We just learned the first details about Google’s next phone

Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech Insider

If some of the most accurate gadget leakers are to be believed, HTC will be making Google's line of Nexus smartphones.

Google's Nexus smarpthones are revered because they're sold cheaper than the top competiting Android smartphones while matching or even exceeding their performance.

They also run the pure version of Android, meaning they don't come with a phone maker's "skin" running on top of Android that can sometimes change the looks of the operating system, as well as clog up the performance of the device.

Nexus devices are also sold unlocked directly from Google, which means they don't come with the undesirable manufacturer and carrier apps, or "bloatware," that phones from Samsung and LG come with.

According to Evan Blass, who has an excellent track record with gadget leaks, "HTC is building a pair of Android N devices for Google internally dubbed M1 and S1."

He put his scoop on Twitter:

—Evan Blass (@evleaks) April 27, 2016

Android Police, a website dedicated to Android that The Verge claims has been "on fire with accurate Android leaks for some time now," reinforces Blass' leak with its own analysis, stating that the codenames for the HTC Nexus devices are likely to be "Marlin" for the M1, and "Sailfish" for the S1. That lines up nicely with the fact that Google codenames its devices after aquatic wildlife.

HTC was also the first smarpthone maker to make the make the first model of Google's Nexus One device back in 2010.

Indeed, benchmark results for a device codenamed "Marlin" with the latest and most powerful smartphone specs, including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 and 4GB of RAM, were also recently leaked by Chinese site MyDrivers.com.

However, the same benchmark results also throws us off a little, as the model name of the same benchmarked device is listed as Google Nexus 6P, which is made by Huawei and was released last September. The current Nexus 6P runs on the Snapdragon 810 and has 3GB of RAM. 

It's hard to tell what's going on here. It could be a revamp of the original Nexus 6P that Google and Huawei are planning to release, as the Nexus 6P is comparatively underpowered compared to the latest Android smartphone releases like the LG G5, HTC 10, and the Samsung Galaxy S7. But it's unclear if or when that device would be released. 

It could also simply be a way to throw off the press.

Regardless, we do expect Google to release two new Nexus devices this year.