Nexus 6 phablet listed on Google Play store in India, prices starting at Rs 44,000

Within a month of unveiling the device, Google's next generation Nexus phablet has been listed on the Google Play store in India. Christened Nexus 6, the phablet is available in black and white colours, and has been priced at Rs 44,000 for its 32GB version. In comparison, the 64GB model of the phablet is available for Rs 49,000. While the company is yet to reveal an exact launch date for the device, we expect it to touch Indian shores later this month.

In comparison, Nexus 5 was launched in India for Rs 28,999 (16GB) and Rs 32,999 (32GB) last year. What this basically means is that you can say goodbye to the mid-range pricing of the Nexus devices that we all had become so accustomed to. One of the reasons for the higher pricing of Nexus 6 could be the fact that Motorola (acquired by Lenovo) is already offering Moto E, G and X smartphones covering the budget and mid-price range segment of the market.

Specifications

Nexus 6 has a 5.96 inch Quad HD AMOLED capacitive touchscreen display (2560×1440 pixel resolution) with 493 ppi pixel density and runs on the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system. It is powered by a 2.7 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 quad-core processor and Adreno 420 GPU. The phablet comes with 3GB of RAM and will be available in 32 and 64GB of internal memory options.

The device has a 13 mega pixel autofocus rear camera (with optical image stabilisation) with dual LED ring flash that is capable of 4K Ultra HD video recording at 30 frames per second. It also has a 2MP front facing camera that can record HD videos. On the connectivity front, it has Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi, 3G and LTE (depending on the region), and comes with a microUSB port.

The dimensions of the device are 82.98mm x 159.26mm x 10.06mm and its weight is 184 gm. Motorola has provided a 3,220 mAh battery in the device, which it claims will provide 24 hours of talk time, 9.5 hours of internet browsing on Wi-Fi, and 330 hours of standby time. It has GPS (with A-GPS support), Near Field Communication (NFC), and dual front-facing speakers. Nexus 6 will be available in midnight blue and cloud white colours.

The phablet has a contoured aluminum frame, and also comes with a 'Turbo Charger', which the company claims can get the device running for up to six hours of use with only 15 minutes of charge. Note that being a Nexus device; it will always be the first one to receive new Android software updates from Google.

Here is an introductory video of the device.

Competition

While earlier Nexus smartphones have been criticised for their average specifications, this time around Motorola has taken its gloves off to challenge big wigs like Apple and Samsung. Nexus 6 will mainly compete with Samsung's recently launched Galaxy Note 4 that is available for Rs 58,300, and the iPhone 6 Plus that has been priced at Rs 62,500 and Rs 71,500 for the 32 and 64GB models respectively. You can read about the detailed specifications of Note 4 and iPhone 6 Plus here and here.