That's a nexus staple, I have a nexus 4 and it has no SD card slot

Google doesn't like mSD slots for many reasons.  Andriod phones wouldn't have them if the competition was less fierce.

And is why I continue to not buy or use Nexus items. I just hoped, I suppose, that with such a high price tag they'd be thoughtful enough to add in a mSD slot.

Lumia 1520 will remain my go-to for the forseable future it seems, even if its a dated CPU.

haha, to each their own. I love my Nexus. I have had no problems with it so far, at least it doesn't bend (same said for your phone) :) 

Lumias are indestructible.

I just do not like phones with no mSD, particularly with their ever-better cameras. The Lumia 920 or 1020, I don't remember which, has no mSD but sports the most powerful Weiss camera on a phone... its stupid. A single picture will fill the entire phone's memory. There's also the matter of the things that I have to work with and carry around day to day, tend to be large in file size and so limited memory is a hassle.

what a shame, such a nice phone but 6 inches is just rediculous for a phone. wish there was a 5 inch version

Looks nice but 6 inches is a bit too big. I like big screens but such a large phone is difficult to take out of my pocket.