Google Nexus 2016 release date: features may be similar but different enclosure materials

A logo is pictured at Google's European Engineering Center in Zurich April16, 2015.Reuters/Arnd Wiegmann

It is believed that Google is cooking up two new Nexus phones, Marlin and Sailfish, both having similar features. But one is said to have a metal body, while the other will use plastic.

Previous reports stated that the Google 2016 Nexus phones will be manufactured by HTC and will come in two models sporting a similar set of features. It is said that the search engine giant made a big mistake last year by offering two entirely different phones. However, the latest rumors suggest that the bigger 5.5-inch Marlin will be enclosed in metal and the smaller 5.2-inch Sailfish will arrive with some plastic with it, according to Nexus Blog.

Marlin is rumored to be of the same quality as the HTC 10, with an all-metal, unibody design. Sailfish, meanwhile, will have a metal frame and plastic body, which is similar to the older Desire series released by the Taiwanese tech giant. The move is said to lower the manufacturing cost, although the phones are speculated to be still above the US$350 mark.

Specs-wise, Marlin is rumored to be powered by a Snapdragon 821 or 823, paired with 4GB of RAM, 32GB or 128GB of internal storage, with no option to use a microSD card. It is also believed not to have a 64GB variant. Operating system will be Android 7.0 Nougat, with 12MP main and 8MP front cameras, Gottobemobile reported.

Additionally, there is a finger print scanner and a bottom speaker at the rear, along with a fast-charging USB Type-C port and a 3,450 mAh battery.

Sailfish is said to come with a similar processor and the same amount of memory and internal storage. No microSD slot will also be present. It will also come with 12MP and 8MP cameras, USB Type-C port, finger print sensor and speaker. A smaller battery capacity is expected, at 2,770 mAh.

Both phones will have an AMOLED type of screen, 2560 x 1440 Quad-HD for the bigger screen, and 1920 x 1080 Full HD for the smaller model.

For the meantime, fans can only wait till Google announces the rumored phones officially.