Verizon will carry two upcoming Nexus smartphones, but the carrier may rename the handsets.

Google is said to be working on a couple of Nexus devices: codenamed Marlin with 5.5-inch screen and Sailfish with either 5-inch or 5.2-inch display. There's a possibility that HTC will manufacture both of the phones.

A slew of mobile phones have been launched in 2016, but the next-gen Nexus devices remain among the most-anticipated devices of this year. Marlin and Sailfish are expected to be widely available in the U.S. and other regions, but the Verizon version may have a different name.

A tweet from well-known leakster Evan Blass, more commonly known by his Twitter handle @evleaks, hints that Verizon may either rename the next Nexus devices or even remove the brand name Nexus from the device versions for its network.

Verizon is going to carry the two "Nexus" handsets (note the quotation marks).

— Evan Blass (@evleaks) 5 August 2016

This is not the first time Verizon has renamed a smartphone. The carrier's Moto Droids phones are known by other names in the market.

Normally, Nexus devices are released with stock Android. As Blass' tweet is not very clear, it may also happen that the Verizon version of the Nexus devices will include carrier's bloatware.

New Nexus devices are the first to come running on Google's latest mobile operating system. The Marlin and the Sailfish will be the first to run on Android 7.0 Nougat. A Tech Times report suggests that the upcoming Nexus devices will also rock a new launcher, which will not include an App Drawer icon.

Google unveiled two smartphones in September 2015: the Nexus 6P and the Nexus 5X. Although Google has not confirmed any details of the next-gen Nexus devices, they should be launched sometime in September.

Previous rumors suggest that the Marlin and the Sailfish will run on Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 or Snapdragon 821 processor.

Marlin, which will have better specs than the Sailfish, is speculated to have a metal body. In 2016, many smartphones including the OnePlus 3, ZTE Axon 7 and more have been launched with 6 GB of RAM. Nexus fans will hope that Marlin will include 6 GB of RAM to boost performance. The Nexus phone is also expected to feature a 3,450 mAh battery.

The Sailfish is said to have a plastic body and a smaller 2,770 mAh battery. Rumors regarding the two Nexus handsets should be taken with a pinch of salt.

It remains to be seen if Verizon will tweak any hardware specs for the Nexus devices to be launched on the carrier this year.

Photo: Karlis Dambrans | Flickr