According to recent reports Google is planning to launch two flagship devices on October 4, 2016. Both the devices are reportedly designed by HTC, the devices are code named as Sailfish and Marlin. Sailfish will be a successor to Nexus 5X and the Marlin will be a successor to Nexus 6P.
Following are the things you need to know about these upcoming flagship devices,
Name
On January 2010 Google unveiled its first ever Nexus device, Nexus One was designed and manufactured by HTC and it was released with Android 2.1 Eclair. Since then Nexus devices are appreciated by developers and stock Android lovers. According to reports Google is ditching the Nexus name from its flagship devices and replacing it with the "Pixel". The two rumored flagship devices Sailfish and Marlin will be called Pixel and Pixel XL.
Design
Since the first Nexus was launched, Nexus devices are not popular for their design and looks. Majority of Nexus owners are either developers or stock Android lovers who usually don't care for design and it felt like even Google is not trying to do anything about it. This was true until the Nexus 6P was launched. Huawei did an excellent job in designing the Nexus 6P, it was the first ever Nexus phone with full metal unibody designed and that black camera hump really complimented the design.
Android Authority and journalist Steve Hemmerstoffer posted some of the leaked renders of the upcoming Pixel smartphone. Some noticeable changes are the new antenna lines and that giant glass back panel.
The leaked renders shows some big changes in the back panel of the device with the front still looking dull same as almost all Nexus devices. As you can see in above images there is no headphone jack on the bottom of the device, hopefully they have managed to keep it on the top side.
Hardware and Specifications
According to some reports both the Pixel and Pixel XL will feature the new Snapdragon 821 chipset, which performs 10% better than the 820. The Snapdragon 821 will be the first processor with the Daydream VR-ready capabilities and the Pixel and Pixel XL will be the first ever Daydream VR ready smartphones. Daydream is the virtual reality platform that Google announced at the Google I/O developer conference 2016, which means the virtual reality capabilities are now integrated in the core of the operating system but to fully use it you will require a Daydream ready smartphone.
Some reports also suggest that the Pixel will feature old Snapdragon 820 chip and the Pixel XL will feature the new Snapdragon 821. The Pixel will come up with 1920x1080 5-inch Full HD display, 12 MP Primary camera, 5MP secondary camera, 4GB of RAM and 2770 mAh non removable battery.
On the other hand the Pixel XL which will be the successor to the Nexus 6P will feature 5.7 inches Quad HD display, 4GB of RAM, 12MP primary camera, 8MP secondary camera and 3450 mAh non removable battery.
Both devices will come up with android Nougat operating system out of the box. The devices will be available from this autumn and the prices should be around $400 for Pixel and $500 for Pixel XL.
Stay tuned for updates.
