Recently, Google held a Nexus Open Studio event in New York City where it invited Nexus fanboys and lovers to have a look at various Android experiments, sticker printers, and hang out with Googlers and engineers who work on Nexus products.

Surprisingly, the engineers and Googlers were also pretty open about answering questions related to the Nexus lineup. For us folks who were not present at the event, a Redditor sylocheed has summed up the questions asked to Google regarding the Nexus lineup and their answer to it. The Q&A reveal some really interesting tidbits about the Nexus 5X, 6P and even previous Nexus devices.

While it is widely known that the design and development of a smartphone takes around a couple of years, the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X were made by Google, LG and Huawei in a mere seven months. Considering that both these phones are not based on any existing flagship from either of these companies, this is definitely a big deal and is an indicator of how hard the companies worked on it.

The Q&A session also revealed how seriously Google was regarding the design of the Nexus 6P. As per one Nexus engineer, there were people who were taking out 6P samples “fresh of the bead blasting manufacturing line, running over to a window, and scrutinizing the way the light played off the surface.” Overall, manufacturing a single Nexus 6P unit involves 80 different steps, and the chamfer that wraps around the visor at the back of the handset is actually an industry first. So, the next time you think that Google is not serious about its Nexus lineup, think again. 

When questioned about the Nexus 6, which was a huge disappointment after the success of the Nexus 5, Googlers and Nexus engineers at the event revealed that the OEM they were actually working with backed out at the last minute, which led Google to go with Motorola for the Nexus 6. The engineers also learnt a lot of lesson from the Nexus 6, including the fact that its huge dimensions and weight made it very difficult to use. Interestingly, they even noted that the phone used to spin around when one tried to use it on a table, which was perhaps the worst issue with the device.

Interestingly, a product manager at Google also revealed during the event that the 12.3MP shooter on the Nexus 6P and 5X was actually taken from Sony’s digital camera bin and not from the smartphone bin. The explanations and revelations from various Nexus engineers also seemed to suggest that OEMs cannot really chose any sensor they want to use in their smartphone. They must have enough sales volume to convince Sony since getting the sensor to work with the handset requires Sony to dedicate a team of engineers as well. The Japanese company was also initially apprehensive of giving its IMX277 sensor to Google since it was very costly, but Google finally managed to convince them.

There were a lot of other revelations and tidbits revealed by Googlers and Nexus engineers at the event. Do make sure to hit the source button below and go through them if you are a Nexus fanboy.