The Nexus lineup has always been the defacto standard of what an Android experience should be. Now in its 7th generation, Google has partnered with Huawei with the all new Nexus 6P. It isn’t just another reference device but an upmarket one that could very well compete with the current crop of flagship smartphones.

After its announcement in late September, the Nexus 6P is finally here in Malaysia and you can place your orders beginning this Thursday, 10th December.

Available in a single 64GB storage variant, the Nexus 6P is priced officially at RM2,698 inclusive of GST. For Malaysia, we are getting two colour options – Aluminium and Graphite. So far there’s no news of its other Gold and Frost White versions.

In terms of size, the Nexus 6P despite its “6” moniker has a 5.7″ screen which makes it more compact than last year’s Nexus 6 by Motorola. The AMOLED screen pushes a Quad HD resolution of 2560×1440 that gives a pixel density of 518 pixels per inch. The exterior is where the Nexus 6P stands out. It gets an all-metal unibody design with a “helmet visor” bump at the back that houses its camera module.

Accompanying its high-resolution screen is a pair of stereo speakers which is perfect for gaming and audio playback. For the first time on a Nexus, the Nexus 6P also gets a fingerprint scanner at the back that’s natively supported by Android Marshmallow. Like most rear-mounted fingerprint scanners, it unlocks instantly in a single touch.

Powering the device is a flagship class 2.0GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 810 processor mated with 3GB of RAM, which should be more than sufficient to provide a buttery smooth experience. Like all Nexus smartphones (except for the Nexus One by HTC), there’s no expandable microSD slot and it comes with a single nano SIM slot supporting 4G LTE.

In terms of cameras, the Nexus 6P focuses on larger pixels rather than the usual pixel count. Despite having a 12.3MP sensor from Sony, it boasts a larger 1.55 μm pixel size that allows in more light and this apparently is good enough to compensate for the lack of an Optical Image Stabilisation. It gets a dual-tone LED flash, Phase Detection and Laser Auto Focus so that you won’t miss a shot. Over at the front, selfies are taken care by its rather large 8MP shooter.

Keeping the lights on, the Nexus 6P has a generous 3,450mAh battery and it charges up via a reversible USB Type C port. Out of the box, you get 2 sets of cables – a USB Type-C to Type-C and the standard USB Type-C to full sized USB. The power adapter pushes a higher 3Amp output through a USB Type-C port which should be faster than standard 2Amp chargers in the market. Of course the main reason why anyone would get a Nexus, is for its pure Android experience without the unnecessary fluff that’s often preinstalled by OEMs.

The Nexus 6P will be available online this Thursday (10th December) through Huawei’s vmall.my and Lazada Online store. Those who snap up units quickly, Huawei will be throwing in an introductory offer of a Chromecast (the first version) worth RM 199, totally free of charge to the first 600. The Nexus 6P also comes with a 1 year one-to-one swap program through Huawei Service Centres.

Stay tuned for more Nexus 6P related content and let us know what you’d like to know about the device in the comments below.