'Goodbye Nexus 6,' Says Google Play Store But Motorola Is Not Planning To Discontinue The Handset

Google quietly bade goodbye to Nexus 6. Since Dec. 8, consumers can no longer buy the handset from the Google Play Store. It marks the end for the 6-inch phone whose successor Nexus 6P is what Google launched this year, along with Nexus 5X. Nexus 6 is so far Google's largest phone to date. The Motorola-manufactured phone was unveiled last year.

It is not certain if the pulling out of Nexus 6 from the Google Play Store means the phone already phased out permanently as Google was not available for comment, said The Verge. However, Amazon offers the 32GB version of Nexus 6 for $349.99. Nexus 6 was the only device that ran the experimental mobile internet service, Project Fi. The latter now runs in both Nexus 5X and 6P.

Sporting a 5.9-inch QHD screen, it has in its internals a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 SoC with 3GB RAM, 3220mAh battery, 13MP rear camera with OIS and a 2MP selfie shooter. In September this year, it was succeeded with Nexus 5X and 6P and while the 16GB Nexus 5X 16GB is now priced from $379 to $329 with a $50 price cut, as per a report on GSM Arena, the price is already about similar to last year's Nexus 6.

According to Digit, Motorola India General Manager Amit Boni spoke to IBN Live and said that for the current price point, Nexus 6 is better than its successor 5X. He said Motorola thinks Nexus 6 still has a significant demand so is planning to continue the phone.

It was not long ago that Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow started to roll out to Nexus users. Though the recently pulled out Nexus 6 phone from the Google Play Store has not received it yet, the update is anticipated with its support of several emojis as well as changing the position of the Menu, Back and Home buttons for the tablet users.

The buttons of Home and Back are now towards the left while the right area has the Recent Apps button. These changes ensure that users will find it easier to use their thumbs to access the buttons.