Moto X Play Coming to US as Carrier Exclusive

[Suika]

(click for sauce)

Can anybody take a guess at which US carrier likes Motorola exclusives? Anyone?

 

I guess Motorola wasn't lying when they said the Play wouldn't arrive in the US, because it's a Verizon exclusive now, which is basically just as bad. But to the poor souls with Verizon, you still have the option to  pick up the Play in the form of the Droid Maxx 2 (reportedly that's what it'll be called, considering the original Maxx focused on battery life).

 

First up: the Droid Maxx 2. The Maxx line is about battery life, and the Moto X Play is a version of the Moto X that just happens to be all about battery life. Phandroid claims that the Maxx 2 will be a US version of the Play — though it's possible that the precise hardware specs will change.

 

As mentioned there may be some hardware changes but neither The Verge nor Phandroid have a guess as to what the changes may be, but it's likely going to be identical. It'd be nice to see it equipped with a better SoC like the SD 808 but one can dream, especially since the price tag is still going to float around the $300 mark. Fortunate at least considering Verizon only does the installment billing anymore.

 

So anybody else curious or upset about the exclusivity? If the battery life was great and camera decent I'd love to pick one up, but considering I'm on T-Mobile with no plans to leave soon, I don't have a whole lot of interest.

[PlayStation 2]

Yippie, carrier exclusives are cancer.

[SPG]

console exclusives make sense, carrier exclusives never will. Not worth spending a crap ton of money to switch providers for one phone you're most likely stuck with for a year or more

[dizmo]

I think it'd be a real shame if they stepped down in the battery size department. Hopefully that's one of the spec they decide to change for the better.

[Chicken]

console exclusives make sense, carrier exclusives never will. Not worth spending a crap ton of money to switch providers for one phone you're most likely stuck with for a year or more

All Verizon phones are unlocked so it doesn't matter as long as to has the bands you need.

[spwath]

aww

[Nowak]

All Verizon phones are unlocked so it doesn't matter as long as to has the bands you need.

Verizon phones are also CDMA instead of GSM, so they'd only fully work on CDMA carriers.

 

Source: I am a Verizon customer.

[Chicken]

Verizon phones are also CDMA instead of GSM, so they'd only fully work on CDMA carriers.

Source: I am a Verizon customer.

Um, I took my Verizon s6 to SoftBank just fine.

[Nowak]

Um, I took my Verizon s6 to SoftBank just fine.

SoftBank is a carrier?

[Chicken]

SoftBank is a carrier?

Yes. Though they kind of suck in my opinion. Barley get any signal at by workplace.

[Nowak]

Yes. Though they kind of suck in my opinion. Barley get any signal at by workplace.

Oh, thought you meant something else. That's a CDMA carrier, so of course it worked.

[shirokado]

SoftBank is a carrier?

It's a Japanese carrier. I used them for about 4 months before going to docomo. But SoftBank uses cdma so it's no wonder his Verizon phone worked.

[Nowak]

It's a Japanese carrier. I used them for about 4 months before going to docomo. But SoftBank uses cdma so it's no wonder his Verizon phone worked.

I actually didn't know that until I looked that up. But yeah, they're a CDMA carrier.

[ionbasa]

Verizon phones are also CDMA instead of GSM, so they'd only fully work on CDMA carriers.

 

Source: I am a Verizon customer.

Actually, most of Verizon's phones have both CDMA and GSM radios now. Their in the process of retiring their old CDMA modes in favor of VoLTE and 4g LTE.

EG: The  Verizon iPhone has CDMA voice + SMS mode channels and everything else is done over GSM for 4g LTE. Same goes for all of their new phones. Newer "CDMA" phones are also better in that they have both radio types. Look at the latest Galaxy phones. They have CDMA and GSM. So you get more compatibility to move across carriers.

[Misanthrope]

Ugh, now that carriers will stop financing phones or offering contracts I guess we can expect a shit ton more "carrier exclusive" deals on phones.

[FratStar]

This is the one damn phone I wanted too. When I found out it won't be in the US I was pissed and now I'm even more angry since I'm not with Verizon.

[Rekx]

 

Now the device has leaked again, courtesy of Android Police, and this time there’s enough information to pretty much confirm the rumored Verizon smartphone. Behind that rear shell, which features clear DROID and Verizon branding, we get a look at some of the new phone’s specs.

 

The DROID MAXX 2 apparently packs a 3630mAh battery and a 21-megapixel rear camera. That lines up perfectly with the Moto X Play, suggesting we’ll also get a 5.5-inch 1080p display, 2GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 615 processor.

 

 

droid Police points to one small red flag. It looks like the DROID MAXX 2 will start at just 8GB of storage. That’s a pretty big step down from the 16GB/32GB Moto X Play, though hopefully the new device will pack a microSD card slot for adding extra space.

 

The Moto X Play is set to cost around $300 outside of the U.S., so we’re guessing the DROID MAXX 2 will have a similar price. Motorola and Verizon are also expected to announce a DROID Turbo 2 with what is said to be an unbreakable display, and the new devices should get an official launch soon.

 

 

News Source: http://www.technobuffalo.com/2015/08/25/droid-maxx-2-all-but-confirmed-in-new-leaked-photos/

[dizmo]

So they took the Moto X Play, and made it worse.

Not only that, this phone is worse than the last Droid Turbo.

Awesome.

[Rekx]

So they took the Moto X Play, and made it worse.

Not only that, this phone is worse than the last Droid Turbo.

Awesome.

Plus it's exclusive to US. Or at least it was the last time. 

 

The Moto X Play looks really awesome. 

[zacRupnow]

Fugly. If the Turbo 2 follows this trend.., Well now I know not to wait and just get the first Turbo.

Edit - Actually I'm gonna get the first Turbo anyway, Verizon is giving them to my family free.

[Norman_the_Owl]

It's as if they want the droid lineup to suck

[dizmo]

Plus it's exclusive to US. Or at least it was the last time. 

 

The Moto X Play looks really awesome. 

The rest of the world gets the X Play, which is the same phone

I might buy one tomorrow.

[Rekx]

The rest of the world gets the X Play, which is the same phone

I might buy one tomorrow.

Well i'm waiting for IFA

[Misanthrope]

"Maxx" and "3630 mAh" should be grounds for false advertising right there.

[dizmo]

Well i'm waiting for IFA

I'm semi tempted to but I don't think there's anything too exciting coming out at IFA. Except perhaps the new Z phones from Sony, but those are quite premium and I see them being the usual $700 flagships.

 

I might, however, wait to see how the new Nexus 6 turns out.

But. The Moto X Style fits the same screen size in a much smaller body with expandable storage...so...