Motorola today unveiled two new devices: a member of the premium X-series and what will likely be the company’s cheapest 5G phone for the foreseeable future. These are being rolled out in China for now, but should reach the rest of the world somehow later.
At a glance: Moto X40 • Moto G53
Motorola Moto X40
The older X30 Pro was an attractive combination of powerful hardware and a reasonable price. This new model, the Motorola Moto X40, doesn’t call itself a “pro,” but it still ramps up the power with the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and a 165Hz display — Motorola sure loves its high-refresh rate displays.
The display has a diagonal of 6.7 inches and a resolution of 1,080 x 2,400 px. It’s a 10-bit panel with HDR10+ support and DC dimming. The fingerprint reader is now under the display instead of being side-mounted. This is Motorola’s first 165Hz display and with the powerful Adreno 740 GPU it could turn people away from expensive gaming phones.
Pro or not, the X40 boasts 125W wired charging, and it also features wireless charging, at just 15W, thought, down from the X30 Pro’s 50W. everything. If you need to charge your phone as fast as possible, the wired charger will take you from a dead battery to 50% in just 7 minutes. The battery capacity is 4,600mAh, basically the same as the older Pro.
Similar reasoning applies to the camera: instead of a 200MP main sensor, the X40 features a 50MP (1/1.56″) sensor. It has OIS, native 1.0µm pixels with support 4-in-1 binning. This leaves the door open for a flagship model from the X40 series.
Next to the main cam is an ultra wide-angle lens (117°) with a 50MP sensor (1.3µm pixel). This one has autofocus, so it can shoot 2.5cm/1″ macro images. Also on board is a 2x portrait camera with a 12MP sensor (IMX663, 1.22µm pixel). For selfies there’s a 60MP selfie camera with a hole-punch centered in. Aside from the main sensor, this setup is quite similar to the X30 Pro.
Coming back to the chipset, it is the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and is cooled by an 11-layer configuration including a vapor chamber (3,002mm² in size). The chipset is paired with 8/12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 128, 256 or even 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. This is a dual SIM phone, there is no room for a microSD slot. Not even the 3.5mm jack, but that was the case for the 2021 model as well. The new one is launched with Android 13/My UI 5.0 out of the box.
Motorola Moto X40 colors
The X40 makes its water resistance official with an IP68 rating (it can survive 1.5m underwater for 30 minutes). The central frame is made of 7000 series aluminum, the back is covered with Gorilla Glass Victus with a soft-touch finish (available in blue and black). We are not sure if this also applies to the front, the details provided by Motorola are vague. Either way, the phone measures 8.6mm thick and weighs 199g, about the same as its predecessor.
The Motorola Moto X40 has an official IP68 degree of protection • Victus Gorilla Glass with a soft touch finish on the back
The Motorola Moto X40 is up for pre-order in China right now, shipping will start on December 22nd. The 8/128GB base model starts at CNY 3,400 ($490 / €460 / ₹40,500). For comparison, the Moto X30 Pro (which served as the basis for the global Edge 30 Ultra) started at CNY3,700 for an 8/128GB model. Other configurations are also available: 8/256GB for CNY 3,700, 12/256GB for CNY 4,000, and 12/512GB for CNY 4,300.
Motorola Moto G53
The Motorola Moto G53 has 5G connectivity as its claim to fame. Even so, as a follow-up to the 4G-only Moto G52, it’s disappointing in some respects. Even the 5G-equipped Moto G51 has some better specs (Motorola’s lineup can be pretty confusing).
Starting from the screen, the 6.6″ 90Hz AMOLED with FHD+ resolution of the G52 has disappeared, replaced by a 6.5″ 120Hz LCD with HD+ resolution only. The G51 5G had a 6.8″ 120Hz LCD with FHD+ resolution. The selfie camera was downgraded to an 8MP sensor (down from 16MP).
There are also downgrades on the back. The main camera still has a 50 MP sensor with 0.64 µm native pixels (1.3 µm after binning), but the ultra wide module is gone. Don’t worry, the 2MP macro camera is still here.
Then there’s the battery. At 5,000mAh it’s the same capacity as the old phone, though charging speed has now dropped to 18W (from 30W) and only a 10W charger is included in the box. Some corners have been cut to pay for the 5G modem .
Motorola Moto G53 5G colors
Thankfully, the cutbacks haven’t affected the microSD card slot or 3.5mm headphone jack. The G53 comes in two versions, one with 4GB of RAM and one with 8GB, both with 128GB of storage. You can also choose between a black and a white colourway.
The Motorola Moto G53 is now up for pre-order in China at a price of just CNY 900 ($130/€120/₹11,000) for the 4/128GB model and CNY 1,100 for the 8/128GB model. Again, this may be the company’s cheapest 5G phone – that G51 we mentioned earlier costs CNY 1,500. However, the G5x model number looks like it belongs to a mid-ranger and this is an entry level phone, but that’s just a nitpick.
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