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Motorola vows to release lightning-fast flagship phones in 2020

Motorola vows to release lightning-fast flagship phones in 2020

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Moto will include Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon processors in upcoming devices

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Photo by Jon Porter / The Verge

Motorola hasn’t produced an Android smartphone with flagship, top-tier specs over the last couple years. But during today’s introduction of Qualcomm’s latest processors, the company said that’s going to change in 2020. Motorola has already revealed the modernized Razr with a folding screen, but it features a midrange processor compared to 2019’s best and fastest phones. Still, the Razr is definitely a step up in design and overall concept than your typical Moto G-series phone.

And future Motorola devices will include the Snapdragon 865 and 765 platforms. “Thanks to the new technologies announced today, we’ll have new premium products to announce in early 2020,” Motorola’s Sergio Buniac said onstage at the Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii. Motorola plans to globally launch products with the 765 (which offers integrated 5G connectivity), and has vowed to release the “fastest phone on Qualcomm’s flagship platform.” So that one will have the 865 processor. Motorola is promising 5G speeds exceeding 5Gbps, which is far beyond we’ve seen in real-world testing. So take that with a grain of salt.

Motorola also noted at today’s event that the company has remained profitable for five consecutive quarters, evidence that its current strategy — offering competitive phones at prices far below the typical cost of flagships — is resonating with consumers. But clearly Moto wants to prove that it can innovate on performance while keeping its business on a good trajectory. Just don’t expect these high-end phones to come in at Motorola’s usual wallet-friendly prices. The $1,499 Razr already marked a big departure from that.

We could find out more about Motorola’s 2020 lineup at Mobile World Congress in late February, if not sooner.