While Motorola has put out a number of budget phones in 2021, so far it has neglected the higher end of the market. That’s about to change with the Motorola Edge 2, according to one tipster with a very strong track record of getting things right.
Leaker Evan Blass says that Motorola is planning to launch no fewer than four follow ups to last year’s Motorola Edge handset with the codenames Pstar, Kyoto, Berlin and a US twist on the Berlin model.
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The version of Berlin for the U.S. market will apparently be exclusive to Verizon, which is perhaps no surprise given last year’s Motorola Edge Plus phone was also limited to the carrier. It will allegedly be a 6.78-inch device with 120Hz 2,460 x 1,080 display and triple-camera array led by a 108MP main sensor. Apparently powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 778G SoC, it will allegedly come with either 6- or 8GB RAM and be available with 128- or 256GB of storage.
The battery capacity is listed at 5,000mAh which is the main point of difference between it and the global Berlin handset, which comes with a 4,000mAh cell and a slightly smaller 6.67-inch 2,400 x 1,080 screen. This version will also include a 3x optical zoom in its camera array, while the U.S. variant has a 2MP macro lens instead.
The best specced version listed is the Pstar model. This reportedly comes with the superior Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor, as well as 6-, 8- or 12GB of RAM and either 128- or 256GB storage. The triple-camera array will supposedly have a 108MP main lens, with a secondary 16MP sensor for wide-angle and macro shots with an 8MP 5x zoom telephoto lens thrown in for good measure. According to Blass, it's another 6.67-inch device, with the same 2,400 x 1,080 120Hz panel as Berlin.
Finally, there’s the cheapest model: Kyoto. No size is given for this, but it will reportedly pack the same 2,400 x 1,080 resolution, albeit at 90Hz instead of 120. Qualcomm is substituting for MediaTek here with the Dimensity 720 chipset running the show, backed up by 6- or 8GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage, says Blass. There’s apparently still a triple camera array, once again led by a 108MP main lens, but there’s no telephoto zoom here. The whole thing is powered by a large 5,000mAh battery.
While Blass doesn’t give a release date, it’s notable that the original Motorola Edge handsets launched more than a year ago in May 2020, so it seems likely that Motorola will have something to announce soon. With mid-range specs across the board, a lot will depend on the final prices, but hopefully the handsets will be appealing enough to earn a place on our list of the best phones you can buy.
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