Hello Lenovo: more clues about 2016 Motorola phones

Motorola’s phones could be getting more than a simple name change in 2016, according to Lenovo’s SVP.

Chen Xudong told Tech Sina his company has big plans for the brand, which merely starts with ditching the Motorola name for ‘Moto by Lenovo’.

Moto-made phones will be strictly high-end from now on, with nothing smaller than a 5in screen – hardly great news for anyone that likes the cheap and cheerful Moto E and older, smaller Moto G. Lenovo’s Vibe range will take over as the budget name, with no more than 15 models planned across both brands.

High-end phones need high-end features, and it looks like that’ll include fingerprint sensors. Apparently every Moto phone will have one, which could come in handy for buying things with Android Pay.

It’s not all sunshine and roses, though. Right now, Motorola’s phones have a near-stock Android interface, but Lenovo wants to ditch it by 2017.

The current plan is to merge it with Lenovo’s massively overhauled UI, which doesn’t have a lot of the things Android fans take for granted, like an app drawer. The end result would be a bit of a middle ground between the two.

The new phones will also be getting unknown design tweaks that should keep both Eastern and Western audiences happy. The changes shouldn’t be too drastic, at least, as Mr. Xudong admitted he’s happy with the overall look of the Moto range.

 

There’s no news on when we’ll get to see the new-look Moto, but with Mobile World Congress just a month away, there might not be too long to wait.

 

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Tom Morgan-Freelander Deputy Editor

About

A tech addict from about the age of three (seriously, he's got the VHS tapes to prove it), Tom's been writing about gadgets, games and everything in between for the past decade, with a slight diversion into the world of automotive in between. As Deputy Editor, Tom keeps the website ticking along, jam-packed with the hottest gadget news and reviews.  When he's not on the road attending launch events, you can usually find him scouring the web for the latest news, to feed Stuff readers' insatiable appetite for tech.

Areas of expertise

Smartphones/tablets/computing, cameras, home cinema, automotive, virtual reality, gaming