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In the last year, Motorola has nailed the budget smartphone, with the impressive Moto G annihilating its competition. What we haven't seen is a high-end phone to compete with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S5, but that's all set to change with the launch of the Moto X+1. Now owned by Lenovo, the Moto X+1 will be the first phone from the company since it was sold off by Google earlier this year. We're taking a look at all of the recent leaks and rumours to see what's in store for us.
Release date
We really don't have long to wait, with Motorola sending out invites to an official product unveiling in Chicago on the 4th September, just a day after Samsung unveils the Galaxy Note 4 in Berlin. The invite, which looks like a paper fortune teller, also hints at other devices that could be launched. These include the amazing-looking Moto 360 smartwatch, the Moto G2 and something that looks like a Bluetooth earphone.
Design
Design-wise Motorola has strayed too far from the Moto X or Moto G, with a similar curved back and neat rounded corners. The phone has been leaked in full by @evleaks, showing off the various versions of the handset. As well as the standard black version, there's also going to be a white-faced version with a wooden rear panel. We quite like what we've seen from the leaked photos, although we'd like to see it in the flesh before we make a final judgement.
There's a rumour that the rather prominent logo on the back is actually a power button, similar to on the LG G3. We'll have to wait until the phone's unveiled to find out for sure, though.
Display
For a new high-end phone, we'd expect the handset to have at least a Full HD screen, which the Moto X (released in the UK this year) didn't have. It look as though we're set to get that, with leaks pointing to a 1,920x1,080 resolution.
Then, the resolution of the new phone appeared to be confirmed by Punit Soni, VP of product management at Motorola. He posted on Google+ about an update coming to the Moto G, which would let people disable the carrier name at the top of the screen. Posting a screenshot of the new software, people spotted that the photo had a Full HD resolution, which isn't available on any current Motorola phone.
Specs
Specs for what appears to the Moto X+1 have been leaked on GFXBench under the codename XT1097. This lists the phone as having a 5.2in 1,920x1,080 screen, a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 SoC, 2GB of RAM and a 12-megapixel camera.
A later leak seemed to suggest that the handset would have a faster Snapdragon 801 SoC. We hope that this latter information is correct, as the Snapdragon 800 is getting a little old now. There's also allegedly a built-in pedometer, so we wonder how this might tie into features on the Moto 360 or the strange Bluetooth device displayed on the invite.
TK Tech News has posted a hands-on video of the smartphone, showing that it may have four sensors in the front of the screen. Rumours were that this was for Moto Aware, which would dynamically change settings based on location, and other inputs, such as ambient sound and light. However, that may not be the case, as PhoneArena has reported that Apple has moved to block this feature, as it holds a patent for similar functions.There's a chance that the sensors could be used for a pseudo-3D interface on the handset, but we're going to have to wait a couple of days to find out for sure.
Price
The Moto X+1 has been seen on sale at AT&T for $400, although the post was taken offline pretty quickly. In the UK we're expecting the phone to cost a similar amount to the Moto X, which should work out at around £300 SIM-free, plus free on contract from all of the UK carriers.
