Two HTCNexus phones just passed the FCC

We’ve seen an increasing number of pictures and rumors about the 2016 Nexus phone lately, which is to be designed by HTC. Now it transpires that there will be two handsets on the way, much like last year, although both will be produced by HTCthis time around. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard such a rumor, but now it’s essentially confirmed.

A new FCC listing mentions two HTCsmartphones that go by the code names G-2PW2100 and G-2PW4100. The listing also points to Google’s Nexus website as the location of the handset manuals. The model numbers for both handsets also start with a “G” using Google’s own font, so it’s pretty clear that these are indeed Nexus phones.

FCC listings don’t contain much in the way of hardware specifications, but we do know that the phones will come sporting LTE bands 2/4/5/7/12/13/17/25/26/30/41, along with WiFI 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (Dual-Band), Bluetooth LE, and NFC capabilities. Previous rumors suggest that Marlin will the be larger handset, with a 5.5-inch QHD display, Snapdragon 820, 4GB of RAM, and a 13MP/8MP camera combination. Sailfish is expected to to the smaller handset, with a 5.2-inch 1080p display and the same processing package. It seems that the two phones will have much closer specifications than last year’s Nexus 5X and 6P.

Of course, both of these phones will be heading our way with Android 7.0 Nougat on board, which is scheduled to arrive in finished form with the launch of the LG V20 next month. With these Nexus phones now passing through the FCC we are certainly creeping closer to the launch date, which we would expect to be held at a similar time to the launch of Nougat.

What are your thoughts on what we’ve heard about the two HTCNexus phones so far?