5.9-Inch Nexus 6 Without a Mini Version Is a Bad Idea

Since word about Google’s next Nexus smartphone surfaced, people have been wondering whether or not the information coming through various channels may be accurate.

 For those unfamiliar with the matter, the Nexus 6, which is supposed to be officially introduced next month, is likely to boast a large display. In fact, the Nexus 6 is said to sport a huge 5.9-inch display. The fact that it supports QHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution is not what makes me question Google’s plans, but I think 5.9-inch for a Nexus smartphone is way too big. Nexus smartphones have always been popular among Android fans, especially due to their lower price if acquired through Google Play Store, but also because they run clean versions of the operating system. Phablets are also a smartphone category that has been on a roll in the last few years, but as the number of handsets with large screens increases, customers’ interest tends to drop.

I’m not saying a phablet may not be as popular as any other smartphone that gets launched on the market, but very large phones have a fewer pool of fans than standard ones. Obviously, the “standard” term for smartphones tends to get larger year after year, as handset manufacturers start abusing the size of the display and force customers to choose bigger and bigger phones. The good news is that there will always be other products you can choose from if you don’t like phablets. Every major handset manufacturer has learned over the years that they should cover as many price and size tiers as possible. Samsung has the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note, LG and Sony both launch mini versions of their flagship smartphones. Even Apple launched a 4.7-inch and a 5.5-inch iPhone so that it can cash in on as many customers as possible.

The idea of Google launching a 5.9-inch Nexus 6 device doesn’t sound surprising, but not following it with a smaller version would probably be a disaster for the phone’s sales.

Google may launch two different Nexus 6 smartphones this year

Personally, I doubt Google will want to favor only a fraction of its fans by launching a phablet and no other alternatives. Does this mean that we will see Google following Apple’s strategy and releasing two Nexus 6 variants? I sincerely do believe that Google will not choose to go with a phablet and not offer Android users another alternative. I’d rather tend to think that the search giant will launch a much smaller 5.2-inch Nexus 6 model, which was rumored several weeks ago, instead of going with only a 5.9-inch version. The 5.9-inch Nexus 6 is likely to have slightly better specs than the 5.2-inch version, such as the fact that it will support QHD resolution, but Google will want to keep the rest of the configuration similar to maintain customers’ interest.

Google has yet to announce when the next Nexus smartphone will be launched, but considering previous history, I would say that the Android L official release will be scheduled for October. Along with Android L, Google will also release the Nexus 6, so we only have about one month to wait for the company to reveal its plans. As many of you probably already know, the next Nexus smartphone will be manufactured by Motorola, but I’m not sure if the smaller variant, if such thing exists, will be made by the same company.

Internally known as Motorola Shamu, the huge 5.9-inch smartphone will be launched as Nexus 6 or Nexus X, in order to avoid a possible infringement on famous author Philip K. Dick’s intellectual property rights. Now we just have to wait and see how Google decides to play it next.

Motorola Shamu sized up against LG G3
Image credits to AndroidPolice

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