Motorola promised that it will start making premium smartphones again when it got on to stage at the Qualcomm Snapdragon Technology Summit late last year. The company has seen success with its mid-range phones, but a flagship product using Qualcomm’s flagship 8 series chipset was last offered in the Moto Z3. The company has committed to using the Snapdragon 865 SoC for its premium smartphone that is expected to be launched in 2020.
Today, a report by XDA Developers sheds more light on that device, along with another phone running the Snapdragon 765G 5G enabled chipset, likely to lower costs. The two phones are said to sport ‘waterfall’ displays, referring to the curved nature of the screens like the ones seen on Samsung and Huawei flagships. Interestingly, the displays will also employ a panel with a 90Hz refresh rate and 1080p resolution. The screen size is said to be 6.67-inches.
The costlier of the two devices, codenamed ‘burton’ and rumored to be called Motorola Edge+, whose name was also leaked by Evan Blass (@evleaks) on Twitter, might be headed to Verizon wireless. The device is said to come with 12GB RAM and house a punch-hole cutout for the front-facing camera.
The Snapdragon 765G sporting mid-ranger, codenamed ‘racer 5G’, is expected to come with 6GB of RAM and a 4,660 mAh battery. Both devices are expected to come with 5G capabilities owing to the chipsets used. The company was one of the first to offer a 5G powered smartphone, albeit through the way of a mod.
The report suggests that the devices will be sold under the ‘Motorola One’ moniker outside of Verizon Wireless. The 765G version will likely be named the ‘Motorola One 5G 2020’, while the Snapdragon 865 totting device might be named Motorola One 2020’. The report expresses ambiguity with regards to the naming scheme, so it is best not to speculate currently.
The ‘One’ series of devices are specialty devices that come with at least one unique feature/capability. For example, the One Action houses a dedicated ‘Action Cam”. The report hints at a ‘Moto Edge Assitant’ feature that leverages the curved screens for special tasks, so it is to be seen if either of the devices market these functions as that one unique feature.
Motorola is expected to take to the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2020 stage to unveil its flagship offerings in 2020. It is also expected that the company will launch the Moto G8 and a pen-equipped smartphone.