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Rumor: Motorola working on a new 5.9-inch ‘Droid’ phablet, although could ditch Droid name

According some speculation from DroidForums, Motorola is working on a new “Droid” phone that’s largely based physically on the Nexus 6, but is going to have specs that make Google’s latest smartphone look pale in comparison. The device is said to sport the same 5.9-inch QHD display as the Nexus 6, but will come with a next generation Snapdragon 810 processor. The most interesting part of this rumor, and part of what actually helps us believe its legitimacy, is that the source claims this phone might not be a “Droid” at all, and that it might just be another Motorola-branded alternative.

Interestingly, the phone is rumored to be one of the first to actually take advantage of Android 5.0 Lollipop’s 64-bit capabilities, with the Snapdragon 810 supporting the architecture. To provide an even greater performance boost, the phone will supposedly sport a basically unheard of 4 GB of RAM and a huge 4,000 mAh battery. The phone is rumored to be landing sometime in mid-2015, but interestingly, exactly under what name and lineup the device will launch is still quite unsure.

According to the person who shared this information, the phone may not be a “Droid”—a moniker that has existed on all of Motorola’s Verizon exclusive phones—at all.

This is actually a bit of information that we’ve heard independently from our sources, with it being said that Motorola wants to focus more on its main lineup of devices (the Moto X, Moto G, and now the Nexus 6), rather than this partner lineup with Verizon. We’ve even heard rumors that the “Droid” lineup is already effectively done, and that there may never be another Droid again.

With that in mind, it sounds very plausible that this device could be Motorola’s first step away from that lineup of devices and might end up not a part of the Droid program at all.

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Avatar for Stephen Hall Stephen Hall

Stephen is Growth Director at 9to5. If you want to get in touch, follow me on Twitter. Or, email at stephen (at) 9to5mac (dot) com, or an encrypted email at hallstephenj (at) protonmail (dot) com.