Google Nexus is a discontinued line of

consumer electronic Consumer electronics, also known as home electronics, are electronic devices intended for everyday household use. Consumer electronics include those used for entertainment, communications, and recreation. Historically, these products were refer ...

mobile devices that ran a stock version of the Android

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

managed the design, development, marketing, and support of these devices, but some development and all manufacturing were carried out by partnering with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Alongside the main

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

products, the line also included

tablet computer A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a mobile device, typically with a mobile operating system and touchscreen display processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single, thin and flat package. Tablets, being computers ...

s and streaming media players; the Nexus started out in January 2010 and reached its end in October 2016, replaced by

Google Pixel Google Pixel is a brand of portable Consumer electronics, consumer electronic devices developed by Google that run either ChromeOS or the Pixel version of the Android (operating system), Android operating system. The main line of Pixel products ...

family. Devices in the Nexus line were considered Google's core Android products. They contained little to no manufacturer or

wireless carrier A mobile network operator (MNO), also known as a mobile network provider, mobile network carrier, mobile , wireless service provider, wireless carrier, wireless operator, wireless telco, or cellular company, is a telecommunications provider of se ...

modifications to Android (such as custom

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fro ...

s), although devices sold through carriers may be

SIM lock A SIM lock, simlock, network lock, carrier lock or (master) subsidy lock is a technical restriction built into GSM and CDMA mobile phones by mobile phone manufacturers for use by service providers to restrict the use of these phones to specific co ...

ed, had some extra branding, and may have received software updates at a slower pace than the unlocked variant. Save for some carrier-specific variants, Nexus devices were often among the first Android devices to receive updates to the operating system. All Nexus devices featured an unlockable

bootloader A bootloader, also spelled as boot loader or called bootstrap loader, is a computer program that is responsible for booting a computer and booting an operating system. If it also provides an interactive menu with multiple boot choices then it's o ...

to allow further development and end-user modification. Although Nexus devices were originally produced in small quantities as they were intended as developer phones, the lack of bloatware/modifications to Android while providing similar performance to more expensive flagship smartphones from OEMs gained Nexus devices a considerable following. In addition to the Nexus program, Google also sold Google Play editions of OEM devices, which run the "stock" version of Android without the OEM nor carrier modifications. OEMs that were part of the Nexus program were namely HTC,

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

, LG,

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...

Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ("Huawei" sometimes stylized as "HUAWEI"; ; zh, c=华为, p= ) is a Chinese multinational corporationtechnology company in Longgang, Shenzhen, Longgang, Shenzhen, Guangdong. Its main product lines include teleco ...

and

Asus ASUSTeK Computer Inc. (, , , ; stylized as ASUSTeK or ASUS) is a Taiwanese Multinational corporation, multinational computer, phone hardware and electronics manufacturer headquartered in Beitou District, Taipei, Taiwan. Its products include deskto ...

. In late 2016, the Nexus lineup was replaced by the

, which provides a similar stock Android experience but sold for considerably higher prices, directly competing with flagship smartphones from OEMs. Google stated that they "don't want to close a door completely, but there is no plan right now to do more Nexus devices." In 2017, Google partnered with HMD Global in making new

Nokia Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...

phones, as part of the Android One program, which has been considered by some as a

spiritual successor A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous product or work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue th ...

to the Nexus.

Devices

Phones

Nexus One

The Nexus One was manufactured by HTC and released in January 2010 as the first Nexus phone. It was released with Android 2.1 Eclair, and was updated in May 2010 to be the first phone with Android 2.2 Froyo. It was further updated to Android 2.3 Gingerbread. It was announced that Google would cease support for the Nexus One, whose

graphics processing unit A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed for digital image processing and to accelerate computer graphics, being present either as a discrete video card or embedded on motherboards, mobile phones, personal ...

(GPU) is poor at rendering the new 2D acceleration engine of the UI in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The Nexus S and newer models have hardware designed to handle the new rendering. It was the only Nexus device to have card storage expandability ( SD). * Display: 3.7" display with 800×480 pixel resolution * CPU: 1 GHz

Qualcomm Qualcomm Incorporated () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software and services related to wireless techn ...

Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

* Storage: 512 MB (expandable) * RAM: 512 MB * GPU: Adreno 200 * Camera: 5 MP rear camera

Nexus S

The Nexus S, manufactured by

, was released in December 2010 to coincide with the release of Android 2.3 Gingerbread. In December 2011 it was updated to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, with most variations later being updatable to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean in July 2012. The device's support was ended after 4.1 Jelly Bean and no longer receives updates from Google. * Display: 4.0" display with 800×480 pixel resolution * Chipset: Hummingbird * CPU: 1 GHz single-core

ARM Cortex-A8 The ARM Cortex-A8 is a 32-bit processor core licensed by ARM Holdings implementing the ARM architecture, ARMv7-A architecture. Compared to the ARM11, the Cortex-A8 is a dual-issue superscalar processor, superscalar design, achieving roughly twic ...

* Storage: 16 GB (Partitioned: 1 GB internal storage and 15 GB USB storage) * RAM: 512 MB * GPU:

PowerVR PowerVR is a division of Imagination Technologies (formerly VideoLogic) that develops hardware and software for 2D and 3D rendering, and for video encoding, video decoding, decoding, associated image processing and DirectX, OpenGL ES, OpenVG, and ...

SGX540 * Battery: 1500 mAH (replaceable) (After Ended)

Galaxy Nexus

The Galaxy Nexus, again manufactured by Samsung, was released in November 2011 (GSM version, US version released on December 15, 2011) to coincide with the release of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The device support was ended after 4.3 Jelly Bean and no longer receives updates from Google. This device is known in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

as Galaxy X due to a trademark on the "Nexus" brand. It is also the last Nexus device to have a removable battery. * Display: 4.65" HD Super AMOLED display with 1280×720 pixel resolution * CPU: 1.2 GHz dual-core ARM Cortex A9 * Storage: 16 or 32 GB * RAM: 1 GB

Nexus 4

The Nexus 4 smartphone, also known as the LG Nexus 4 or LG Mako, was released in November 2012 and manufactured by LG. It was the first Android device that used Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update version. Nexus 4 is the first Nexus device to have wireless charging capabilities. It was updated to Android 4.3 in June 2013 and to Android 4.4 in November 2013. It can run Android 5.1 as of April 2015. The Nexus 4 has the following characteristics: * Display: 4.7" Corning Gorilla Glass 2, True HD IPS Plus capacitive touchscreen, 768×1280 pixel resolution, 16M colors * CPU: Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait * Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8064 * Storage: 8 or 16 GB * RAM: 2 GB * GPU: Adreno 320 * Battery: Non-removable Li-Po 2100 mAh battery, wireless charging * Camera: 8 MP rear camera with 3264×2448 pixels, autofocus, and LED flash; 1.3 MP front camera

Nexus 5

The Nexus 5 smartphone, again manufactured by LG, was scheduled for sale on October 31, 2013 for US$349 at the Google Play store. It was the first device to run Android 4.4 KitKat. The Nexus 5 did not receive an official Android 7.0 Nougat update, meaning that Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow is the last officially supported Android version for the device. The Nexus 5 has the following characteristics: * Display: 4.95" Corning Gorilla Glass 3, IPS LCD touchscreen, 1080×1920 pixel resolution (1080p) * Processor: 2.26 GHz Krait 400 quad-core processor on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC * Storage: 16 or 32 GB * RAM: 2 GB * GPU: Adreno 330 * Battery: 2,300 mAh lithium polymer, wireless charging * Cameras: 8 MP rear camera with optical image stabilization (OIS); 1.3 MP front camera * Connectivity: 4G LTE, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 * Colors: Black, White, or Red

Nexus 6

The Nexus 6 is a smartphone developed by

, originally running Android 5.0 Lollipop (upgradeable to Android 7.1.1 Nougat). It was first announced on October 15, 2014 along with the Nexus 9 and the Nexus Player. * Display: 5.96" Quad HD AMOLED PenTile (RGBG) display with 1440×2560 pixel resolution (493 ppi) * Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 - Quad-core 2.7 GHz * Modem: Qualcomm MDM9625M * Storage: 32 or 64 GB * RAM: 3 GB * GPU: Adreno 420 * Battery: 3220 mAh with Turbo Charging technology, non-removable, wired charging * Cameras: 13 MP rear camera with f/2.0 lens featuring OIS; 2 MP front camera * Speakers: Dual front facing stereo * Colors: Midnight Blue and Cloud White

Nexus 5X

The Nexus 5X is a smartphone developed by LG originally running Android 6.0 Marshmallow (upgradeable to Android 8.1.0 Oreo). It was first announced on September 29, 2015, along with the Nexus 6P and several other Google devices (such as the Pixel C tablet). * Display: 5.2" FHD LCD display with 1080×1920 pixel resolution (423ppi) * Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 - Hexa-core 1.8 GHz * Storage: 16 or 32 GB * RAM: 2 GB LPDDR3 * GPU: Adreno 418 * Battery: 2700 mAh with rapid charging, non-removable * Cameras: 12.3 MP rear camera with f/2.0 lens and IR laser-assisted autofocus; 5 MP front camera with f/2.0 lens * Speakers: Single front-facing speaker * Colors: Carbon (black), Quartz (white), and Ice (mint)

Nexus 6P

The Nexus 6P is a smartphone developed by

originally running Android 6.0 Marshmallow. It was first announced on September 29, 2015 along with the Nexus 5X and several other Google devices (such as the Pixel C tablet). * Display: 5.7" WQHD AMOLED display with 1440×2560 pixel resolution (518ppi) * Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 - Octa-core 4 × 1.95 GHz, 4 × 1.55 GHz * Storage: 32, 64, or 128 GB * RAM: 3 GB LPDDR4 * GPU: Adreno 430 * Battery: 3450 mAh with rapid charging, non-removable * Cameras: 12.3 MP rear camera with f/2.0 lens and IR laser-assisted autofocus; 8 MP front camera with f/2.0 lens * Speakers: Dual front-facing stereo * Colors: Aluminum, Graphite, Frost, or Gold

Tablets

Nexus 7

=First generation

= On June 27, 2012, at its I/O 2012 keynote presentation, Google introduced the Nexus 7, a 7-inch

developed with and manufactured by

. Released in July 2012, it was the first device to run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The latest Android version supported by Google for the device is Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. * Display: 7" display with 1280×800 pixel resolution * SoC:

Nvidia Nvidia Corporation ( ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and incorporated in Delaware. Founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang (president and CEO), Chris Malachowsky, and Curti ...

Tegra 3 * CPU: 1.2 GHz quad-core Cortex-A9 * Storage: 8, 16, or 32 GB * RAM: 1 GB * GPU: ULP GeForce * Battery: 4325 mAh (non-removable)

=Second generation

= On July 24, 2013, at Google's "Breakfast with Sundar Pichai" press conference, Pichai introduced the second generation Nexus 7, again co-developed with

. Keeping with Google Nexus tradition, it was simultaneously released with the latest version, Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. It was made available on July 26, 2013 at select retailers and on the

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...

store in the United States. On November 20, 2013, it was available from the Google Play stores in Hong Kong and India. On the same day, the Nexus Wireless Charger was made available in the United States and Canada. In December 2015, Google released Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow for the device. The Nexus 7 (2013) will not receive an official Android 7.0 Nougat update, meaning that Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow is the last officially supported Android version for the tablet. * Display: 7.02" display with 1920×1200 pixel resolution * Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon S4Pro * CPU: 1.51 GHz quad-core Krait 300 * Storage: 16 or 32 GB * RAM: 2 GB * GPU: 400 MHz quad-core

Adreno Adreno is a series of graphics processing unit (GPU) semiconductor intellectual property cores developed by Qualcomm and used in many of their SoCs. History Adreno is an integrated graphics processing unit (GPU) within Qualcomm's Snapdrago ...

320 * Battery: 3950 mAh (non-removable)

Nexus 10

The Nexus 10, a 10.1-inch tablet manufactured by

, was revealed in late October 2012 by the

Exif Exchangeable image file format (officially Exif, according to JEIDA/JEITA/CIPA specifications) is a standard that specifies formats for images, sound, and ancillary tags used by digital cameras (including smartphones), scanners and other system ...

data of photos taken by Google executive,

Vic Gundotra Vivek Paul "Vic" Gundotra (born 14 June 1969) is an Indian-born American businessman who served as the Senior Vice President, Social for Google until 24 April 2014. Prior to joining Google, he was a general manager at Microsoft. Career Gundot ...

, along with the leaks of its manual and a comprehensive series of photos. The leaked photos revealed a design similar to the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, with a 10.1-inch 2560×1600 display, 16 or 32 GB of storage, Android 4.2, and a dual-core 1.7 GHz

Exynos The Samsung Exynos (stylized as SΛMSUNG Exynos), formerly Hummingbird (), is a series of ARM architecture, Arm-based System on a chip, system-on-chips developed by Samsung Electronics' System LSI division and manufactured by Samsung Foundry. I ...

5 processor. The Nexus 10 was expected to be unveiled officially during a Google press event on October 29, 2012, but the event was postponed due to

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...

. The Nexus 10 would not receive any official updates beyond Android 5.1.1. * Display: 10.1" Corning Gorilla Glass 2 with 2560×1600 pixel resolution * CPU: 1.7 GHz dual-core Cortex-A15 * Chipset: Samsung Exynos 5250 * Storage: 16 or 32 GB * RAM: 2 GB * GPU: Mali-T604 MP4

Nexus 9

The Nexus 9 is an 8.9-inch tablet running Android 5.0 Lollipop, developed in collaboration between Google and HTC. It was first announced on October 15, 2014 along with the Nexus 6 and the Nexus Player. * Display: 8.9" Corning Gorilla Glass 3 with 2048×1536 pixel resolution * CPU: 2.3 GHz dual-core 64-bit Nvidia Tegra K1 "

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

" * Chipset: Nvidia Tegra K1 * Storage: 16 or 32 GB * RAM: 2 GB * Dual front-facing speakers featuring HTC BoomSound

Digital media players

Nexus Q

The Nexus Q is a discontinued digital media player that ran Android and integrated with Google Play, to sell at US$299 in the United States. After complaints about a lack of features for the price, the Nexus Q was shelved indefinitely; Google said it needed time to make the product "even better". The Nexus Q was unofficially replaced by the

Chromecast Chromecast is a discontinued line of digital media players developed by Google. The devices, designed as small dongles, can play Internet-streaming media, streamed audio-visual content on a high-definition television or home audio system. The u ...

, and further by the Nexus Player. * Storage: 16 GB * RAM: 1 GB

Nexus Player

The Nexus Player is a streaming media player created in collaboration between Google and Asus. It is the first device running Android TV. It was first announced on October 15, 2014 along with the Nexus 6 and the Nexus 9. On May 24, 2016, Google discontinued sales of the Nexus Player. In March 2018, Google confirmed that the Nexus Player would not receive the upcoming version of Android, Android Pie, and that security updates had also ended for the device. * 1.8 GHz quad-core Intel Atom processor * 802.11ac 2x2 (MIMO) *

HDMI High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) is a proprietary digital interface used to transmit high-quality video and audio signals between devices. It is commonly used to connect devices such as televisions, computer monitors, projectors, gam ...

out * Remote control (with 2 AAA batteries) * Gamepad (Purchased separately)

Philip K. Dick estate claim

Upon the announcement of the first Nexus device, the Nexus One, the estate of

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

author Philip K. Dick claimed that the Nexus One name capitalized on

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

from Dick's 1968 novel '' Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?'' and that the choice of name was a direct reference to the Nexus-6 series of androids in the novel.

References

{{Google LLC Android (operating system) Google hardware Line of flagship smartphones Tablet computers