HTC Nexus Sailfish leak reveals 1080p display, MSM8996 chipset

Twitter leaker Evan Blass is apparently in possession of a ROM dump from one of the upcoming 2017 Nexus phones. The smaller of the two rumored devices, internally known as Sailfish or the HTCS1, has just had its build.prop file shared on Twitter, uncovering a couple of device specs including display resolution and the chipset to be used.

Keep in mind that build.prop files are incredibly easy to modify, so even though there’s no reason for Blass to fake it, the details can’t exactly be guaranteed to be accurate. That said, the display density value is given as 420, indicating Full HD resolution rather than QHD (as the larger-screened Marlin – or HTCM1 – is rumored to feature).

This calculation is reverse engineered from the pixel density not being high enough to represent QHD. If you plug it into a pixel density calculator at Full HD resolution you get close enough to 420 PPI on a 5.2-5.3-inch screen. As you likely recall, the Sailfish is rumored to arrive with a 5.2-inch screen (with the Marlin arriving with a 5.5-inch QHD display). So at least the math fits.

The chipset in the build.prop file is listed as the MSM8996, which currently refers to the Snapdragon 820. However, we can’t guarantee it is not the Snapdragon 821 as Qualcomm SoCs have shared model numbers in the past, with MSM8997 referring to multiple versions of both the Snapdragon 800 and 801.

There’s not much else of interest in the build.prop file other than security patch date on the first line and multiple mentions of finger and thumb prints scattered throughout. But if Blass has a full ROM dump you can expect to see more information coming soon, including further details on the possibility of Allo and Duo APKs (although we’d need Google’s servers running to make them work) and some more information on Android’s new navigation buttons.

Will you be opting for Sailfish or Marlin? Is Full HD resolution still acceptable?

Don’t miss: Alleged specs for HTCMarlin emerge