Every year, like clockwork, each smartphone manufacturer will pump out a brand new flagship device for people to ogle over. With this cycle and the number of manufacturers out there, it’s easy to forget what was top of the line just a few years ago. We’ll take another step back through out time machine and take a look at the evolution of the Nexus series taking into account the newest arrival, the Nexus 6.
©The Nexus series by Google is, among tech enthusiasts and Android purists, an extremely popular range of phones and tablets. Starting as a developer smartphone in the early days of Android, it has now evolved into a serious flagship device that has made its way to the mainstream. Much has happened since the introduction of the first Nexus device. We’re aware that the Nexus series goes back past the Galaxy Nexus to the Nexus One and Nexus S, but the Galaxy Nexus was the first foray into the true consumer market with proper advertising and appeal.
Galaxy Nexus
The Galaxy Nexus was the last time that Google worked on a smartphone with Samsung. With its slightly curved design and a matte polycarbonate housing with a small glimmer to it, the Galaxy Nexus was a real looker in a simple package. It was almost the last time that we saw a replaceable battery in a Nexus device, something that we sorely miss. The back of the device was made of a grippy textured plastic which felt ergonomic and comfortable in your hands.
As well, there was no microSD expansion available for the Galaxy Nexus, a decision that Google has repeatedly made with the Nexus line in an attempt to get people to rely less on insecure physical storage and more on cloud services. Because that's heaps more secure.
The Nexus 4 marked the beginning of the partnership with LG, which continued up until the Nexus 5. The Nexus 4 had a soft-touch rubberized edge mixed with a glass back that had a glitter effect (based on the Optimus G) to make it look extremely classy. With the Nexus 4, Google changed its pricing policy and began subsidizing the Nexus series of devices to offer them at a much lower price point than any of their competitors. Sales numbers are usually very hard to get from Google, but it is generally assumed that the Nexus 4 sold relatively well considering that it was constantly sold out.
In terms of hardware, the Nexus 4 was potent enough to stand up to most tests but wasn’t considered to be top of the line. Nevertheless, the Nexus 4 solidified Google’s reputation as providing a solid and affordable smartphone at an amazing price point.
The Nexus 5 probably had the most hype built up behind a Nexus smartphone prior to its release. In terms of design, Google moved more towards a simplified design and provided a device that was both simple and pragmatically elegant. Its low-price policy continued and Google also decided to release a 32 GB version of the device for sale. Unlike its predecessor, the Nexus 5 was moved towards the forefront of processor power available at the time and turned this budget friendly device into a true competitor for other manufacturers.
Unfortunately, Google put a relatively weak camera into the Nexus 5 and it has plagued the device despite a few software updates to try and fix the issues. The Nexus 5 also brought with it some specific changes to Android, notably the transparent navigation and notification bar, that is now standard in the latest versions of Android.
Google finally released the next runner up in its Nexus series, the Nexus 6, which surprised us because of its significant increase in size and price. It now costs 649 USD and has been been bumped to 5.96 inches as opposed to the 5.2 we’d been hoping to see, and compared to the 4.95-inch Nexus 5 it’s a big jump! Thankfully the Nexus 5 is still being sold if the price for the Nexus 6 is too steep for you.
The newest arrival comes with a QHD AMOLED display (493 ppi), a quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor, 3GB of RAM, a 3,220 mAh battery with Qi wireless charging and a turbo charger. Another great feature which is new to the Nexus line is that it’s actually water-resistant (but just how resistant will need to be further tested). The Nexus 6 will come with Android 5.0 Lollipop pre-installed however the Nexus 4, Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 will get in November 2015.
