Meet Google's New Phablet: 10 Things To Know About Nexus 6

The Nexus 6 Is Quietly Coming

Google unveiled its new Nexus 6 smartphone in a blogpost Wednesday. It was a product reveal that fell on the opposite end of the spectrum from Apple's iPhone 6 announcement that featured video montages of all its new products and a show closing performance by rock band U2.

Google's last Nexus smartphone release was the Nexus 5, which hit the market around this time last year.

Google's Nexus 6 news also included details on its new Nexus 9 tablet and Nexus Player, a hardware product that streams media to your TV and is expected to compete with the likes of Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV.

Here are 10 things to know about Google's new phablet.

Display

The Nexus 6 screen is the largest screen of any Nexus smartphone yet, but it's also bigger than the iPhone 6 Plus and the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Note Edge.

The Nexus 6 has a 5.96-inch QHD AMOLED 1440x2560 display, offering a pixel density of 493ppi. This is larger than the Nexus 5's 5-inch display, about a half-inch larger than the iPhone 6 Plus and a quarter-inch more than the 5.7-inch display on the Galaxy Note 4 and Note Edge.

Google's new smartphone comes in one size, unlike Apple's latest offering with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models.

Motorola

The Google Nexus 6 is being manufactured by Motorola. Google owns Motorola, but is in the midst of selling it to Lenovo for $2.91 billion. That acquisition is expected to be finalized soon, but the Nexus 6 is Google and Motorola's product, not Lenovo's.

The Nexus 6 has similar qualities to some Motorola smartphones of the past. At first glance, it looks similar to a blown-up model of the ever popular Moto X device than it does the Nexus 5. More on that later.

Android 5 Lollipop

First demoed in June at Google I/O, Android L -- now named Android Lollipop -- is being released on Google's Nexus 6 smartphone and the Nexus 9 tablet.

The new OS offers a new connectivity feature between Android devices, including Android TV and Android Wear. Google released the SDK to a slew of new features on the new Android OS in June, so expect to see the deepest app ecosystem get even deeper.

Android Lollipop has an improved user interface, including new animations, sharper colors and smooth and seamless multi-tasking abilities.

Camera

The Nexus 6 has a 13MP primary camera, featuring optical image stabilization technology, allowing users to take shots in poorly lit areas while also eliminating motion blur. The camera also features an f2.0 lens, and Google boasts that with advanced computational photography technology, alongside the new and improved Google Camera pre-installed with Android 5 Lollipop, users can take better pictures with less effort.

The smartphone also offers a 2MP secondary camera for video chats, and of course, selfies.

Battery

With a larger phone comes a larger battery. The Nexus smartphone has a 3220 mAh battery, which Google says gives users over 24 hours of use on a full charge.

With a bigger display and a higher resolution than the iPhone 6 Plus and Galaxy Note 4, the battery on the phone is expected to have 10 hours of video playback.

The Nexus 6 has Turbo Charging, allowing users 6 hours of battery life off a 15-minute charge.

The phone also has an energy-saving feature allowing users to get up to 90 minutes of extra power.

Design

The Moto X is a popular, less expensive phone by Motorola, and drew a lot of appeal for the value it offered in comparison to some of the other phones on the market.

Google and Motorola have taken the design of the Moto X and blown it up to a larger scale, while supping up the specifications both inside and out.

Like the Moto X, the Nexus 6 has a curved design and a slim bezel. Unlike the Moto X, however, the Nexus 6 has a rubber panel on the back of the device, which allows for an easier grip.

The smart design and slim bezel of the phone actually gives it smaller dimensions than you'd think for a phone with a display this size.

Dimensions

Because of the slim bezel surrounding the 6-inch display, the phone is not that much larger than the iPhone 6 Plus.

The iPhone 6 Plus uses a physical home button below the display, requiring a thicker bezel for the phone. The Nexus 6 uses a button on the screen, allowing it to be slimmer.

The Nexus 6 is 6.26 inches tall, 3.24 inches wide and 0.39 inches thick, while the 6 Plus is 6.22 inches tall, 3.06 inches wide and 0.28 inches thick. It's not as big of a difference in dimensions as you may have thought considering the Nexus 6 has to fit a display that's half an inch larger.

Internal Specs

The Nexus 6 runs on a 2.7 GHz Quad-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor and has 3GB of RAM built in.

The phone also features 32GB and 64GB of internal storage space, but there is no option for upgrading as there is no MicroSD card slot.

The Nexus 6, like prior Android devices, has NFC technology built in along with Bluetooth 4.1.

Speakers

A criticism of the Nexus 5, manufactured by HTC, was its poor sound quality. Google addressed that problem.

Designed to complement its large, super-high resolution display, Motorola's version of the Nexus has powerful sound quality with its dual BoomSound front-facing stereo speakers. Google boasts that its speakers "deliver high-fidelity sound, making it as great for movies and gaming as it is for doing work."

Carriers, Pricing And Release Dates

Exact dates for pre-orders and release of the Nexus 6 were not disclosed, but Google promises to start taking pre-orders in late October before the phones hit store shelves in November.

The Nexus 6 will cost $649 for the 32GB model and $699 for the 64GB model. This is quite the step up in pricing from the Nexus 5 (pictured), which sells for $349.

The Nexus 6 will be available under contract through AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon and U.S. Cellular.