With Android N getting its official name, we’re getting closer and close to the launch of HTC’s two Nexus smartphones – the Marlin and Sailfish. Last week we got a sneak peek at the specs the phones are expected to have and thanks to a new leak, we’re now being treated to a mockup of what the two phones could look like. The image above comes from Android Police and is claimed to depict the main design elements of the HTC-build Marlin and Sailfish. The image itself was created by Android Police based on information gathered by one of their trusted sources.
According to the source, the Marlin and Sailfish will share the same basic design, though the Sailfish is said to be the smaller of the two and its proportions may be slightly different than those depicted in the image. The mockup of the phone shows a device which pulls a little design inspiration from the HTC One M8, HTC 10 and last year’s Nexus 6P. The front of the phone is all metal with a thin speaker slit above the display and its front-facing camera to its left. The sides and back of the phone are made from a single piece of aluminum, featuring a large plastic of glass insert which covers the top third, housing the camera and flash in the top left corner and a circular fingerprint sensor in the middle. To the right of the camera are three small holes which likely depict the placement of the speaker.
While the mockup shows a G logo on the back of the phone, Android Police is not sure that specific design feature will be present on the final versions of the Sailfish and Marlin. It could be replaced with the Nexus or HTC logos.
The design of the HTC 10 is impeccable, but we’re glad to see that HTC will not be using too many of the design elements from its flagship phone for its Nexus devices. We’re still a bit disappointed that the 2016 Nexus smartphones won’t come with front-facing stereo speakers, but we’re not going to complain as long as Google and HTC sell more than a few million of these devices once they hit the market sometime this fall.
