Numerous leaks of the Motorola-made Nexus 6 in the run-up to today’s official announcement have pointed to a device almost identical to the new Moto X but with a larger display. In essence, that’s exactly what we’ve been treated to today by the search giant, whose exciting new phablet is said to be designed for the all new Android Lollipop, and we’ve got all of the key details and information right here.
Features / Specs
Design
Often when talking about the design of a device, particularly one in the mobile industry, the words "it’s just a bigger / smaller / uglier version of.." something before it. But there’s simply not a more appropriate way of describing the Nexus 6 smartphone than to say it’s a 2nd-gen Moto X but with a larger display.
This isn’t to say we’re disappointed with the profile of the Nexus 6, though. After all, the design of the relatively-new Moto X is still up there with the best of them, and if you can cope with that rather annoying Motorola branding just beneath the rear-facing camera, you’ll appreciate the overall aesthetic of the Nexus 6.
Display
The front panel is easily the center-piece of this particular gadget, and why not? Keeping in with the theme of the naming, it packs a 6-inch, 1,440 x 2560 quad-HD display which is larger than the likes of the iPhone 6 Plus and Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 4. In fact, while there have been larger devices in the past, this is the most sizeable high-end device that we’ve ever seen, and given the industry’s recent moves to drop display increases in favor of improving other aspects of the viewing experience, Motorola seems to have done both with this one.
Camera
The Nexus 6 packs a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, which, yes, is identical to that of the Moto X. Again, though, there’s no reason to complain, for the newer Moto X pumps out some very nice shots indeed, and once you’ve finished taking snaps and capturing videos, you can always then marvel at them on the scintillating display.
Processor
Whereas the Moto X gets a Snapdragon 801 clocked at 2.5GHz, the Nexus 6 enjoys a reasonable one-up with a quad-core, 2.7GHz Snapdragon 805. There’s also an Adreno 420 GPU, which should be more than competent when playing some of the graphically-intensive titles floating around the Play Store, and overall, it’s fair to say that the Nexus 6 is a bit of a beast.
Storage
The Nexus 6 offers 32GB of on-board memory, but if you feel like you’ll probably get through all of that, you could instead opt for the 64GB configuration.
Battery
The Nexus 6 includes a 3,220 mAh battery, which is just as well given the numerous features, and overall, this should be more than enough to keep things ticking over.
On a single charge of just 15 minutes, Google is pitching that the device will be able to withstand usage of up to 6 hours, and 24 hours on a full, single charge.
Other Hardware
Motorola has packed two front-facing speakers into the Nexus 6, and while this will make it easier when using speakerphone and such, it should also pump out richer, heartier sound when listening to music and watching videos.
Software
As expected, the Nexus 6 will be the first smartphone to run Android L, or Android Lollipop right out of the box, and we’ll have further details on this new release coming up very, very shortly.
The complete set of tech. specs are as follows:
Price
The unlocked Nexus 6 will cost $649 for the base model, and will be available via several carriers on contract such as AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, U.S. Cellular.
Release Date
The Nexus 6 will be available for pre-order on October 29th and will be available to purchase from Best Buy and the Google Play Store, and as soon as it is made available, we’ll have the details right here.
In the meantime, what are your first impressions of the Nexus 6? Does its sheer size mean that it’ll likely be unwieldy, or do you prefer handsets with such vast quantities of real estate?
Do share your thoughts with us below!
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