[Verizon Motorola Droid Turbo General] ChazzMatt:
2016 4th quarter surprise phone?

I mentioned this in another thread, but you reminded me... I'm curious if Motorola has ANOTHER phone they will bring out 4th quarter. A true premium phone that won't have silly mods and crap like that.

Last two years (2014, 2015) Motorola had the Moto X for SUCKERS in 3rd quarter and then the "premium" phone (Quark, Kinzie) in 4th quarter. For Verizon users, that premium phone was the Droid Turbo and Droid Turbo 2, but was known by other names on other carriers. (In the U.S. at least a dozen regional CMDA/LTE carriers sold the Droid Turbo device as the "Moto Maxx XT1250".)

Both years we are discussing, the 2014 Moto X (and in 2015 called the Moto X Pure) was nothing really special.:rolleyes: It was almost a mid-tier phone being aggressively sold as a "flagship" phone. For instance, in June 2014, LG released the LG G3:

1440p display,

3GB RAM

laser-focus rear camera with OIS,

Qi wireless charging (optional).

MONTHS LATER, in September 2014 Motorola released the 2014 Moto X "flagship" phone with 5.2" 1080p, 2GB RAM, nothing special with the camera, and PUNY 2300 mAh battery. Seriously, are you even trying? :rolleyes: It was basically a copy of the 2013 LG G2! Motorola had a habit of releasing copies of LG's flagship phone from the previous year. Same 5.2", 2GB RAM, 1080p as the 2013 LG G2 -- BUT the 2013 LG G2 had a 3000 mAh battery! The 2014 Moto X clone had a 2300 mAh battery! Motorola couldn't even rip off LG properly!

A lot of Moto fans don't seem to realize in 2013, the original Moto X was a clone of the 2012 LG Optimus G: 4.7" 720p (but only 10MP camera, the LG version had 13MP camera) while AT THE SAME TIME LG had actually just released the 2013 LG G2: 5.2", 1080p, 13MP camera with rear OIS. The comparison between the 2103 Moto X and the 2013 LG G2 was PATHETIC. All other manufacturers that year (LG, Samsung, Sony, even HTC) were releasing 1080p flagship phones and Motorola went with 720p. :confused: At first Motorola even tried to price the Moto X as a "flagship" phone, but only found success when they finally lowered the price down to mid-tier levels. Tellingly, even though Google OWNED Motorola, the Google's 2013 Nexus phone was based on the LG G2, not the pretentious 2013 Moto X (which was just a copy of the 2012 Nexus 4/LG Optimus G). Google knew Motorola was not up to world-class standards. :p

I know the original 2013 Moto X had a lot of fans, but seriously it was just a clone of the previous year's (2012) LG flagship LG Optumus G/LG Nexus 4 -- and the 2013 LG G2 was MUCH BETTER.

Then, in 2014 Motorola did the same thing! IF Motorola had released that 2nd generation 5.2", 1080p, 2GB RAm 2014 Moto X in early 2014, that would have been fine -- except the battery would still suck. But in September 2014 it was laughable, especially after the AWESOME 1440p, 3GB RAM 2014 LG G3. Still, Moto X fans dutifully bought it, trying to convince themselves Motorola "software" made up for lack of HARDWARE.

THEN, they felt very betrayed when in November 2014 (just 3 months later), Motorola released the GOOD STUFF:

Quark

5.2", 1440p AMOLED,

3GB RAM

Qi wireless built in

Turbo charging

3900 mAh battery

THAT was a fantastic phone! Now, we're talking! For the first time, with the 4th quarter Quark and Shamu Motorola produced two true, top tier flagship phones that could compete with any phone in the world -- the Quark (Droid Turbo XT1254, Moto Maxx XT1250/Moto Maxx XT1225/Moto Turbo XT1225) and the Moto Nexus 6 (Shamu). Google finally gave Motorola a Nexus phone, as they had finally proven they could design and build a world-class phone.

Now the Quark didn't have the rear camera OIS nor the stereo speakers the 2014 Moto Nexus 6 (Shamu) had, otherwise it would have been PERFECT PHONE, but the 2014 Quark was clearly competitive with top-tier phones like the 2014 LG G3. (In fact in summer of 2015, I WON a free 2015 LG G4 in a contest and it still wasn't good enough to make me give up my 2014 Quark Moto XT1225. I sold it on eBay and bought backup Moto XT1225.)

Then, in 2014, Motorola did basically the same thing they had in 2013... Foisted off a lesser phone to SUCKERS, while waiting to release the GOOD STUFF (Kinzie) in 4th quarter. Kinze= Droid Turbo 2/Moto X Force. But Motorola missed the target somewhat and did not improve the Kinzie enough over the Quark to make me upgrade. Still no rear camera OIS, still no stereo speakers. Only the silly plastic thingy over the display, which caused a dimmer display. :rolleyes: BUT, still the hardware specs of the Kinzie were clearly superior to the 2015 Moto X Pure -- which true to form seemed to be Motorola's attempt to copy the 2014 LG G4 (just as the 2013 Moto X was almost an exact clone of the 2012 LG Optimus G, and the 2014 Moto X was a cheap copy of the excellent 2013 LG G2).

Point is, the last two years, Motorola has released a true premium phone in the 4th quarter. This year, they SEEMED to have a different strategy -- releasing the Moto Z and Moto Z Force at the same time. Moto Z is supposed to be successor to the concept of the Moto X line (a base model "flagship" phone that can't really compete with other manufacturer's flagship phones) while the Moto Z Force is supposed be the real deal, the true premium phone. But I hate the entire "mods" concept of the Moto Z series. I want Qi wireless and stereo speakers BUILT IN to my phone; I don't want to buy extra mods to have specs I should already have! :rolleyes: Plus, with mods, besides carrying them around, I can only have one function at at time... Oh, do I need Qi right now, or do I need stereo speakers? In a car, that's like asking, "oh, do I need a steering wheel right now or do I need tires?" Motorola build both into the Moto Nexus 6, so why am I paying EXTRA MONEY for functionality I should already have in my phone? IDIOTS.

And by the way, I said the Moto Z is successor to the concept of the Moto X line. Motorola is still going to have Moto X -- but it's dropping down to the mid-tier status it seemingly desired all along. They will release Moto X phones with 6XX Snapdragon chipsets and no pretense of being a "flagship" phone.

But STILL, here's the question... Does Motorola have a 4th quarter SURPRISE premium top-tier up their sleeves like the last two years?