HTC Marlin, Sailfish price details leaked; to debut with non-Nexus moniker

Google's HTC-made smartphones code-named Marlin and Sailfish were rumoured to make a debut along with Android v7.0 Nougat last week, but the plan never materialised. Now the price, interface and branding details of the devices have surfaced online. 

HTC Sailfish, which is reported to come with modest hardware such as 5.2-inch full HD (1920x1080p) display, Android Nougat, Snapdragon 820 CPU, 13MP primary camera, 8MP front snapper and 2,700mAh, will cost $450 (approx. €404/RS. 30,195).

Its bigger phablet sibling, HTC Marlin, which is said to feature 5.7-inch QHD (2560x1440p) screen, Snapdragon 820 processor, Android N, 13MP shooter on the back, 8MP camera on the front and a 3,450mAh cell, will set you back by $600 (roughly €538/Rs. 40,260), Nexus Blog reported citing HTC insiders.

The prices are in line with the Nexus series phone launched in India last year, but what's surprising is that Google has completely restructured branding of the the upcoming devices.

This year, the search engine giant is said to have ditched the Nexus moniker, and despite HTC being the manufacturer, there will not be any space for the company's name on the devices. Instead they are said to come with "Google" engraved on the front-top and on the back-centre, Android Central reported, citing people familiar with Google's plan.

It has also come to light that Google has tweaked the interface and added exclusive softwares of its own to the phones. This is unprecedented, as the main attraction of the Nexus series phones has been their clean UI with no junk ware. If this really turns out to be true, Google phones will lose their edge over other Android phones in the market.

There is no word on what made Google plan such a radical step. We will get to know more in coming days, as the company is expected to announce HTC-made Google phones around September. 

Stay tuned for more updates.

Expected specifications of HTC Sailfish and Marlin: