“Marlin” HTC Nexus specs leak

We’ve seen the Huawei Nexus 6P (2016) benchmarks appear before, but earlier sources codenamed it “Marlin.” Well, it appears as though the codename was supplied for the wrong phone. One of the HTC Nexus smartphones is codenamed “Marlin,” and it seems that the HTC Nexus in question here in the high-end smartphone of the two that HTC will build (see these codenames). The high-end HTC Nexus specs have leaked, courtesy of Android Police:

• quad-core Qualcomm processor (we’re thinking either the Snapdragon 820 or the Snapdragon 821)
• 5.5-inch, Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440p) AMOLED display
• USB Type-C charging
• 8MP front camera, 12MP back camera
• back cover fingerprint scanner
• 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM
• 3,450mAh battery
• bottom-firing speakers
• 32GB/128GB storage
• Bluetooth 4.2

AP has been reliable in the past when it comes to specs, so we have no reason not to trust these. And yet, something seems fishy with the 32GB/128GB models — with HTC bypassing the 64GB model. It makes more sense for the HTC Nexus to bypass the 32GB model and opt for a minimum of 64GB rather than skip the middle storage variant. The USB Type-C charging is not a surprise, considering that Google has gone with USB Type-C charging in the Huawei Nexus 6P and the LG Nexus 5X last Fall — and, with Samsung going all in with the upcoming Galaxy Note 7, USB Type-C is here to stay and micro-USB charging is on its way out.

This is indeed the high-end HTC Nexus, however, as can be seen by the 5.5-inch display, the Quad HD resolution, AMOLED display, 8MP/12MP camera combo, 4GB of RAM, 3,450mAh battery, dual bottom speakers, and the back cover fingerprint scanner. We don’t know why HTC would place a fingerprint scanner on the back. This seems to be a bad design decision on the part of Google, and it’s one that I’ve chided LG for with its LG G5 (see our review to find out more).

The choice of an AMOLED display for the high-end HTC Nexus is in line with what we’ve seen from the Huawei Nexus 6P in 2015. We’re not surprised that Google would implement an AMOLED display, seeing that Samsung’s AMOLED panels are the best in the business.

Well, we’ll find out more about these codenames and spec sheets as time passes. But, it should be said here: it is July, and Google will unveil both HTC Nexus and Huawei Nexus smartphones in September — so the leaks are arriving right on schedule.

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