Skip to main content

Motorola’s P30 looks like every other iPhone X-clone we don’t want

Motorola launches its iPhone X clone, the Moto P30, in China

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Pop quiz: Name a phone with a notch above the screen and a vertical camera array that’s offset to one side on the back. That’s right, it’s the Motorola P30, a midrange handset just released in China.

Of course, we didn’t really just mean the Motorola phone when we asked our question — that’s just us being silly. We meant the Xiaomi Mi A2. Or the Vivo V9. Or the Huawei P20 Lite. Or any number of other phones that borrow their design from the Apple iPhone X. Motorola has joined that group, and here’s what we know about the P30 so far.

While the Motorola P30 is the first phone to be released, there may be a family of P-series handsets on the way, according to a leak by AndroidPure. The publication.claims the company is working on the P30 Play and a P30 Note phone. While Motorola has only officially announced the P30, all three have been spotted on the company’s website in China, and a smartphone that may be the P30 has been teased through Motorola’s Weibo channel.

The Motorola P30 has a 6.2-inch screen with a 19:9 aspect ratio, and a very iPhone X-style notch at the top. The LCD display resolution comes in at 2,246 x 1,080

On the back, there’s a dual-lens camera on one side of the device, with a 16-megapixel primary lens that has an f/1.8 aperture, along with a 5-megapixel secondary lens that has an f/2.2 aperture. The selfie cam is 12-megapixels and has an f/2.0 aperture. Both the front and rear cameras will have A.I.-powered background blur, while the rear camera alone will have A.I.-powered object and location detection.

You’ll find a Snapdragon 646 processor on the P30 along with 6GB of RAM. There’s a 64GB and 128GB storage option available, and both allow additional external storage via a micro SD card.  A 3,000mAh battery will provide the power. The Motorola website leak showed prices in China of around $300 or $350 for the P30.

Motorola P30 Note and P30 Play

Less is known about the Motorola P30 Note and P30 Play, but the Weibo teaser indicates a future Motorola phone will have a 5,000mAh battery, which may end up being one of these two phones. The P30 Play is the cheapest of the three, at around $260, so it’s more likely that the P30 Note is the one priced almost identically to the standard P30 in the leak. The P30 Note will likely come in either a 4GB/64GB or 6GB/128GB version.

The leaked photos, which appear to be official-looking renders of a mystery Motorola phone, show a small chin at the opposite end of the device’s notched display, along with a smooth rear panel complete with a fingerprint sensor in the top-center. The curved shape of the phone makes it look very similar to the iPhone X.

The phone is also reminiscent of another leaked Motorola phone, the Motorola One Power, which was initially rumored to arrive at the beginning of August and have a large 4850mAh battery. It’s possible the One Power may be an international version of one P30 model. Whether the P30 range is the same as the One Power, or they’re all different, remains to be seen.

The Motorola P30 officially launched in China on August 15. There’s no word whether the phone will hit the U.S. just yet, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see an international release in the near future.

Updated August 15, 2018: The Moto P30 has launched in China. Details have been confirmed and wording has been changed to reflect the release.

Steven Winkelman
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Steven writes about technology, social practice, and books. At Digital Trends, he focuses primarily on mobile and wearables…
AT&T just made it a lot easier to upgrade your phone
AT&T Storefront with logo.

Do you want to upgrade your phone more than once a year? What about three times a year? Are you on AT&T? If you answered yes to those questions, then AT&T’s new “Next Up Anytime” early upgrade program is made for you. With this add-on, you’ll be able to upgrade your phone three times a year for just $10 extra every month. It will be available starting July 16.

Currently, AT&T has its “Next Up” add-on, which has been available for the past several years. This program costs $6 extra per month and lets you upgrade by trading in your existing phone after at least half of it is paid off. But the new Next Up Anytime option gives you some more flexibility.

Read more
Motorola is selling unlocked smartphones for just $150 today
Someone holding the Moto G Stylus 5G (2024).

Have you been looking for phone deals but don’t want to spend a ton of money on flagship devices from Apple and Samsung? Have you ever considered investing in an unlocked Motorola? For a limited time, the company is offering a $100 markdown on the Motorola Moto G 5G. It can be yours for just $150, and your days and nights of phone-shopping will finally be over!

Why you should buy the Motorola Moto G 5G
Powered by the Snapdragon 480+ 5G CPU and 4GB of RAM, the Moto G delivers exceptional performance across the board. From UI navigation to apps, games, and camera functions, you can expect fast load times, next to no buffering, and smooth animations. You’ll also get up to 128GB of internal storage that you’ll be able to use for photos, videos, music, and any other mobile content you can store locally. 

Read more
The Nokia 3210 is the worst phone I’ve used in 2024
A person holding the Nokia 3210, showing the screen.

Where do I even start with the Nokia 3210? Not the original, which was one of the coolest phones to own back in a time when Star Wars: Episode 1 -- The Phantom Menace wasn’t even a thing, but the latest 2024 reissue that has come along to save us all from digital overload, the horror of social media, and the endless distraction that is the modern smartphone.

Except behind this facade of marketing-friendly do-goodery hides a weapon of torture, a device so foul that I’d rather sit through multiple showings of Jar Jar Binks and the gang hopelessly trying to bring back the magic of A New Hope than use it.
The Nokia 3210 really is that bad

Read more