Speculations suggest that HTC will be the co-maker of this year's new Nexus editions and that the upcoming flagships will feature top-of-the-line specs like the new Snapdragon 821 chipset and Android Nougat right out of the box.
According to KnowYourMobile, the success of the current-gen Nexus 5X and 6P is one tough act to follow with just the launch of a new Android platform, so this year's Nexus lineup should come out with top-tier specs and premium features.
While Google has yet to confirm the specs sheet for the new Nexus iterations, having a premium Snapdragon processor inside them is already a given. However, since most of recently-released flagships already have Snapdragon 820 chipsets, Google and HTC needs to step up their game, and it is expected that the Nexus 2016 flagships will have SD 821 processors. While having the same architecture as the SD 820, the newer chipset is clocked with higher speeds, and therefore performs better.
Meanwhile, the Nexus lineup being Google's flagship for its Android platform, it is already expected that the 2016 Nexus iterations will come out with a full version of Android Nougat. While the new version is still in its dev preview, Google has already laid out a roadmap schedule that places the release of Android N sometime next month. This also coincides with rumors that HTC and Google are targeting an August launch for the 2016 Nexus devices.
Although both companies have yet to officially announce the 2016 Nexus lineups, previous supposed leaks of iterations codenamed "Marlin" and "Sailfish" have already made their way online. The most recent one reports that both iterations may have already been in production, as supposed renders for both devices are starting to show up.
Aside from an SD 821 chipset and Android Nougat platform, not much are known on the 2016 Nexus devices, though if the HTC's latest flagship the HTC 10 is any indication, Nexus fans can expect top-notch features from the 2016 editions.
