Following the company’s unveiling of the OnePlus 2 last night, Motorola have today unveiled the Moto X Style and Moto X Play, with the former being their brand new flagship smartphone that will be a tantalizing prospect for Android fans.
The Moto X Style is an improvement upon all of the major complaints users had with the original Moto X, including a heavily improved battery life – Motorola claims it can run for up to two full days with its “fastest-charging battery ever” – and a 21 megapixel camera with dual LED flash that is intended to rival that of the iPhone 6’s. Speaking of the iPhone 6, the Moto X Style packs a quad-HD, 5.7-inch screen in a frame that is supposedly thinner than the Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus. It’ll also boast a microSD slot, which is something that we never thought we’d have to get excited about in the past, but now we do.
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But aside from its impressive specs, the Moto X Style has shot onto our radar for a whole ‘nother reason. During the Motorola event unveiling the flagship device, the company announced that it would come pre-unlocked, meaning that upon purchasing it the user won’t be tied to one specific carrier. Motorola is calling it the “Pure Edition” phone, and the company not forcing its users to be locked into a contract could, depending upon the success of the device, potentially see other manufacturers following suit.
This ‘Pure Edition’ will run on Android Lollipop 5.1.1, which will do away with bloatware and, as the name suggests, will be an altogether more pure take on the Lollipop operating system. The device itself will be available in a selection of designs, from leathers to colored plastics, meaning that it will include a large range of options of materials and colors to choose from.
The Moto X Style will be available in the US in September on Motorola.com, Amazon and Best Buy, with it retailing for $399.
Moto X Play and Moto G
Motorola also used the event to announce the Moto X Play and Moto G, two more smartphone options that occupy the both the middle- and low-budget ends of the spectrum.
The Moto X Play is a small step-up from the Moto X, with slightly increased specification and a serviceable redesign. It’ll feature a 1080p 5.5-inch screen, so slightly smaller than that of the Style, but will feature a 21MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera, along with a huge 3630mAh battery. Though Motorola didn’t state the exact pricing of the Play, the company did say that it would retail for $300 – $400 less than the flagship phones of their rivals. Unfortunately, while the smartphone will be available in Europe, Canada and Latin countries, it will not be available in the US when it goes on sale in August.
On the other hand, the new Moto G is set to be an upgrade to Motorola’s highly popular budget phone, and will retail for the incredibly reasonable price of $179.
