The term Nexus has come to be associated with the Google experience, irrespective of the claims made by Philip K. Dick's estate. These devices bring you Android, the way Google meant it to be and with no changes made by the manufacturer. Here's a look at all the devices under the Nexus banner.
Early adopters would remember Android 2.0 Eclair. Well, this HTC made smartphone was the one used to introduce that version. Launched in January 2010, the device was supported till Android 2.3 JellyBean after which Google withdrew support from it.
Being the biggest manufacturer in the Android market, Samsung got the next shot at the Nexus. The Nexus S introduced Android 2.3 Gingerbread back in December 2010. It was still early days for Android, but the device was updated till Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, when Android was well into the market.
After Gingerbread, Samsung got a second shot at the Nexus with the Galaxy Nexus smartphone. The device introduced the Android 4.1 Ice Cream Sandwich and came out in November 2011. It was updated till Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.
This was the first Nexus tablet, launched in 2012 as the name suggests. Launched in Google's I/O conference in June that year, the device continues to recieve updates till now. It was made by Asus.
Speaking of Nexus devices that aren't phones, this was the first Nexus that wasn't a mobile device. The Nexus Q was a media streaming device introduced in June 2012 and ran on Android 4.0. Unfortunately though, it had a short life span and has often been ranked under the top tech failures of recent times.
After the 2012 Nexus 7, Google started looking at bigger screens. The Nexus 10 was a 10-inch tablet manufactured by Samsung and unveiled in late October 2012. It has a 1.7 GHz Exynos 5 SoC and resembled the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet.
Many would say that this is the best Nexus smartphone ever made. The Nexus 4 came in November 2012 and introduced Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The device ran on the 1.7 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core SoC. The device continues to get updates till now.
After the 2012 version, Google has continued trying to push Android into tablets and break Apple's monopoly of sorts. Hence the 2013 edition of the Nexus 7. The device was made by Asus and was introduced in July 2013. It ran on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and is currently getting the Android 5.0 Lollipop update.
The Nexus 7 (2013) was accompanied by the LG made Nexus 5 smartphone, which ran on Android 4.4 KitKat and came with formidable specifications. It has a Snapdragon 800 SoC and is a very powerful device. It is currently getting Lollipop updates.
Down to this year, Google launched three devices. The first of these was the Nexus Player, made by Asus, which is the first device on Google's Android TV platform.
Next up was the Nexus 9, which is about to start selling and comes with Android 5.0 Lollipop. It runs on Nvidia's Tegra K1 SoC and has been made by HTC.
The Nexus 6 is Google's first phablet and its most expensive smartphone till date. The device comes with the Snapdragon 805 SoC and has Android 5.0 Lollipop. It also has a 6 inch Quad-HD display. It is made by Motorola, which explains why it resembles the Moto X (2014) so closely.