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Pre-orders are now open for Google’s latest Nexus devices including the company’s 2014 Nexus phone, tablet, and TV box.
The Nexus Player and Nexus 6 are available from the Google Play Store, with $99 and $649 prices, respectively. You can also opt for a 64GB version of the Nexus 6 for $699.
The Nexus 9 tablet is also available from the Play Store for $399 and up. But you can also pre-order the 8.9 inch tablet from HTC, Best Buy, or Amazon.
These three items are expected to ship in early November, and they’ll be among the first devices to come with Android 5.0 Lollipop software.
Google is also continuing to offer the Nexus 5 and plans to offer over-the-air software updates for that phone as well as the Nexus 4 and Nexus 7 and 10 tablets.
The Nexus 9 tablet features a 2048 x 1536 pixel IPS LCD display, 2GB of RAM, an an NVIDIA Tegra K1 64-bit dual-core processor with 192 core graphics.
It has 802.11ac 2×2 MIMO WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, a 6700mAh battery for up to 9.5 hours of run time, stereo front-facing cameras, and 16GB to 32GB of storage.
Google’s new 6 inch phone is the biggest Nexus phone to date, and the most expensive (although folks tend to forget that Nexus devices haven’t always been cheap: the original HTC Nexus One sold for over $500).
It has a 5.96 inch, 2560 x 1440 pixel AMOLED display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, 3220mAh battery, Qi wireless charging supports, 802.ac 2×2 MIMO WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1, NFC, and support for GSM/WCDMA/4G LTE networks.
The cheapest new member of the Nexus family is the first TV box to wear the Nexus name. The Google Nexus Player has an Intel Atom Bay quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, and the same WiFi and Bluetooth as the other new devices. It has a micro USB 2.0 port and HDMI output, and it runs Android TV software.
The box comes with a remote control that you can use for voice commands and searches and there’s an optional Bluetooth game controller which will be sold separately for $40.
Nexus 6, Note 4 and Droid Turbo all look good. Hard to choose. Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 are both great and very active on XDA. Their prices are very good for the level of quality. Good build quality doesn’t come cheap.
Kind of bizarre how Google gave out Tegra 4 Android TV Box Dev Kits only to launch an Intel based Android TV Box at retail.
They said at the time that Android TV would support a wide range or chips.
Yeah , Android 5.0 aka lollipop which is whats running here will support a lot of chips as Android has done. But its still odd that in the space of only a few months they changed direction completely.
Word on the street is that the Tegra 4 Dev Kits were a canceled version of the Nexus Player.
*chokes in surprise* How much?! Jeez, a while back I bought a oneplus one and nvidia shield tablet but I kept wondering will I be kicking myself when the latest nexuses come out. Answer? No, not at all. $700 is a ridiculous price for a 64GB phone in comparison and what improvements do they have? Worse battery life due to display size and resolution, a slightly upgraded GPU and Qi, no way is that worth doubling the price.
What can the TV box do? How different is the Android TV software from regular Android?
Nexus had been selling for the last couple of years due to the pricing.. and the N5 had some of the best specs at the time. the N6 follows suit but that price is just ridiculous.. very few people will pay for a device like that unless it has a big name brand on it. then again.. i could be wrong
So the tablet doesn’t have enough storage space, the phone is expensive, and the tv thingy is lacking all the ports and storage compared to my old Chinese android stick.
I don’t think they’ll be selling a whole lot of devices this round.
I’ve got both previous Nexus 7 tablets in the house and have been happy with them. Would like bigger screen. But for the price I don’t know what I could see in reviews about the N9 to make me jump.
Makes the Nvidia Shield tablet seem very attractive. Smaller screen and a little chunkier but $100 cheaper and has stylus, hdmi, SD card…Can’t say I didn’t notice the ipad mini retina is now $300 either.
Or maybe the 13.3″ lenovo tablet for $100 more because I am crazy like that sometimes.
I’ve currently got an LG G3 and a Macbook; thinking about adding an iPad Mini to that grouping. Google supports iOS devices like there’s no tomorrow and I’d be getting all the nifty Handoff/Continuity features in iOS8, so I’m not really seeing a downside, to be honest.
I will be shocked if the N6 is a success at this price…..utterly shocked…
DOFA
How, why,why, wtf !!!! are they crazy ???
Passing on all 3. Anyone planning to buy (and why)?
It’s the wide consensus. I checked into the XDA N6 and N9 forums (the primary audience) to gauge reaction. From the volume and tone of postings, this Nexus gen is a unqualified flop. N9 forum is a ghost town, which is unprecedented for a Nexus device, even the lackluster N10. N6 forum is slightly better, but the bulk of the posts were before the pricing was known.
It’s not just the high price, but the underwhelming features & specs of the N6/9 that has people complaining. N9’s paltry 32GB (at $479), and no SD support, doesn’t cut it for power users.
The main appeal of Nexus devices for XDA peeps is not so much the official OS updates anymore, but 3rd-party support from XDA devs. High pricing -> low uptake -> little support.
Guesses have been bandied about on Google’s decision to cripple its Nexus brand (and it is Google who decides the specs/pricing). If it wanted to discontinue the brand, it could’ve just not put out any more devices. Goog has lost a lot of good will among Android enthusiasts over this.
A compelling case for the power of the N9 has yet to made but I understand the price points. N9’s claim to fame is the K1 as the N6’s is the 2.7ghz processor. My opinion is that Android and its software simply doesn’t demand such super powerful hardware and some kind of equilibrium has been reached where many potential buyers feel that the power of their existing devices is adequate in the face of the prices being asked for the new devices.
I disagree. N9 can’t be justified on specs because aside from the K1, it is deficient on almost every other aspect. No wireless charging, no active digitizer, no SD, small storage, etc. Even the screen isn’t that high res. And as you said, Android software development as it stands (stagnates) doesn’t much benefit from a faster SoC. The $399 price is certainly a killjoy, but if the specs were decent, it would have a better reception among enthusiasts, and garner the same status as the also-ran N10. With both high pricing and lousy specs combined, it qualifies as a blunder.
Goog has committed several faux pas before, viz the Nexus Q and the Chromebook Pixel, not to mention the ill-fated TV player attempts before now, so this isn’t new. But it’s still a little surprising to see how tone-deaf Google is wrt user wants. Perhaps the complacency of being top dog (in marketshare) has struck the company.
The way Google is releasing this stuff is simply not up to par. Why would I order it? I barely know what the heck it is. A blog post from Google and some blog posts about what that blog post said. Is there any demo video of the units even?
No event to provide even momentary hands on to some journalists. No units given to press for reviews before hand apparently. Or maybe so and they are holding NDA until after the things are available to order!?!?
I applaud them not doing some over the top gala with a bunch of nonsense. But they really need some kind of release event for things like this. That “breakfast with Sundar” thing a year or two ago was perfect. Just simple, low key. But you’ve got to take a moment to trot it out on stage and give me a little show. Give me some hint why I might want the thing.
I’ve been waiting on an Android TV device for months actually. Put off a Roku. Said no to Amazon. All until I saw what Google had up its sleeve. I expected the price point. I was primed to buy. And I’m not even considering ordering it. Why would I? I have only a vague notion of its capability. The most information I have is from demos done like half a year ago. Order it!? Wot!?
Google’s sending out demo units to reviewers in the next few weeks. Expect to start seeing unboxings/hands-on posts soon followed by more detailed reviews in early November.
My take of the low-key intro is the same reason as Apple’s downplay of the mini iPad 3 roll-out–these aren’t compelling products. A high-profile pitch would only invite negative attention and further criticism.