Google Nexus 2016 release date: HTC's Marlin and Sailfish smartphones rumoured for October launch

A report citing a "reliable source" has claimed that 2016's Nexus smartphones − codenamed Sailfish and Marlin − will launch on 4 October. Rumoured to be in development by HTC, the pair are expected to follow standard Nexus protocol and run the latest Android OS update − Android 7.0 Nougat.

The highly anticipated duo are expected to follow on from Huawei's Nexus 6P and LG's Nexus 5X, with the larger Marlin device rumoured to be 5.5in and Sailfish coming in slightly smaller at 5in. With the wait for an official reveal ongoing, this latest report at least gives us an idea of when we might get our first look at the next-generation of Nexus phones.

The "launch date" comes from a Droid Life report, with a "trusted" source providing the October date based on possible insider information. While not confirmed by a secondary source, Droid Life note that, in the past, the leaker has been "proven correct time and time again when it comes to Nexus launches".

A recent render mock-up gave Nexus fans a rough approximation of what the devices will look like based on speculation. The pair were initially 'revealed' in April, after notorious tipster Evan Blass outed HTC's Google-branded, Android N − now Android 7.0 Nougat − flagships.

The larger of the two phones was later the subject of a revealing benchmark test leak. The Geekbench findings pointed toward the Marlin version as having a Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core processor, 4GB of RAM, a 5.5in QHD AMOLED display and a 3450mAh battery. The report also noted that the device will offer either 32GB or 128GB of internal storage across two variants.

On the feature side, a 12 megapixel rear camera and 8 megapixel front-facing camera were mooted, alongside a rear-mounted fingerprint similar to the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X.

Google Nexus Sailfish, on the other hand, is expected to maintain the same design with an aluminium build and feature list of its bigger brother, but drop the screen down to a 5in 1080p panel and reduce the battery capacity to 2770mAh.