Nexus 9 Rumor Roundup: Everything We Think We Know

It's been a long time since we've had a Nexus tablet. 2013's Nexus 7 was a wonderful if underpowered little device, and there hasn't been a bigger version since 2012's Nexus 10. But a newcomer is almost certainly on the way soon, a 9-inch tab that could be the best of both worlds.

Who's making it?

Up to this point Google has anointed ASUS and Samsung with Nexus tablet status, but all signs point to HTC this time around.

It's an interesting choice; HTC's last tablet was the Flyer, a 7-incher that came out back in 2011, cost $500 at launch, and ran Android Gingerbread 2.0 out of the box. It wasn't exactly a success, and as a result HTC has stayed out of the tablet game entirely. But while it's been a while since HTC tried its hand at a tablet, its design sense has come a long, long way in those intervening years. It's about time to try again.

Reports from the WSJ, The Verge, and Android Police all point to HTC as the maker of the Nexus 9. And if that wasn't quite enough to convince you, Nvidia explicitly mentions an HTC Nexus 9 in some legal documents that surfaced as part of a patent battle with Qualcomm. Andan HTC device just recently passed through the FCC.

Design

The most we have to go on for looks come from a render from Android Police, created from some (pretty bad photos of) leaked product materials. The leaked press materials show the Nexus 9 looking very iPad mini-y from the front, with some very Nexus 5-ish styling on the back.

Price

According to the big Android Police leak, the Nexus 9 could be a $400 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model, and $500 for its bigger 32GB cousin. That sounds like a lot compared to the $230 Nexus 7, but it's on par with the original Nexus 10 and the retina iPad mini (despite being bigger). It's also $100 cheaper than 10-inchers like the Galaxy Tab S, Xperia Z2, and iPad Air that all start at $500 for 16GB.

Availability

Soon and very soon. Reports from the WSJ and The Verge suggest its release is imminent, and those leaked Nvidia legal docs point to a Q3 release which would put it somewhere at the end of this month. Android Police's leak, on the other hand, puts the release at early Q4. A few hard dates have bubbled up—including October 8th and October 16th—but neither come from especially reliable sources.

That the Nexus 9 is coming very soon is almost certain though. The final launch of Android L is due for this fall, and it would make perfect sense for the Nexus 9 to accompany it. Not to mention that the Nexus 7 has been out of stock on the Play Store for months now.

We're definitely due for a new Nexus tablet, and if the rumors are right it looks like the Nexus 9 could land with a serious splash. And considering that Google has established something of a habit of announcing its new Nexus devices in a flurry of press releases with no accompanying event, you can expect it any day now.