[Shane R]

Originally Posted by Prestidigitweeze

If the $600 price range is a fait accompli for unlocked high-end smartphones, then why does China now favor smartphones with comparable specs for half the price? I've had the chance to compare my $349 OnePlus One with an unlocked S5 and am still glad to have opted for a cheaper phone with the same processor. The quality of the OPO's camera is the only real drawback; the lack of bloatware and privacy shredding is liberating.

Besides, why is everyone talking about the price of the Nexus 6? Personally, I'm more interested in the Nexus 9, which is far less expensive than the N6 despite its size (though the screen dimensions seem odd).

Besides which, HTC versions of the Nexus line are going to be fun to play with whether you actually want to buy them or not. The speakers will be clearer and the sound more cinematic than the N7 and N10's. Besides, we might see a significant price drop on the N6 in sixteen months.

Judging from their excellent work on the G3, it looks as though LG learned a lot from their collaboration with Google. I'm hoping that HTC will, too, and will be able to recover from their losses. I've always liked that company's approach.

This editorial:

So what gives?

Nexus has grown up. Its audience is no longer developers or hardcore Android nerds. Google doesn't need to drum up business for it. The Nexus 6 costs more both because the Nexus name can command a higher price, and because names like LG and Samsung and Motorola and Sony don't merit any kind of markup. If anything, the lack of an ugly Android skin is one of the most premium features you could ask for.

Meanwhile, there are more good, cheap Android phones to chose from than ever, if that's what you're looking for. I still think the Nexus 6 is grotesquely big. And I already miss the days when an off-contract Nexus phone was one of the best deals in tech. But in a way I'm glad Google finally decided to recognize its own worth. Less bloat shouldn't mean less value; it should mean the opposite. And the sooner smartphone makers that realize that, the better phones we'll have to choose from.

http://gizmodo.com/the-most-importan...ice-1646834317