The Motorola Edge 30 Ultra may launch in January, according to a new leak, and pack a Snapdragon 898 chipset – potentially beating the Samsung Galaxy S22 to the market as the first Android flagship phone of 2022 powered by Qualcomm’s next top-level silicon.
We’ve heard rumors suggesting Motorola may be among the first to launch a Snapdragon 898-powered phone, but this new leak from TechnikNews’ Nils Ahrensmeier also includes a bunch of alleged specs along with a model name: the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra, which presumably follows the Motorola Edge 20 Lite and Motorola Edge 20 Pro that came to scattered markets in 2021.
The leak cites an anonymous source claiming that the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra (model number “XT-2201” and internally codenamed “Rogue”) will pack a Snapdragon chipset with a model number of SM8540 – which correlates with the Snapdragon 898 silicon. To be clear, Qualcomm hasn’t officially named the chipset yet, so it could end up being named the Snapdragon 895, but it seems unlikely that the company would revert back to its number convention after switching to the Snapdragon 888 for 2021.
SCOOP: Motorola is planning to launch a new Flagship Device this Winter. Code-named “Rogue”, the device is going to launch as Motorola Edge 30 Ultra in Europe and presumably Motorola Edge X in China. All Specs, thx to a source: https://t.co/sJhWPa0C9bNovember 8, 2021
In any case, the leak claims plenty of other specs, including that two of the three rear shooters will be 50MP cameras (the main and ultrawide) along with a 2MP sensor; the front-facing camera will be 60MP. It will also pack a speedy 68W charger and 5,000mAh battery.
The other revealed specs paint a picture of a phone that’s fast but not the most powerful handset on the market: either 8GB or 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, 128GB or 256GB of storage, a 6.67-inch Full HD Plus display with 144Hz refresh rate, an IP 52 water- and dust-resistance rating and Android 12 out of the box.
Analysis: beating Samsung to the flagship market?
Motorola has re-entered the flagship phone market with the Motorola Edge series of phones over the last few years, but hasn’t made much of an impact. Over the last year or so, its top-tier devices have come out at irregular intervals and not in all markets, leading to a fragmented release strategy scattering its phones across varying regions – and few globally-available handsets.
Further, Motorola has often made slight tweaks to its phones and releasing them under new names in other markets. Those alterations are made to better appeal to local consumers, Motorola insists. Thus, we can’t predict where the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra named in the leak will be sold or if it will come out with these specs in every market.
But if it does come out around the same time as the Samsung Galaxy S22 (which a recent rumor claims will be launched in February), the Motorola Edge 30 Ultra could rival flagship Android phones with its cameras and fast recharging – both areas which have been lacking in the brand’s previous top phones. We’ll have to see if more info confirms these leaks as the launch window approaches – and given its overlap with CES 2022 in early January, we could see Motorola’s next flagship officially revealed at the big tech show.