Next Google Nexus Device Could be $100 Android Phone

News
By Jane McEntegart
published

Is Google planning an entry-level Nexus device?

Google's Nexus devices have been pretty affordable as far as flagship devices go but it looks like the company's next phone might be even more budget friendly than past models. The latest scuttlebutt has Google releasing a new Nexus phone manufactured in partnership with MediaTek. While the last two generations of Nexus have been cheaper than average, this new device is rumored to cost around $100 thanks to low-cost silicon from MediaTek.

The rumor stems from Chinese language site MTKSJ (with translation via gforgames). Details are fairly thin on the ground but gforgames reckons the budget device won’t be replacing the flagship Nexus phone. If that’s true, it means Google could, for the first time ever, release two Nexus phones when it refreshes the device later this year.

Rumors for the Nexus 6 haven’t quite kicked off just yet but if Google sticks with LG as its manufacturing partner, it’s likely the Nexus 6 will be something like the rumoured LG G3, as both the Nexus 4 and Nexus 5 have been very similar to the Optimus G and LG G2. While the aforementioned $100 Nexus remains much of a mystery, there's already talk of the G3 packing a 5.5-inch 2560 x 1440 display.

Follow Jane McEntegart @JaneMcEntegart. Follow us @tomshardware, on Facebook and on Google+.

Jane McEntegart
17 Comments Comment from the forums
  • icemunk
    Cool, you can get a MediaTek octocore phone for about $170 right now. I wonder which processor they'll put it in. The quad-core MediaTek phones sell for under $100 already.
    Reply
  • John Kiser
    Highly unlikely. The nexus series is always top of the line outside of battery and camera and maybe screen. Expect it to have the highest end chip it can at the time and to be around 350 - 400.
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    13128607 said:
    Highly unlikely. The nexus series is always top of the line outside of battery and camera and maybe screen. Expect it to have the highest end chip it can at the time and to be around 350 - 400.
    Part of the reason why Google entered the phone/tablet market was because they were very unhappy with the general features-vs-price balance of most devices on the market back then and wanted to redefine people's expectations. IMO, it would not be so strange for Google to want to redefine the $100 price point in a similar way they redefined the ~$350 price point with previous Nexus phones and ~$225 price point with N7 tablets.
    Reply
  • icemunk
    Highly unlikely. The nexus series is always top of the line outside of battery and camera and maybe screen. Expect it to have the highest end chip it can at the time and to be around 350 - 400.

    They will keep their higher end Nexus line, they are just going to introduce a $100 lower-end Nexus as well. If you keep up to date on this stuff, you'll see there are already a lot of really nice phones for $100 these days. Many of the $100 MediaTek phones run the MTK6582 chip, matched with a 940X560 display, adn 512MB of ram.. they actually do pretty good, and score around 16000 on Antutu, which is faster than a top end phone from 2-3 years ago. It's an excellent market to target for those who really don't want to spend $700 on a new phone, or people who like deals.. Heck, for a $100 you could buy a new phone every few months and still pay less than you would for a new iPhone or Galaxy S4
    Reply
  • BulkZerker
    Best news all week.

    Now if Google "makes" a sub $100 tablet on top of this.
    Reply
  • 11796pcs
    Someone please explain to me why we need over 3.6 million pixels on a phone.
    Reply
  • BranFlake5
    The Moto G seems like the best low budget, no compromise phone. I'm interested in what corners have to be cut to make something even cheaper.
    Reply
  • bustapr
    if the next nexus is going to cost $100 or less, I can almost guarantee that it wont have that resolution.
    Reply
  • koolkei
    Finally. What makes me happy from this news isnt the fact that google would be releasing a new phone. But with the major companies that makes high end phone mostly uses snapdragons, us mediatek users have been a little bit left out bye the communities. I still havent able to find a cyanogen mod cusrom for barely any mediatek chipsets, thtas one for example. But with this, if this is true, a major player making entry level phones with mediatek chipsets. Finally mediatek chipsets will be getting a lot more attention from the communities
    Reply
  • John Kiser
    13129112 said:
    13128607 said:
    Highly unlikely. The nexus series is always top of the line outside of battery and camera and maybe screen. Expect it to have the highest end chip it can at the time and to be around 350 - 400.
    Part of the reason why Google entered the phone/tablet market was because they were very unhappy with the general features-vs-price balance of most devices on the market back then and wanted to redefine people's expectations. IMO, it would not be so strange for Google to want to redefine the $100 price point in a similar way they redefined the ~$350 price point with previous Nexus phones and ~$225 price point with N7 tablets.

    I don't see them doing this with the nexus devices they may do something similar for the 50 - 100 dollar price point with the Ara Line of phones (assuming project Ara is called Ara on launch)
    Reply