Moto X40 unveiled with SD 8 Gen 2 and 165Hz OLED display, Moto G53 offers 5G on the cheap

Motorola announced two new devices today. This is a member of the premium X series and will be the company’s cheapest 5G phone in the near future. They’ve launched in China for now, but they plan to expand globally in some form later.

At a Glance: Moto X40 • Moto G53

Motorola Moto X40

The old X30 Pro was an interesting combination of powerful hardware and affordability. This new model, the Motorola Moto X40, wouldn’t call itself “pro”, but it dials up power with his new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and his 165Hz display. Motorola likes high refresh rate displays.

The display is 6.7 inches diagonal with a resolution of 1,080 x 2,400px. 10-bit panel with HDR10+ support and DC dimming. The fingerprint reader is under the display rather than mounted on the side. This is Motorola’s first 165Hz display, and it’s powerful Adreno 740 GPU could keep people away from expensive gaming phones.

Pro or not, the X40 boasts 125W of wired charging and also has wireless charging, thought to be only 15W down from the X30 Pro’s 50W. If you need to charge your phone as fast as possible, a wired charger can get you from dead to 50% in just 7 minutes. By the way, the battery capacity is 4,600mAh, which is basically the same as the old Pro.

Similar reasons apply to cameras. Instead of a 200MP main sensor, the X40 is equipped with a 50MP sensor (1/1.56 inch). It features OIS, 1.0µm native pixels that support 4-in-1 binning. The door remains open to the flagship model of the X40 series.

Next to the main cam is an ultra-wide angle lens (117°) with a 50MP sensor (1.3µm pixels). This is autofocus, so macro photography from 2.5 cm is possible. It also has a 2x portrait camera with a 12MP sensor (IMX663, 1.22µm pixels). For selfies there is a 60MP selfie camera with a punch hole in the middle. Aside from the main sensor, this setup is very similar to the X30 Pro.

Coming back to the chipset, it’s a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and is cooled by an 11-layer setup that includes a vapor chamber (size 3,002mm²). The chipset is paired with 8/12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 128, 256 or 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. This is a dual SIM phone and has no space for a microSD slot. There’s also no 3.5mm jack, but the 2021 model is no different. The new one launches on Android 13/My UI 5.0 out of the box.

Motorola Moto X40 color scheme

The X40 officially proves its resistance to water with an IP68 rating (it can withstand 1.5m/5ft of water for 30 minutes). The midframe is made from 7000 series aluminum and the rear is covered in Gorilla Glass Victus with a soft-touch finish (available in blue and black). I don’t know if that applies to the front as well. Details provided by Motorola are vague.

Motorola Moto X40 has an official IP68 rating Gorilla Glass Victus back with soft-touch finish

The Motorola Moto X40 is currently available for pre-order in China and will start shipping on December 22nd. His 8/128 GB model at base starts at CNY 3,400 ($490/€460/₹40,500). For comparison, the Moto X30 Pro (on which the global Edge 30 Ultra was based) started at CNY 3,700 for the 8/128GB model. Other configurations are also offered: 8/256GB for CNY 3,700, 12/256GB for CNY 4,000, 12/512GB for CNY 4,300.

Motorola Moto G53

The Motorola Moto G53 has 5G connectivity to its claim to fame. That said, it’s a disappointing successor to the 4G-only Moto G52. Even the Moto G51 with 5G has better specs (Motorola’s lineup can be pretty confusing).

Starting with the screen, G52’s 6.6-inch 90Hz AMOLED with FHD+ resolution is gone, replaced by a 6.5-inch 120Hz LCD with HD+ resolution only. The G51 5G featured a 6.8-inch 120Hz LCD with FHD+ resolution. The selfie camera has been demoted to his 8MP sensor (down from 16MP).

There is also deterioration in the backrest. The main camera still has his 50MP sensor with 0.64µm native pixels (1.3µm after binning), but the ultra-wide module is gone. Don’t worry. The 2MP macro camera is still on board.

Then there’s the battery. At 5,000mAh it has the same capacity as the old phone, but the charging speed has been dropped to 18W (from 30W) and the box only includes a 10W charger. is cut.

Motorola Moto G53 5G Colorway

Thankfully, the reduction didn’t affect the microSD card slot or the 3.5mm headphone jack. The G53 comes in two versions, one with 4 GB of RAM and one with 8 GB of RAM, both with 128 GB of storage. You can also choose from a black and white colorway.

The Motorola Moto G53 is available for pre-order in China at just CNY 900 ($130/€120/₹11,000) for the 4/128GB model and CNY 1,100 for the 8/128GB model. Again, this could be the company’s cheapest 5G phone for him. His aforementioned G51 is 1,500 RMB. Still, the G5x’s model number feels like it belongs in the midrange, and while this is an entry-level phone, it’s just plain lame.