Google announces Nexus 6, available to order late October for $749 CDN

Google has announced the Nexus 6, a spiritual sibling to the new Moto X released earlier this month.

First, it runs Android 5.0 Lollipop. Yes, Lollipop. We’ll have a full rundown of it in the coming weeks, but as we previewed back in June, it’s a big release with tons of user-facing improvements and as many boosts for developers.

Back to the Nexus 6 hardware: it’s a 5.96-inch device with a QHD 2560×1440 pixel AMOLED display covered with Gorilla Glass 3. It runs Qualcomm’s brand new Snapdragon 805 processor at 2.7Ghz, and sports 3GB of RAM and either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage.

The 13MP camera on the back has an F2.0 lens that shoots 4K video at 30fps, along with optical image stabilization, while the front-facing camera comes in at 2MP. There’s a 3,220mAh battery inside, and the device supports ultra-fast charging.

There are dual front-facing speakers and a soft rubber finish similar to the new Moto X, available in Midnight Blue or Cloud White.

As for LTE bands, this is the first device we’ve seen that supports Band 12, which encompasses 700 Block A and B, but there are far more: 2/3/4/5/7/12/13/17/25/26/29/41. It also supports Carrier Aggregation on B2-B13, B2-B17, B2-29, B4-B5, B4-B13, B4-B17, B4-B29, which is great for Bell and Telus, which purchased the majority of unpaired Band 29 earlier this year.

The Nexus 6 will be available in late October for pre-order (likely October 29th) and will be sold on Google Play and, in early November, in retail stores. It will start at $749 for the 32GB model and likely go to $799 for the 64GB variant. Carrier pricing will certainly be less on contract, but the Nexus 6 marks the end of “subsidized” Nexus phones sold directly from Google.

[source]Google[/source]