Nexus 5X, 6P Update Coming With Apple's Siri Rival Google Assistant

Hold on to your phones Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P owners. There isn’t a need for a hardware upgrade on your end, because a software update is bringing some of Google Pixel’s features to your handsets including Google Assistant.

As of late, voice-activated AI assistant Google Assistant is exclusive to Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones. But things are about to change because Google is rolling out the feature to the Nexus devices as well. 9To5Google reporter Stephen Hall recently took to Twitter to announce that he was informed about the arrival of the voice assistant to the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P via an upcoming “major” update.

Though it's a remarkable feat for Google Assistant to reach out to other handsets, it won’t be the first Pixel-exclusive feature to make it to the Nexus devices. Engadget reports that the latest update that came to the Nexus 5X already brought Pixel’s “fingerprint swipe” gesture to the handset. This feature basically allows one to swipe up and down on the fingerprint sensor to scan through notifications.

The “fingerprint swipe” feature is part of Android 7.1.2 OTA. So far, it is only available to the Nexus 5X. There isn’t a clear indication yet if this software update is coming to the Nexus 6P. However, since both the Nexus 5X and the 6P are getting Google Assistant soon, it is possible that the latter would also be getting the same Android treatment.

Meanwhile, Mashable reports the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6 are not the only devices that will be getting the special treatment from Google. Android TV via the Nexus Player and Android Wear 2.0 smartwatches are also expected to receive an update that will introduce Google Assistant to them. Even the upcoming LG G6 from Samsung’s big South Korea-based rival is also known to be getting Google’s competitor for Apple’s Siri.