What’s next, Nexus?

With the announcement of the Nexus 6, Google also introduced Android 5.0 Lollipop. The update should trickle down to older Nexus devices in the next several weeks.

Last week, Google announced a number of Nexus devices that come with the latest Android Lollipop mobile operating system. Among them is the Nexus 6, a six-inch smartphone designed and manufactured by Motorola.

Interestingly, Motorola was bought by Google back in 2011 but eventually sold the mobile phone division to Lenovo last January 2014.

Between the time that Google bought Motorola and eventually sold it to Lenovo, it never created any Nexus device with the handset company. The partnerships were with Samsung, LG and Asus. Perhaps, Google did not want to alienate other handset partners by creating its own Nexus device while it operates Motorola.

Now that Motorola is part of Lenovo, it is safe to partner and collaborate with them for the Nexus 6.

The result is a beautiful device that packs a monstrous hardware. The Nexus 6 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 quad-core processor running at 2.7GHz. This is the fastest processor in the market today, even ahead of most other big brands like Samsung, Sony and LG.

It’s actually already considered a phablet with its large 6-inch display and quad HD resolution, matching that of the LG G3.

Motorola paired that with  3GB of memory and option for 32GB and 64GB of internal storage.

With the announcement of the Nexus 6, Google also introduced Android 5.0 Lollipop. The update should trickle down to older Nexus devices in the next several weeks.

Motorola Nexus 6 official specs:

• 5.9-inch QHD display @ 2560 x 1440 resolution, 493ppi?Corning Gorilla Glass 3

• Snapdragon 805 2.7GHz quad-core processor

• Adreno 420 GPU

• 32/64GB internal storage

• 13MP rear camera with f/2.0 lens and dual LED ring flash

• 4K video recording at 30fps

• 2MP front camera

• LTE Cat4 150Mbps

• Bluetooth 4.1

• NFC

• Dual front-facing speakers

• 82.98 x 159.26 x 10.06mm (dimensions)

• 184 grams (weight)

• Li-Ion 3220mAh battery (with Turbo Charger)

• Android 5.0 Lollipop

What is surprising is the pricing of the new Nexus device. For the longest time, Google has been offering their new devices as a very affordable alternative to most flagship smartphones in the market which usually ranges between $300 to $350.??In the case of the Nexus 6, they’ve pegged the price at $650 which is already in the range of the high-end phones. While the price is justifiable, many may be disappointed that it’s not as affordable as expected.??We’ll just have to see when we get our hands on a review unit. ‘Til then, we’ll just wait for the Android Lollipop update to our old Nexus smartphone we tucked away in the drawer many months ago.