We’ve heard this again and again: that Google will be looking to long time partner LG for this year’s Nexus smartphone. That LG will not be the lone partner in such a venture. That Chinese smartphone maker Huawei will also be onboard as Mountain View seeks to provide variety to the market and show all its partners and developers what it envisions as far as the Android experience goes. We’re hearing that same sentiment again, as if to reinforce what has been rumoured for long.
This time round the leak is not from Korean media outlets with insiders at LG but from French leaker Steve Hammerstoffer who popularly goes by the handle @OneLeaks and this is what he has about the upcoming Google Nexus devices:
#LG‘s New #NEXUS: Likely Metal Body,roughly 146.9×72.9×8/9.8mm,5.2″ Screen,Front Facing Speakers,Fingerprint Sensor on the Back,USB Type-C
— OnLeaks (@OnLeaks) August 12, 2015
#Huawei‘s #NEXUS: Metal Body,roughly 159.4×78.3×6.6/8.5mm,likely 5.7″ Screen,Front Facing Speakers,Fingerprint Sensor on the Back,USB Type-C
— OnLeaks (@OnLeaks) August 12, 2015
We may be still a few months away from the official release of the next Nexus devices from Google but this pretty much gives us an idea as to what to expect come October (or whatever time that will be).
The 5.2 inch LG Nexus is expected to build on the last Nexus smartphone LG made for Google, the Nexus 5. Proponents of a Nexus 5 (2015) argue that there’s need to have a reasonably-sized Nexus smartphone alongside the big Nexus that is expected to succeed the 5.96 inch Motorola-made Nexus 6.
The next generation of Nexus devices is expected to pack the next version of Android which is currently under preview as Android M. Android M will include native support for fingerprint scanners hence the reason why the next batch of Nexus devices will have to have a fingerprint sensor so as to be able to not only showcase it but also debut Google’s mobile payments platform, Android Pay. Google has already committed to the next Nexus devices shipping with USB Type-C ports as a standard so that is expected either. Besides that, everything else remains unofficial and we’ll get a clearer picture when Google and its partners are finally ready.
