Unbreakable: Motorola ShatterShield may return in 2016

The days of early May are bringing forth a bounty of leaks that are sure to excite Motorola geeks – or potentially the mass market as well. Just this week has given a peek at two different Moto X devices as well as a DROID. Now, another leak has appeared for those in seek. hellomotoHK, responsible for the mass awareness of the new Moto X phones, posted this picture a short while ago:

The post proclaims, “New Moto Flagship with AMOLED & ShatterShield Screen”. Let’s discuss:

1. Unlike the Moto X and DROID press renders that have been circulating around the web over the past couple of days – or even those of the Moto G – this device clearly has a “moto” logo above the front-facing fingerprint sensor. This is substantial for several reasons, the first being that it may explain why the component has been placed so far towards the bottom, and why the bottom bezel’s overall spacing in the aforementioned bezels looks so asymmetrical. Here, with the logo, things look as they seemingly should. (Curiously, the Moto G leaks seemingly do not have room for the logo placement).
2.  The presence of the logo – in and of itself – may mean this is a totally different device from those pictured on Mother’s Day. Alternatively, this could simply be the carrier agnostic variant of what was clearly marked as a DROID device, assumed by some to have been the DROID Turbo 3. As a result, this may essentially be the Moto X Force 2.
3. The presence of ShatterShield itself – something Motorola was quite eager to hype last year – is seemingly a great value added aspect of the potential device, and it is possible that all variants of the Moto X could have it. Alternatively Motorola might want to make it exclusive to a single variant to create a unique sales point.

For reference, here are some of the various leaked press renders and blurrycam photos:

While all of this is still just speculation and rumors – though the picture at least does look as legitimate as possible – it is becoming more clear that the Moto X line will make full use of AMOLED displays, something that was not true of last year’s variants. For whatever reason, be it cost, availability, or supply chain management, Motorola opted to put LCDs on its Moto X Style and Moto X Play, a major shift from the AMOLEDs found in the original Moto X and the 2nd generation Moto X.

There is some irony in the fact that while the display of this product may be relatively unbreakable, Motorola’s own protection against leaks is clearly not as shatterproof as one might expect. What do you think? Does the phone look better with the logo on the front? Does the prospect of ShatterSheild returning make you breath a sigh of relief? Leave your comments below!