The new Nexus 6P, not the Google Nexus 2016 Marlin, phone is displayed during a Google media event on September 29, 2015 in San Francisco, California (Photo : Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News)
In making the 4-inch iPhone SE, Apple simply reworked the still popular iPhone 5S and boosted the device with updated component inside and out. It remains to be seen if the SE will work as planned but Google can play the game that Apple has started and launch a compact Android device or Nexus Mini of its own.
The Nexus maker can pick from four Android smartphones - one is newly released and the rest are old flagships - to be repurposed for the project and they are listed below:
Samsung Galaxy S7
Since Samsung is Apple's chief rival it should be exciting to see the South Korean tech giant working with Google and matching the handy iPhone SE. And it should be automatic that the best template for such a device is the Galaxy S7 that was recently adjudged as the best smartphone around.
Building a Nexus Mini based on the GS7 should be easy for Samsung as the company is known to easily adjust on what the market needs. And in doing so, Samsung will readily out-match the headline iPhone SE specs of A9 processing chips and 12MP rear camera with the original GS7 hardware features of Snapdragon 820 and the same 12-megapixel shooter but with dual-pixel and ultra-fast autofocus.
Samsung has proven too that it can make phones with large screen but with easy to grip device so in theory, a Nexus Mini from the Galaxy family can unbox with a 4.5-inch display in 1080p but will have the same profile as that of the iPhone SE or even slightly smaller.
Moto X
Bringing back the original Moto X can be a joint venture of Google and Motorola or the latter can go at it alone. However it will play out, the Moto X 2013 seems the perfect Nexus Mini base-model with mid-size screen and an Android render that is close to the stock version.
Motorola though will have to bump up on specs and pick for the Moto X engine no less than SD 820 and 1GB of RAM. The camera and other key specs will need to elevated, using at least the Moto X 2015 as the benchmark for good measure.
HTC One M7
Before it found itself on shaky ground, HTC has impressed the Android with the HTC One M7. The device unboxed with a robust or almost heavyset built that only underscored its durability. Its unibody design won praises and had critics labelling as the Android version of iPhone - equally beautiful and durable.
A resurrected One M7 with vanilla Android running the show should be an instant crowd pleaser but HTC needs to make sure that among the components lined up for upgrade is the camera system that experts then regarded as mostly a letdown.
Nexus 4, 5 or 6P
But if collaboration with the device makers mentioned above will prove impossible, Google can just dig up from its existing catalog and rework its old Nexus devices. It can choose to trim down the Nexus 6P size to below 5-inch, upgrade the inner components and keep its premium look, build and design.
Or the company can reengineer any of the Nexus 4 and 5 and apply the necessary magic to make the build and specs in the same level with the iPhone SE. Then with Pure Android N as the star of the Nexus Mini show plus a sticker price that is lower than $400, the resulting device should be a Google release date plan to wait for.
