Google Nexus 2016 Release Date and Rumors: 'Marlin' and 'Sailfish' Variants More Expensive than Previous Nexus? Specs and Price Details
With Updated Specs and a New Design, Nexus Marlin and Sailfish Gets Higher Price Tag
The highly anticipated next-generation Nexus phones will be launching in just over a month. In light of the buzzing excitement, the exact cost of the new pair, named Marlin and Sailfish, has been leaked and many are not happy with the increased pricing.
Increased Price Range
Google has always partnered with giant smartphone manufacturers for the Nexus phones. This year, they partnered again with Taiwanese company HTC for the 2016 iterations. Google and HTC have previously collaborated in 2010 for the first Nexus smartphone and in 2014 for the latest Nexus tablet, the Nexus One and Nexus 9, respectively.
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HTC has always had the reputation of producing premium smartphones of the highest caliber. With this standard also comes a hefty price tag, a fact which the new Nexus phones adhere to. Leaks have hinted that the Marlin and Sailfish will indeed be a bit costlier than the 5X and 6P last year.
The base 32GB model of the Nexus Sailfish will be priced at $449. It costs $50 more in comparison to the 32GB version of the Nexus 5X launched last year. On the other hand, the Nexus Marlin with 32GB of internal storage will cost $599, a hundred dollars more than the same storage option of the Nexus 6P at $499. Some of those in the tech community say that the Nexus program is rehashing what they did with the Nexus 6, going with a premium phone with a premium price.
Specifications and Release Date
The new Nexus generations will come in two variants. Interestingly, Google and HTC decided to pack almost similar specifications inside the two phones. Internally, both phones will be powered by the high-end Snapdragon 820, with the Nexus Marlin rumored to have a Snapdragon 821 variant. They will be packing 4GB of RAM, with base internal storage of 32GB, having a 128GB version for the Marlin.
Display is the main difference between the two. While the Nexus Sailfish sports a 5-inch screen with a Full HD 1080p resolution, the Nexus Marlin features a 5.5-inch display with a Quad-HD 1440p resolution. Both screens are expected to run on AMOLED technology, similar to last year's Nexus 6P.
A camera setup of 12 megapixels at the rear and 8 megapixels in front is also a common factor between the two. They also have a fingerprint sensor positioned at the back, housed at a distinctive black panel, similar to the Nexus 6P's camera visor.
Going with Nexus tradition, the new iterations will come with the new Android 7.0 Nougat. This would be the first time for the new Android version to not debut in the Nexus lineup, for the LG V20 would be the first smartphone to come with Nougat out of the box. The release date is expected to either be in the last week of September or the first few weeks of October.
