Motorola leak suggests its new affordable flagship phone may launch soon

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By David Lumb
published

The Moto G100 may be a Moto Edge S in all but name.

Moto Edge S
(Image credit: Motorola)

The Moto Edge S launched in China earlier this year, though we didn’t know when it would come elsewhere. But a new set of leaks suggests it’ll be renamed and released as the Moto G100 when it reaches other markets.

The leaks didn’t say when that would happen, but images courtesy of TechnikNews and XDA Developers’ Adam Conway show renders of Moto G100 phones that look a lot like the Moto Edge S.

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Just to be clear: the image at the top of the article is an official Motorola press photo of the Moto Edge S, while those in the leaks above are allegedly the Moto G100. They seem to have the same rear quad camera, dual punch-hole selfie camera on the front display, and wide slightly-recessed lock button on the side (which likely doubles as a fingerprint sensor a la the Moto G Stylus). 

It’s entirely possible that the leaks accidentally misnamed the former as the latter, but if it’s true, we’ll finally have an explanation for the G100 name that’s cropped up elsewhere without much detail as to what role that phone will occupy.

Moto G100: today’s flagship with yesterday’s specs?

While the G100 was named in a list of unreleased devices referenced by Google in its Play Store For AR/ARCore documentation, we still haven’t heard anything about the phone by that name. Assuming the G100 is a renamed Moto Edge S, we know a lot more.

For starters, the Edge S packs a Snapdragon 870 (basically a repackaged version of last year’s leading Snapdragon 865 chipset with tweaks for launching 5G phones), a large Full HD Plus resolution display with 90Hz refresh rate, a 5,000mAh battery, 5G connectivity, and a quad rear camera fronted by a 64MP main lens. 

The Edge S base configuration packs 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for CNY 1,999 (around $309 /  £220 / AU$399), going up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for CNY 2,799 (around $433 / £310 /  AU$559). 

Of course, these prices could change, especially given its nearly flagship specs for mid-range prices. With the affordable G10 Power and the higher-specced Moto G30 on sale now in select regions, and the Moto G40 allegedly on its way, we could see the Edge S/Moto G100 as an upper mid-range or affordable flagship-priced model released this year for markets that aren’t familiar with the Moto Edge branding. 

David Lumb
David Lumb

David is now a mobile reporter at Cnet. Formerly Mobile Editor, US for TechRadar, he covered phones, tablets, and wearables. He still thinks the iPhone 4 is the best-looking smartphone ever made. He's most interested in technology, gaming and culture – and where they overlap and change our lives. His current beat explores how our on-the-go existence is affected by new gadgets, carrier coverage expansions, and corporate strategy shifts.