Following yesterday’s announcement from Google that a mid-range device would soon make its way to Project Fi, that device will reportedly be a Moto X4. That allegation is according to a source close to both Lenovo – the company that currently owns the Moto brand – and Google. As always, it is worth mentioning that the source has not yet been verified, so the news should probably be taken with a grain of salt. With that said, the source has claimed that the Moto X4 will be making its way onto Google’s mobile network service in Q4 of 2017. That would give Lenovo the honor of having brought the first mid-ranger to Project Fi. It would also provide the prominent manufacturer with props for having been first in having a non-Nexus – or non-Pixel – device supported by the network officially.
Not much detail is readily available for Lenovo’s Moto X4, aside from various rumors and associated materials leaked from partner presentations. It is expected to come packing Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 660 SoC, with rapid charging 3.0 and other associated features. It is also expected to have 4GB of RAM, backed up by either 32GB or 64GB of storage, expandable up to 256GB via a microSD. Beyond that, it is expected to come packing a dual camera setup at the back. Unfortunately, as a mid-range device, it likely won’t carry some or most of the more pricey benefits associated with this year’s flagship devices. That shouldn’t present too much of a problem with getting sales, however, since it will be the first phone featured on Project Fi that isn’t relatively expensive. That is at least partially down to the appeal of Project Fi as a mobile service provider.
For starters, the network doesn’t only use one set of network towers. Instead, it feeds its signal to users from towers operated by T-Mobile, Sprint, and US Cellular – automatically switching seamlessly for the best reception and data. Pricing is another draw that could easily make the Moto X4 on Project Fi attractive. The service starts at a just $20 for calls and texts domestically, data is $10 per GB used, and users can be added at just $15 per additional line. It’s worth repeating at this point that this is just speculation until confirmation arrives.