It can be difficult living in a world where seemingly everything costs more. You know it when you go to upgrade almost any device in your life, from your computer to your car to your fridge and more than likely your phone.
This year, we’re getting a bit of a taste of that with some of the more expensive flagship phoned we’ve seen of late, a trend that kicked off last year, and has already seen the first big phones of the year feel more expensive.
You can probably thank the memory and storage dilemma that AI has brought to the world, a move that means the creation of more data centres means more components for them, and less for consumers. Ultimately, that means higher costs for consumer gear, and the rest of us paying the price.
But it seems as though Motorola may not be playing quite the same game, announcing a flagship phone that costs less, as well as a few other models in both budget and mid-range, and some other gear, as well.
To start with, the one to pay attention to is the Motorola Signature, a model that isn’t quite the foldable we were expecting, but is designed to evolve the Edge model to the point of being properly premium.
The handset takes high-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 hardware and places it under a 6.8 inch AMOLED screen, water resistant aluminium body with MIL-STD-810H protection, and makes the whole thing thin. Like 6.99mm thin, which isn’t quite Samsung S25 Edge or Apple iPhone Air “thin”, but is thinner than the 8.75mm iPhone 17 Pro Max, which is still quite thin.
Like most flagship phones, there are three cameras here, covering 50 megapixel F1.6 wide, 50 megapixel F2.0 ultra-wide, and 50 megapixels of 3X optical zoom (F2.4), providing wide, ultra-wide, and a little closer, all while in a slim and slender smartphone.
The Moto Signature also technically supports an optional accessory, a Moto stylus known as the Moto Pen Ultra, which will let you jot or draw on the screen, or even turn it into a tablet of sorts for your computer. The Pen Ultra is pressure sensitive and works as a digital artist brush, though there’s also a remote camera shutter feature built in, as well.
Perhaps the most alluring aspect of the Motorola Signature is the price, arriving in Australia soon from $1499 for 256GB model, or $1699 for the 512GB model, lower than other competing high-end phones. The Pen Ultra is an optional extra, however, and will be found for $139, both available from April 16.
Outside of the flagship, Motorola will also support two variations of the Edge 70 in the Edge 70 standard and Edge 70 Fusion, models with two cameras in slightly thicker but similar designs.
The Edge 70 Fusion gets two rear cameras and a massive 7000mAh battery under a 6.8 inch screen, while the Edge 70 takes much the same phone but slims the hardware down to 5.99mm, pricing them at $899 for the Edge 70 and $699 for the Edge 70 Fusion.
A more budget focused Motorola G67 is on the way, too, as is a new Motorola Watch powered by sports and fitness wearable brand Polar, while new variations of Motorola earphones are coming in the Moto Buds 2, Buds 2 Plus, and Buds Loop, priced from $99 to $399.
