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Motorola One 2020 series could include two impressive phones with 90Hz 'waterfall' displays

Published: Feb 06, 2020, 2:58 AM

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Motorola's high-end and upper mid-range One 2020 phones will share a massive curved screen

LG and ZTE's recent MWC 2020 cancellations made many people fear Barcelona would be a ghost town later this month when the latest edition of the world's largest exhibition for the mobile industry is scheduled, but as long as Motorola still plans to unveil its next mid-range and high-end phones on February 23 in the capital city of Catalonia, we have at least this one major thing to look forward to.

That's right, the Chicago-based, Lenovo-owned company has both a new mid-end handset lineupand a flagship model (at the very least) reportedly slated for MWC 2020 announcements, marking the brand's highly anticipated return to the high-end segment after nearly three years.

No, 2018's Snapdragon 835-powered Moto Z3 doesn't count, which means whatever Motorola has in the pipeline with a Snapdragon 865 processor under the hood will essentially follow in the footsteps of 2017's Snapdragon 835-powered Moto Z2 Force. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we're most likely not dealing with a Moto Z5 here, at least according to the preliminary information obtained by the folks over at XDA Developers from various trusted sources.

Two confusing names, one (almost) waterfall display

In addition to a "true" flagship packing a state-of-the-art Snapdragon 865 SoC, Motorola is also expected to release a "value 5G flagship" with an upper mid-range Snapdragon 765 chipset on deck shortly after a joint formal announcement at the 2020 Mobile World Congress.

While a lot of things are not etched in stone just yet, there seems to be a good chance the slightly humbler phone will be marketed as the Motorola One 5G 2020, with the ultra-high-end model likely to be branded simply the Motorola One 2020. That... doesn't sound like a very good idea, and we're not even thinking about 2018's instantly forgettable Motorola One mid-ranger.

Motorola One 2020 series could include two impressive phones with 90Hz 'waterfall' displays

On the bright side, the Motorola One 2020 could see daylight on Verizon under the Edge Plus label, which would certainly help the powerhouse stand out from the pack more easily. Of course, if that's the case, Big Red is likely to release the phone with 5G support, which will only add to the confusion.

Apart from an almost full and disorienting name, the handsets known on the inside as "Racer" and "Burton" are also tipped to share a curved 6.67-inch screen with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels and a 90Hz refresh rate. While it's currently unclear if Motorola plans to use the relatively new "waterfall" marketing term, it's pretty much guaranteed that the curves on this OLED display will be significantly more drastic than what you normally see on a Galaxy S or Note-series device.

We're talking something closer to what the Huawei Mate 30 Pro has going for it, but not quite all the way there. As XDA explains it, this would best be described as an 80 percent waterfall affair, which essentially means the display will wrap almost entirely around the sides of the Motorola One 5G 2020 and Motorola One 2020.

It's also worth pointing out that the images leaked today reveal a tiny hole punch in the top left corner to house a single selfie shooter with unknown resolution, while the 90Hz refresh rate will not be quite enough to challenge the display capabilities of Samsung's Galaxy S20 lineup.

Massive batteries and a lot of unanswered questions

As far as specifications are concerned, we still don't know much about Motorola's high-end and upper mid-range plans. But what's currently rumored sounds pretty exciting, starting with the 4,660mAh battery of the Snapdragon 765-powered "Racer" and the colossal 5,170mAh cell inside the Snapdragon 865-based "Burton."

The Motorola One 2020 flagship is also tipped to offer 8 and 12GB RAM options, while the Racer mid-ranger should downgrade that memory count to 6 gigs and pair it with 128GB internal storage space. While we have no shred of information on the Burton camera setup, the Racer is expected to sport a 48MP primary shooter, just like the Motorola One Vision and One Zoom.

Lastly, the two 2020 Motorola Ones will obviously run Android 10 out the box with a number of new proprietary tools included. Moto Edge Assistant is apparently an app designed to "customize tap actions on the curved edges", Moto Gametime will provide "quick access to certain tools and settings to improve your mobile gaming experience", and finally, Moto Audio is capable of "automatically adjusting" your phone's audio profile to "best match the current content." Color us intrigued!

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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.