A new leak claims that the Moto Z4 will pack a midrange Snapdragon 675 chip, the same expected to come in the Moto Z4 Play, according to GSM Arena.
That would rebut a rumor floating last November that alleged the Moto Z4 – or the ‘Motorola Odin,’ a codename that may or may not refer to the next flagship Moto device – would pack a Snapdragon 8150 (now known as the Snapdragon 855), the top-tier chip that debuted in the Samsung Galaxy S10.
Now, it’s possible that the leak is referring to the Moto Z4 Play, especially since an earlier GSM Arena report noted it would come with the lower-performance Snapdragon 675 – which fits the Play version’s typically lower-specced, lower-cost role. The only flaw in that theory? The new leak is about a phone with a 6.4-inch screen, and the Moto Z4 Play was previously reported to have a 6.22-inch screen.
Tricky implications for 5G
This would be a bit odd for the main Moto Z line’s value. The preceding Moto Z3 might not have been a terribly impressive device, but its dated yet still powerful flagship Snapdragon 835 chip made the phone a bargain at a mid-range cost. If the Moto Z4 comes with a mid-range processor, it won’t have quite the value.
More importantly: we don’t know if the Snapdragon 675 has the performance to handle 5G. The Moto Z3 has clung to relevance by sporting the Moto Mod 5G that lets it connect to Verizon’s (still very limited, we found) 5G network and it’s likely there’s extra processing power in the mod to get the combined phone package up to speed to harness the advanced network.
The question is – can a Snapdragon 675 keep up as well as the Snapdragon 835 in the Moto Z3 in a network test? Even Qualcomm's own numbers show the former's LTE peak download speeds (600Mbps) lower than that of the latter (1Gbps).
The leak also noted that both the Moto Z4 and the Moto Z4 Play will pack 48MP rear cameras, with the former coming with a 25MP selfie camera (no word on the Moto Z4 Play’s front-facing camera). That would be a big jump from the 12MP dual rear shooters on the Moto Z3.
- Here's our list of all the 5G phones coming in 2019 – and beyond
