Motorola's 2016 Moto X to feature all-metal body, leaked renders reveal

[Shawn Knight]

Motorola appears to be the next major handset maker to adopt an all-metal design. After an image of a prototype leaked back in December, we’re now being treated to a handful of renderings that show an all-new look for the 2016 Moto X.

Google+ user hellomotoHK has posted three images it says are of the new Moto X. Aside from the all-metal body, there appears to be a sizable camera “bump” on the rear, a fingerprint reader on the front as well as a series of curious dots that may indicate an active display (the ability to wave your hand to wake up the device, for example).

The Lenovo-owned company surely wouldn’t go the gimmick route that Amazon attempted with the 3D “dynamic perspective” on its Fire phone in 2014, right? I only mention it because the placement of the dots is very similar.

Also on the rear of the device is a series of 16 gold dots. Some publications are labeling this as a speaker grill but to me, it looks more like a docking or charging connector of some sorts.

As for what sort of hardware the device will pack, we’re still unsure. A purported benchmark surfaced last month of a device labeled the Motorola XT1650 which could be the Moto X. The test revealed a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 SoC and 4GB of RAM, among other goodies.

Lenovo is expected to unveil 2016 Motorola-branded flagship handsets on June 9.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/64745-motorola-2016-moto-x-feature-all-metal-body.html

 

[Julio Franco]

Moto X's are usually really good phones, but that square home button... that's ugly.

 

[TadMSTR]

Moto X's are usually really good phones, but that square home button... that's ugly.

Lenovo is destroying the Moto design in favor of their ugly Lenovo design.

 

[BingoFishy]

Woah... That looks really bad.

Personally, I want the same design as last year, but with an 820, better battery life, fingerprint sensor on the "M" dimple, and improved camera (not that the current one is bad). A 1080p Super AMOLED screen (same size). I don't want a massive camera bump, square home button, and ugly gold thing on the back. Nor do I want a full metal build.

I've been waiting for the Moto X 2016 and I'll be disappointed if this is what it turns out being.

 

[amghwk]

Sigh...I wish they stop cloning another iPhone.

All metal body...the square button meant to compete with the circle of the iPhones... sheesh...

And I also wish tech reviewers won't long for unibody/all-metal-body craze. It's as though it's not a trendy or expensive phone for them if it's not built so...

There was nothing wrong with plastic... Note3, Note4... and their ability to change batteries and microSDs with ease.

When a unibody / all metal phone falls, all the impact is directed towards itself. And it's not able to disperse the force elsewhere.

I've dropped my Note3 more than a few times, and the impact forces the plastic cover out and sometimes even the battery comes out, but the force doesn't damage the inner parts because of the distribution. And the phone still works, glass still intact.

 

[amghwk]

As opposed to the recent Techspot article with a broken (shiny new) S7 screen.... dropped from just about 10" high, if I'm not mistaken.