What you need to know
- Motorola is reportedly beefing up its newly minted premium range of phones with two new options.
- Both new 5G phones feature 90Hz waterfall OLED displays.
- One phone features upper-mid-range specs, while the other phone appears to be the rumored premium Verizon-exclusive Motorola Edge+.
Waterfall displays have gotten quite popular in the past year and they've garnered some pretty strong opinions on both sides of the fence. Motorola seems to be in the camp that loves trendy screen tech, as evidenced by the recently launched Motorola RAZR foldable phone, and is rumored to be launching two new 5G phones with waterfall displays. While these phones won't be folding up the way a new RAZR does, the edges of the screen appear to "crest" and run over the sides, hence the appropriately named waterfall display.
In a trio of images sent to XDA-Developers, you can see a pretty clear resemblance to many flagship phones like the Huawei Mate 30 Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S10. Curved sides and a punch-hole camera are familiar, but the volume rocker on the right side makes it a little more unique when compared to other phones with a waterfall display. The other big deal in this design is the refresh rate of these curved OLED panels, which sits at a smooth 90Hz with a resolution of 1080p+ (2340 x 1080).
Above, you'll see images for Racer, the code-name for one of the two phones in this leak. This model is the more mid-range of the two, sporting a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 SoC, 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and a 4,660mAh battery. The second model, code-named Burton, ups the ante with a Snapdragon 865 SoC, options for 8GB or 12GB of RAM, and a 5,169mAh battery. Both of these phones are rumored to be announced at MWC 2020 in just a few weeks and are slated to ship with Android 10, unlike the Motorola RAZR which is still on Android 9 Pie as of the launch of the device.
These leaks also suggest that Motorola will be naming the Racer model Motorola One 5G 2020, while Burton could be named Motorola Edge+. If that name sounds familiar to you, it's because it got leaked a few weeks ago and was rumored to be a Verizon-exclusive model. Knowing Motorola, it's likely the Verizon variant of this phone will keep the Edge+ moniker, while the unlocked version will be slightly different and will carry a Motorola One 2020 name, instead.
The leak also includes a trio of new features Motorola is said to be announcing, but the only feature likely to be exclusive to these two new phones is the Moto Edge Assistant:
Moto Edge Assistant: An application to customize tap actions on the curved edges. The user can customize the edge area to minimize unintended actions, or they can customize a double-tap gesture to launch certain shortcuts such as switching between applications.Moto Gametime: An application to provide quick access to certain tools and settings to improve your mobile gaming experience. You can either tap a floating button or swipe in from one of the sides to access the toolbar. The toolbar can contain up to 2 application shortcuts that open in freeform multi-window mode when launched. In the settings of Moto Gametime, the user can choose to block notifications or incoming calls from interrupting gameplay, and the user can also lock the brightness level to prevent unintended adjustments from the auto-brightness.Moto Audio: An audio-tuning app that can automatically adjust the audio profile to best match the current content. For example, the voice profile can boost voice clarity during calls or voice recordings. The user can create profiles for audio accessories connected via Bluetooth or USB-C, or they can pick from existing profiles such as ones for gaming, movies, or music.
Close the deal
Motorola is bringing back the flip phone with its new Motorola RAZR, a premium-priced phone that's sure to turn heads.
