Google Assistant Rumoured to Arrive on Nexus 5X, 6P With Next Major Android Update

It seems Google is finally prepared to roll out Google Assistant to non-Pixel smartphones, if a new tip is to be believed. The company is rumoured to rollout Google Assistant to Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P soon in the next major Android update.

Google back in October 2016 had confirmed to Gadgets 360 that it planned to bring the Google Assistant feature to other phones, though not reveal any timeline.

The new tip comes from Stephen Hall of 9to5Google who tweeted the details. In a tweet, Hall said, "Was recently told that Assistant is finally coming to Nexus 5X/ 6P soon with next "major" update."

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Hall further points out that the Nexus Player will also receive Assistant citing a Googler. Though, this is not surprising considering Google last month had confirmed plans to bring Google Assistant to supported Android TV devices in the US through an update in coming months.

Google Assistant, the company's new voice-based virtual assistant, made its debut on Google Allo and then on the company's Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, and has been marketed as the biggest highlight of the new hardware. Since its debut, the new Assistant has been promoted as a voice assistant that ups the competition against the likes of Apple's Siri, which arguably has improved over steadily the years, and Microsoft's Cortana.

Google Assistant, similar to Google Now, is present on the home screen and can be launched by a long-press on the home button. It will come with AI smarts and will be able to contextualise the information it digs up through earlier interactions with the user. While Google may not have revealed plans to bring the feature to non-Pixel devices for now, but there are ways users with Android Nougat running on their devices can use the Assistant. It works with rooted smartphones, as well as those sporting a custom recovery.