Motorola has been offering stylus-toting phones for a while, but they’ve mostly been relegated to the budget segment and without any standout tricks. Now it appears that the company is finally ready to make a high-end phone with stylus support that offers some neat features in tow, just like Samsung’s Galaxy Note series devices.
Motorola Smart Stylus
An XDA-Developers report citing a reliable source claims that the upcoming Motorola Edge 30 Ultra will offer stylus input support. But the stylus in question is not your average passive pen. Instead, it will borrow some of its capabilities from the Bluetooth-paired Samsung S Pen that shipped with the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. The report calls it Motorola Smart Stylus, and claims that it will support air gestures and also facilitate wireless charging. When paired with an external display, it can be used as a wireless pointer device. Plus, the button on Motorola’s stylus will also double as a media playback control hub.
Motorola’s “next-gen” stylus is said to resemble the stylus that Samsung offered with the Galaxy S21 Ultra, going by its looks. But it appears that Motorola is also going down the same route of folly as Samsung did last year. Instead of shipping a stylus with the phone or putting it inside a slot, Samsung sold it separately as the Galaxy S21 Ultra had no slot for the S Pen. The Motorola Edge 30 Ultra is said to pull the same stunt, and the Motorola will be selling a smart folio case with a dedicated pocket to house the stylus.
To put it simply, Samsung’s stylus strategy was not particularly well-received, especially among folks salty about the Galaxy Note line’s rumored death. Though Motorola is repeating the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s error, it is said to offer a few extras to make up for it. The report mentions that when Motorola’s smart folio case is applied on its upcoming flagship, the stylus will also gain a few additional functionalities.
As soon as the stylus is pulled out of the case, the software will automatically detect its motion. And when the stylus has been out of the case for a while, but no activity is detected, users will receive a warning about the same, apparently as a measure to save some precious battery juice. Users can also configure it to launch an app every time they take out the stylus. And when resting inside the case pocket, the stylus draws power from the phone for wireless charging.
Adding more about the “Folio Case,” leaked schematics show an open strip running vertically down the middle to expose a section of the screen. This area will let users quickly check the time, battery status, notifications, and handle incoming call alerts as well. The premise is similar to the folio cases that Samsung has been selling for a while.
Rumored specs
As for the phone itself, alleged renders have already popped up online (via 91Mobiles / OnLeaks), giving us a glimpse of its fairly boring design. But the internal hardware is an altogether different story. Leaked specifications predict a 144Hz OLED display and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 taking care of things inside alongside 12GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage.
The triple-lens array at the back includes a 50-megapixel main snapper, alongside another 50-megapixel camera for ultra-wide-angle photography, and a 2-megapixel camera that is likely there for depth sensing or macro shots. The front camera also means business, as leaks predict a 60-megapixel sensor sitting behind it. A 5,000mAh battery is said to provide the juice, but there’s no word about its fast charging or wireless top-up capabilities.
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