The recent report that Huawei is "doing the Nexus again this year," does not necessarily point to a release date involving a Nexus 2016 flagship smartphone. It could be that the Chinese device maker was taken out of context or a different mobile device is on the pipeline, possibly the rumored Nexus 7 2016 tablet, a new report suggested.
According to a report by XDA Developers, Huawei claiming that it's on a second Nexus project this year could have been misinterpreted. Almost immediately the statement made by the company, via a senior executive based in South Africa, fired up rumors that Huawei is set assemble an upgraded version of the well-received Nexus 6P.
The speculations were initially based on a leaked benchmark result that listed the 6P bearing upgraded specifications, specifically boasting of Snapdragon 820 chip and 4GB of RAM. The original handset unboxed with SD 810 and 3GB RAM.
But as the XDA report has noted, the supposed Nexus 6P benchmark listing is hardly a reliable document. A more credible hint that a fresh Nexus device could soon originate from Huawei's production lines is the Huawei 7P trademark filing recently unearthed.
"This trademark is related to a mobile device, but does not necessarily point to a smartphone as it could extend onto tablets and wearables as well," XDA said on its report. And if indeed the Huawei 7P is designed as a tablet then it will be supported by reports that have been circulating for months - that Google and Huawei have agreed on a deal that will see the release of a third Nexus 7 tablet.
Nexus 7 number three is rumored to be Google's latest attempt to challenge Apple's iPad line so the plan is to deliver a compact tablet that is a pretty sight, premium build and design, and with high-end specifications, inside and out. Obviously, the Huawei Nexus 6P pretty much fits the bill and scaling it up to assume a tablet profile should be no problem at all for the appointed manufacturer.
Then the combo of SD 820 and 4GB RAM for an upgraded and possibly upsized Nexus 6P from Huawei will begin to make sense. But then again, XDA said that the Huawei slip on the next Nexus could mean nothing at all.
Regardless, any of the Nexus 2016 Pure Android phone or the Nexus 7 2016 tablet coming true should be scheduled a release date that is in line with deployment of Android N's final cut. And that would be, reports said, no later than August 2016.