The world is looking forward to the official announcement of Android N, although it probably won’t be the final version, during this coming Google I/O 2016 event.
While many also expect to see the Google Nexus 2016 phones announced during the same event, it is highly unlikely that this will happen. For starters, the search engine giant hasn’t said a word regarding the partner OEM that will replace last year’s Huawei and LG as far as the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X are concerned, respectively. However, rumors have been rife that HTC will be in charge of this year’s family of Nexus phones. There are even leaked codenames for the upcoming devices that came from a source close to HTC, but neither the Taiwanese company nor Google has made any official communication.
Design and display
We’ve seen great designs come from HTC over the past few years. The metallic build that has dominated HTC flagships is expected to make an appearance on the Google Nexus 2016 phones. This will add a premium touch to the phones to go in tandem with the current flagship builds. It is expected that the devices will include a fingerprint sensor for enhanced security.
As for the display, the Google Nexus 2016 phones will probably feature a 5-inch device and another 5.5-inch phablet. Even though nothing much can be said about their resolutions, we expect to see a QHD unit on the 5.5-inch phablet and probably a Full HD display on the 5-inch Nexus 2016 phone, just like what was used on last year’s models.
There is also news that Google is working on natively integrating pressure-sensitive technology into Android N. With this in mind, we expect to see this technology on the upcoming Nexus devices, or at least on one of them, especially since the two will debut with Android N out of the box.
Processing power
The current crop of Nexus smartphones packs a Snapdragon 810 SoC for the flagship Nexus 6P and a Snapdragon 808 SoC for the low-end Nexus 5X. If this is to be retained, we’ll probably see the Google Nexus 2016 phones powered by a Snapdragon 820 SoC for the flagship model and probably last year’s Snapdragon 810 SoC will be used on the low-end model, which means the device will still be a monster when it comes to performance.
With this year’s flagship phones featuring 4GB of RAM, we expect to see the same with the Snapdragon 820 variant. On the other hand, the smaller Nexus 2016 phone might pack a RAM of 3GB, making it one of the most powerful mid-range smartphones available.
Photography and pricing
Google’s range of Nexus devices has always offered great photography. With HTC boasting outstanding technology for its recent HTC 10 camera, we might see an even better camera for the upcoming Google Nexus 2016 phones. If this materializes, the flagship Nexus 2016 will pack a 12MP rear sensor and a 5MP selfie camera.
As for the pricing, the Nexus phones will not deviate a lot from the prices of the current crop. Nexus 6P made its debut with a price tag of $499 and Nexus 5X was valued at $379. If all goes well, we expect this year’s versions to be priced around the same region. These prices are for the base models.
Release date
As for the release date, the Google Nexus 2016 phones are expected to be released over the same period as last year’s Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X, which should be in October.