Motorola has dropped the details on exactly when its first ThinkPhone and latest Moto E and Moto G smartphones will land on Australian shores.
Originally announced at this year's CES in Las Vegas, the company's first-ever ThinkPhonebrings together business-grade looks and souped-up specs that put it towards the pricier end of the market. Coming in at $999 in Australia, the handset is kitted out with a 6.6-inch OLED display.
The ThinkPhone's glitzy display comes clocked at 144Hz and is guarded by Gorilla Glass Victus-grade protection. That latter detail is far from the only durability-oriented bell and whistle to be found here, with an aramid kevlar chassis, an IP68 rating, and MIL-STD 810H certification promising to make the ThinkPhone that little bit more rugged than most devices at this end of the market.
Spec-wise, Motorola has armed the ThinkPhone with last year's Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, a 5000mAh battery, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of onboard storage. When it comes to cameras, there are four in total. The back of the ThinkPhone is built around a 50MP main camera, a 13MP ultrawide one and a 2MP depth sensor. In comparison, the front-facing side fields a sole 32MP selfie shooter.
While that camera setup doesn't look like it'll put the screws to the likes of the iPhone 14 anytime soon, it seems like a respectable effort given the time and care that seems to have gone into the rest of the device.
For instance, the aluminium edges of the ThinkPhone house a red-tinted button that's designed to echo both the utility and appearance of the ThinkPad's iconic Red Dot. This Red Key can be used as a shortcut for pausing music, recording audio or launching into any app.
The ThinkPhone also boasts a number of unique PC integrations branded Think 2 Think. These include things like faster hot-spotting, a unified clipboard and notifications and the ability to quickly and easily turn the ThinkPhone into a webcam.
In Australia, the ThinkPhone will be available from the 30th of March through the Motorola website and JB Hi-Fi at an RRP of $999. The device will be available in a single Carbon Black colour.
Where the ThinkPhone stands out from most other smartphones, the new Moto G53 hits all the familiar notes. The screen size of this glass sandwich is 6.5 inches, with an LCD display that's clocked at 120Hz.
Under the hood, the Moto G53 is powered by a Snapdragon 480+ 5G, 4GB of RAM and a 5000mAh battery. It's only got 128GB of storage, but it is equipped with a MicroSD slot if you need a few more gigabytes. The back half of the Moto G53 plays host to a 50MP quad-lens main camera and a 2MP macro lens while the front is kitted out with an 8MP selfie camera.
Motorola's latest mid-ranger is armed with an IP52 rating for water resistance and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. Those numbers being what they are, the Moto G53 looks like a natural match for Samsung's newly announced Galaxy A54. The screen doesn't look quite as sharp, but the difference in price is hard to miss.
In Australia, the Moto G53 will be available from the 8th of April through Motorola Australia at an RRP of $329. It'll also be available through Telstra prepaid from the 26th of April. The device will be available in a single Ink Blue colour.
Lastly, there's the lean and budget-friendly Moto E13.
Priced at a humble $149, this humble handset comes with a 60Hz HD+ screen that measures 6.5-inches in size, a Unisoc T606 processor, a 5000mAh battery, 2GB of RAM, 64GB of on-board storage, a 5MP selfie shooter and 13MP main camera.
That spec sheet might not have the makings of a heavy-hitter handset, but it's worth noting that the Moto E13 also runs on Android 13 Go Edition. That does come with its own caveats, but the silver lining is that the low-end hardware here should be able to deliver the essentials of what you'd expect from a modern Android smartphone.
In Australia, the Moto E13 will be available through Optus from the 1st of May and Telstra from the 9th of May, 2023. The device will be available in a single Cosmic Black colour.
Fergus Halliday
Digital Content Editor
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