Google Announces the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 Running Android Lollipop
by Brandon Chester on October 15, 2014 12:33 PM ESTToday Google has officially announced the newest devices in the Nexus line, just one day before Apple's October event. Both devices have been rumored for some time now, and this is the first time in a while that we've seen Google introduce a new smartphone and tablet at the same time. The first device in the announcement is the Nexus 6, made by Motorola. The second is the Nexus 9 tablet made by HTC. To give an overview of how both devices look on paper, I've put together their specifications in a chart below.
Nexus 6 | Nexus 9 | |
SoC | 2.7GHz Snapdragon 805 (APQ8084) with 4 x Krait 450 + Adreno 420 at 600MHz | 2.3GHz 64-bit dual core Tegra K1 Denver SoC |
RAM/NAND | 3GB LPDDR3 + 32/64GB NAND | 2GB LPDDR3 + 16/32GB NAND |
Display | 5.96" 2560x1440 AMOLED | 8.9" 2048x1536 IPS LCD |
Network | 2G / 3G / 4G LTE | WiFi only or 2G / 3G / 4G LTE SKU |
Dimensions | 82.98 x 159.26 x 10.06mm, 184g | 153.68 x 228.25 x 7.95mm, 425g WiFi, 436g LTE |
Camera | 13MP Rear Facing with F/2.0 aperture and OIS, 2MP FFC 4K video recording |
8MP Rear Facing with F/2.4 aperture, 1.6MP FFC |
Battery | 3220 mAh (12.236 Whr) | 6700 mAh (25.46 Whr) |
OS | Android 5.0 Lollipop | Android 5.0 Lollipop |
Connectivity | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac + BT 4.1, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS, NFC | 802.11a/b/g/n/ac + BT 4.1, USB2.0, GPS/GNSS, NFC |
SIM Size | NanoSIM | NanoSIM on LTE SKU |
The Nexus 6 features a similar appearance to Motorola's other devices like the Moto X and Moto G. The plastic back is surrounded by a contoured aluminum frame that curves downward at the top where the 3.5mm headphone jack is located. On the back is Google's traditional Nexus logo, accompanied by an indented motorola logo and a centered rear-facing camera. The front is dominated by a large 5.96" display with a pixel density of 493ppi, and stereo speakers on the top and bottom bezels.
In terms of its specifications, the Nexus 6 is competitive with all the current Android flagship devices. It packs Qualcomm's latest silicon, a hefty battery, and a high resolution display. However, those premium specs are accompanied by a premium price of $649 outright which is significantly more than the $349 that the Nexus 5 is priced at. The Nexus 5 has been given a new web page along with the other Nexus devices which suggests it isn't going disappear with the launch of this newer, more expensive smartphone.
The next announcement was the Nexus 9 made by HTC. This is the first tablet from HTC since the days of Android Gingerbread and Honeycomb where HTC announced they were exiting the tablet market. With its soft touch back, the Nexus 9 is similar in its design to the Nexus 5. Unlike the Nexus 5 which was an entirely plastic construction, the sides of the Nexus 9 are made of brushed metal.
The front of the device is similar to the Nexus 7 with its asymmetrical bezels. The shape of the device is a departure from any tablet Google has produced before, with a 2048x1536 4:3 display like Apple's iPad. Both the 8.9" display size and 4:3 aspect ratio make the Nexus 9 a significantly larger device than the Nexus 7.
The SoC is the biggest point of interest with the Nexus 9. It will be the first device to ship with Nvidia's Project Denver architecture. This is a custom 64-bit ARMv8 architecture designed by Nvidia, a significant departure from the standard ARM cores used in previous Tegra chips. We covered the details about Tegra K1 Denver previously and you can read that over to get a more in-depth look at NVIDIA's new chip.
Along with the new device announcements comes the official name for the next version of Android. Android L is now Android 5.0 Lollipop, and it will ship on the new Nexus 6 and Nexus 9. Lollipop comes with Google's new Material Design and Google's new ART runtime, and will be rolling out to existing compatible Nexus and Google Play Edition devices in the coming weeks.
The Nexus 9 will be available for pre-order on October 17th starting at $399 for 16GB, while the Nexus 6 will be available sometime in late October at $649 for 32GB.
Source: Google Blog
148 Comments
View All Comments
chizow - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
It's a much better aspect ratio for portrait mode, just use a 16:9 device compared to a 4:3 or 3:2 and the difference is apparent, you want more horizontal or you just get long stretched out forms/content.In landscape mode, the trade-off is very minor, you get a top/bottom letterboxed image but aspect and pixel mapping is maintained. Anyone who has owned a 1920x1200 monitor is very familiar with this with all the native 1080p content out there.
danbob999 - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
Still, we use 16:9 phones in portrait mode just fine.Ortanon - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
It's a phone. Who cares. Totally different form factor.danbob999 - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
Well you will have to find a better argument than 16:9 is unusable in portrait mode.f0d - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
i have used both and i just cant stand 4:3for my 16:9 is much better to use and less screen space gets wasted
Ortanon - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
Because you don't use a laptop/desktop/TV/Projector in Portrait. A rare few people do use a portrait aspect on their desktop, and yes 4:3 is better than 16:10 there too.Tams80 - Thursday, October 16, 2014 - link
16:10 is good for having two documents side by side, while still being good for widescreen content.Laxaa - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
Agreed. 4:3 is really great for browsing, reading and editing documents.danbob999 - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
then we should use it on laptops/desktops too isn't it?Ortanon - Wednesday, October 15, 2014 - link
I'd love a 3:2 laptop. It would work fine for desktop too. Yeah.