Officially, the Nexus is no more, meaning there is zero chance that any of the rumored Nexus 2016 flagship devices - Nexus Sailfish and Marlin and Huawei's rumored Nexus 7 2016 - will see the light of the day. Instead Google will sell the Pixel and Pixel XL phones but the question is: Will the Nexus replacements beat the competition, specifically Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy flagships?
The possibility is there that the new Pixel phones will be the killer Stock Android devices that Google has been dreaming about. Like the iPhone 7/7 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S7/S7 Edge/Note 7, the Pixels are premium in build and design and the specifications - inside and out - are nothing short of impressive.
Both the Pixel and Pixel XL boast of metal and glass exterior materials that are rendered in polished glass finish and aluminum unibody - screaming of premium that was not found in earlier Nexus models. Further adding a touch of luxury is the HD AMOLED display that puts the Google handsets on equal footing with Samsung's Galaxy and other Android flagships.
And the feature upgrades are top-notch - quad-core Snapdragon 821 chip with 4GB of RAM, camera combo that reminds of the latest iPhone and Galaxy offerings and the standard flagship menu of 32GB/128GB storage memory, fingerprint sensor, Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity and the bonus of an audio port that will take in a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Then there's the latest Android Nougat version with the all the new features cooked up by Google - Google Assistant, Google Magic and virtual reality or VR functionality - with the assurance of quickly getting the firmware updates as soon as they become available.
It's safe to assume that there is nothing not to rave about the Pixel and Pixel XL. But there is one huge deal-breaker that came with the phone - the pricing. In introducing the handsets, it was confirmed that the Pixels are no Nexus. The sticker price starts at $650 and can go as high as $870 in the case of the phablet Pixel XL with 128GB on on-board memory.
While it may be true that the specs and feature bumps justify the high-end Pixel pricing, it's hard to imagine that units will fly off the shelves no thanks to Google's asking price. For iPhone users, the Pixel deal with sky-high cash damage is hardly a compelling argument for a switch move.
More so in the case of Android fans. The choice is easy for them - either go for the familiar Samsung Galaxy flagships if the preference is premium and money is no matter or pick instead the mid-range and lower-end Android when the chief object is scoring the best bang for the buck.