Google went to China’s Huawei for the production of last year’s Nexus 6P, a phone that has lived up to be one of the best from Google, especially when aesthetics take centerstage.
The phone did not disappoint in performance either, especially when considering the fact that it was Google’s answer to Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5 and Apple’s iPhone 6S Plus. While many expected Huawei to be retained for at least one of this year’s Google Nexus phones, the deal instead went to HTC. Still, the Chinese OEM is still in the game as it is rumored to be the one behind the upcoming Google Nexus 7 2016, a tablet that is expected to be released alongside the Nexus 2016 phones.
While this is happening, there is an interesting development in China. Apparently, there are photos of a Nexus 6P doppelganger doing rounds on the web and in fact, Huawei is the name behind the phone. It even gets more interesting as the specs of the phone have already made their way to the country’s TENAA – and they are quite amazing.
In terms of design, the Nexus 6P lookalike comes with a slightly refined design where the edges are rounded and the front-facing speakers are missing. Furthermore, the power button can now be found just below the volume rocker as opposed to the Nexus 6P where the opposite arrangement is true. The phone will also come with support for Force Touch technology on the display, something that should work similar to Apple’s 3D Touch that debuted with iPhone 6S.
Listed as the Huawei Mate S2, the phone is slightly smaller than the Nexus 6P with its 5.5-inch display screen. Furthermore, being a Huawei exclusive, it packs a Kirin 960 octa-core processor as opposed to the Snapdragon model that comes with the Nexus 6P. As for the RAM, the Mate S2 will reportedly come in with a RAM of 4GB, which will match most 2016 flagships.
The rear camera of the Huawei Mate S2 is housed in a similar design as the Nexus 6P, with a fingerprint scanner appearing below the camera where your forefinger should naturally reach. It packs a 16MP sensor while the front will have an 8MP snapper. As for the battery capacity, the listing shows a 3500mAh unit will accompany the phone.
Apparently, the Nexus 6P double will be unveiled on September 1, but unfortunately, it will be powered by Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box.