.
Under the hood is a 2.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor with an Adreno 420 GPU. The phone offers a healthy 3GB of RAM and 32GB of native storage. The handset doesn't support an expandable storage, which isn't surprising at all.
In the imaging department, the Nexus 6 has a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with a dual-LED Flash. There's a 2-megapixel front-facing shooter. You also get to see dual-frontal speaker grill, similar to the Moto X (Gen 2).
The Nexus 6 is backed by a large 3,220mAh battery fitted inside. It is said that the phone's battery will last up to 24 hours on a single charge. Similar to previous generation Nexus devices, there's an option to wirelessly charge the Nexus 6. The handset will support 4G LTE networks.
The Google Nexus 6, of course, comes with fantastic hardware under the hood but at the same time the handset will feature Google's Android 5.0 Lollipop mobile operating system. That means you get the best Android experience out-of-the box.
As of now, there's no update yet when Google plans to launch the Nexus 6 in India. If the device ever comes to India, it might be priced upwards of Rs. 45,000, given the market scenario.
Meanwhile, we take a look at top 5 features that makes the Nexus 6 a premium phone to look forward to in 2014.
Display
The first thing you see when buying a new phone is the display size. Given the changing market dynamics, Google's Nexus 6 gets a large 5.96-inch screen with an eye popping QHD resolution. This is indeed an answer to the Apple iPhone 6 Plus.
Design
Another big change you get to see is the design. The Nexus 6 looks premium and sexier than ever. It's the best look Nexus phone ever. The aluminum edges around the sides of the phone make the design refreshing. In fact, the Nexus looks like an older brother of the Motorola Moto X (Gen 2).
Monster Specs
The Nexus 6 has the top-tier specs you should expected from a high-end phone. That's why the Nexus 6 comes at higher price. It's specs are on par with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, HTC One (M8) and LG G3. The phone even comes with a 3,220 mAh battery which means it should offer the best battery life of any Nexus smartphone to date.
Camera
The new Nexus 6 has a 13 megapixel rear-facing camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) and a new Dual-LED ring flash system. Well it should be better than the previous generation Nexus handsets.
Software
Being a Nexus-branded handset, it will run Android 5.0 Lollipop out-of-the box. The Android 5.0 OS brings in number of incremental changes from redesigned UI, improved security, visual response to touches, 64-bit computing support and much more.
