Motorola asserted in June that its much-rumored Moto X brand of smartphones is not dead and now the Moto X (2016) has received certification in China, confirming that not only is the brand very much alive and kicking, but that the fourth-gen handset is set to launch in the near future.
On Thursday, Aug. 11, the impending Moto X 2016 smartphone - the successor of the Moto X 2015 - bearing the model number XT1662 was officially certified by China Compulsory Certificate (CCC).
Certification from the CCC is mandatory for any smartphone that is manufactured and imported into China and the device needs to undergo this process as a safety protocol.
The XT1662 model number is attributed to the Moto X 2016 with certainty as a previous leak courtesy of GFXBench had shed light on the same. Earlier in June this year, we reported that a new Motorola handset with the XT1662 model number had been listed on the benchmarking site. This mysterious Motorola handset was believed to be the Moto X 2016. The listing also shared the specs of the alleged Motorola smartphone.
By contrast, the current listing - as shared by TechDroider - from the CCC does not shed light on any of the specs and features of the supposed Moto X 2016, barring its model number and its processor. The CCC listing reveals that the Moto X 2016 will be powered by MediaTek's Helio P10 MT6755 chipset and offer support for Turbo charging.
The Helio P10 SoC is a mid-range processor and its inclusion in the Moto X 2016 suggests that the company is looking to shift the Moto X line to the mid bracket. The Moto Z, on the other hand, will be the top-end offering from the company, replacing this lineup.
The current listing confirms the specs shared by the GFXBench in June. Rumors are rife that the Moto X 2016 will sport a metal body and a 4.6-inch FHD screen with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels. The handset will offer support for 3 GB of RAM and house the octa-core MediaTek CPU, as well as Mali-T860 MP2 GPU.
The Motorola handset will boast a 16-megapixel primary camera and an 8-megapixel selfie snapper. It will come with 32 GB of on-board storage and Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box.
However, in July we reported yet another benchmark listing, which pointed to a 5.5-inch QHD screen for the Moto X 2016 and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor. This listing also hinted at a dual-core primary camera of 21 megapixels, a 16-megapixel front-facing camera and 4GB of RAM.
With the Moto X (2016) receiving a green signal from the CCC, it is only a matter of time before Motorola finally takes the wraps off the much-awaited handset.
Now that the CCC certification has been completed, one less task remains for Motorola to accomplish before the phone is unveiled. We could see that taking place sometime next month. We don't expect this model to join the Moto lineup outside of Asia.
