LARGE, ROUND and FEELS SO GOOD in your hand: Yes! It's a Nexus 6

Software – THAT's what'll sell it

GPS, 802.11ac, Bluetooth, but no microSD card slots

Besides the screen, the front fascia holds a two megapixel camera for videoconferencing and dual speakers, top and bottom. On the back is a centrally mounted 13 megapixel camera that's recessed slightly into the body - a much better solution that the Nexus 5's raised camera that felt like it was made for scratches - and a Nexus and Motorola logo. A micro-USB port is in the base of the unit with a 3.5mm headphone port and nanoSIM port on top.

Internally there are all the usual bells and whistles: GPS, 2x2 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.1, accelerometer, near-field communications hardware, and a wireless recharging module using the Qi standard. Just what you'd expect for a phone at this price point with no real surprises, and Google is still insisting on eschewing microSD card slots – and many Reg readers and this reviewer feel their lack.

However, the battery packs a whopping 3220 mAh, and it's this (along with the software to run it) that makes the Nexus 6 really shine. The battery is annoyingly non-removable, but the Nexus gives true full-day use, and can last considerably longer for the canny user. The new build of Android makes a lot of difference in this regard, but more on that later.

To help with this the power charger, Google shipped out with the review handsets can power up the phone for hours of extra use in 15 minutes, and give you a full charge in about 100 more. We got around three days standby battery out of the Nexus 6 and a full day of normal use with ergs to spare.

In terms of general hardiness, the Nexus 6 feels more solid than its iPhone counterpart but not as hardy as a Samsung or HTC. It survived extensive jostling in rucksacks and coin-ridden pockets with nary a scratch and not too many greasy fingerprint marks.

As phablets go there's nothing here that screams "must have" from a hardware perspective, but it is significantly cheaper than its competitors. However, the Nexus isn't really about hardware, but a chance to show off software too.