Purported render of upcoming ‘Marlin’ and ‘Sailfish’ Nexus phones arrives

The upcoming Nexus phones, which will be built by Taiwanese manufacturer HTC according to rumour, have been taking shape over the last month or so, with specs hitting first and now a render of the phones has arrived.

The render is based on what the phone looks like according to Android Police, not a render of the phone, or phones themselves as it were. This method is designed to protect their source, and we’re still a fair way out from release so some changes could be made before the expected late September/early October announcement is made.

So what’s it look like? Well, there’s only one render for both phones, because according to Android Police, they essentially look the same this year, just differing in size. So, here it is:

As you can see, the fingerprint sensor is rear mounted again, there’s no camera bump and there’s the somewhat familiar Nexus shape. Android Police don’t see it, but looking at the render, especially in the same black colour as the HTC 10 I reviewed, the shaved lines on the rear of the phone look somewhat HTC-esque.

While their version is rendered in Black, Android Police do say that the phone will come in an aluminium colour, pointing to both phones being aluminium bodied – a material HTC excels in making phones out of. There is also apparently talk of a ‘electric blue’ version with a white face and a glossy rear – personally I loved the look of the Mint or Ice coloured Nexus 5X.

One of the things both Android Police and I agree on is that the G logo on the front will be swapped out for Nexus branding before the release is final – but maybe this could be released with more heavy Google branding – just like those re-designed navigation keys we saw previously.

Specs for both ‘Marlin’ and ‘Sailfish’ Nexus phones have been leaked previously giving us a look now at what’s under the hood as well as now what it could look like.

So there you have it, it may be rumoured, but there’s plenty to think about here. What do you think about the design, potential colour options and do you have any other thoughts?