Motorola could be preparing to launch a new flagship phone in the form of the Motorola Nio. We gather together all the rumours about what specs it may contain and when you should be able to buy it in the shops.
While Motorola has yet to confirm the existence of the Nio, some reports are tentatively saying that the new flagship could arrive in the first quarter of 2021. If the device appears in March, as some suspect, then that would be six months after the last flagship from Motorola, the Razr 5G.
Since Nio is a codename, it’s possible Motorola won’t use this as the final name for the phone. There’s a chance it could be the Edge S – a follow up to the Moto Edge – although little is known about this other than it will use a Snapdragon 800 series chip.
How much will the Motorola Nio cost?
There are no details on cost at the time of writing, but the leaked specs covered below suggest that it won’t be anywhere near as expensive as the Razr 5G nor will it be as cheap as the current Moto G models. So, this means it should probably sit in the mid-tier range that costs between £400/$400 and £700/$700.
What features and specifications will Motorola include in the Nio?
Famed tech leaker Evan Blass recently reported that the Motorola President, Sergio Buniac, announced at the recent Qualcomm Tech Summit Digital 2020 event that his company would be delivering a new Moto G device that featured a Snapdragon 800 processor.
There are yet more leaked images, this time ‘live’ ones (as in real life photos) showing the phone very clearly. It matches up with other leaked renders and the information about the phone. They come via Weibo and Nils Ahrensmeier who isn’t sure whether it’s the Nio or the Edge S but it will come in two colours: Sky which is shown and also ‘Beryl’
Further leaks from other sources say that this will in fact be the Snapdragon 865, which also appears in the Samsung Galaxy S20, Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro, Sony Xperia 1 II, OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro alongside several other premium devices. One of the main advantages of this processor is that it is 5G compatible, which will be a mainstay of most mid and higher-tier handsets going forward.
To partner this, there will very likely be 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The Battery size is rumoured to be 5,000mAh, which is generous, and it will run Android 11 out of the box.
The Nio (XT2125-4) has now been spotted (via GSMArena) on Geekbench 5 with 8GB of RAM and an octa-core Qualcomm processor. It was spotted alongside the Motorola Capri and Capri Plus.
It’s also been spotted on both the FCC and TUV Rheinland certification databases with specs such as 5G connectivity, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth low energy, a 5,000mAh battery and 20W fast charging.
Perhaps the most curious rumours are about the display. In the leaked image Evan Blass posted of the Nio, there are two punch-hole apertures for selfie cameras, which is something we saw in the Moto G 5G Plus, with the combination offering a 12MP f/2.0 main camera and a 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide.
GSMArena is reporting that the twin cameras will be an 8MP and 16MP combination, with the latter an ultrawide. There will also be three lenses on the back, offering a 64MP main shooter, 16MP Ultrawide, and 2MP depth sensor.
Other rumours from Adam Conway on XDA Developers, report that Motorola is working on a new device with a 6.7in 2520 x 1080 display running at 105Hz. This, again, is unusual as the standard refresh rates are 60Hz, 90Hz and 120Hz. Current thoughts are that it will be an adaptive display that can switch between refresh rates depending on the apps being used. Either way, it’s a first for the Motorola Nio if the rumours turn out to be true.
Obviously, we’ll update this article as more news becomes available, but if you don’t want to wait until the Motorola Nio arrives, look at our roundup of the best Android phones to see what’s available right now.
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