{"id":601586,"date":"2026-04-12T07:15:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T07:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/601586\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T07:15:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T07:15:21","slug":"can-motorola-finally-play-in-the-same-league-as-samsung-channelnews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/601586\/","title":{"rendered":"can Motorola finally play in the same league as Samsung? \u2013 channelnews"},"content":{"rendered":"

On my desk sat the new Motorola Signature (2026) \u2014 a $1,499 statement piece from a brand that\u2019s spent years circling the premium market without quite breaking through. Next to it, the benchmark: Samsung\u2019s S26 Ultra, the device everything in Android ultimately gets measured against.<\/p>\n

I expected a gap.<\/p>\n

What I didn\u2019t expect was how often that gap would close.<\/p>\n

From the first moment you pick up the Signature, you know Chinese brand Motorola is trying to say something different. At just 6.99mm thin, it almost feels improbable \u2014 a device this slim shouldn\u2019t house a big battery, a flagship chipset, and a four-camera array. And yet, here it is. Light in the hand, balanced, and unmistakably premium.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t accidental. It feels like a device that\u2019s been thought through \u2014 carefully. You can see the influence of Ruben Castano, Motorola\u2019s Vice President of Design, in every detail. The Pantone colour choices. The textured finishes. The subtle confidence of a phone that doesn\u2019t need to shout to be noticed.\"\"<\/p>\n

The model I tested \u2014 Carbon Shadow \u2014 leans into that idea. The back has a linen-like texture that looks refined, though in practice it\u2019s a magnet for fingerprints and smudges if your hands aren\u2019t perfectly clean. Still, visually, it gives Motorola something Samsung and Apple don\u2019t: character.\"\"<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the display.<\/p>\n

The moment it lights up, the Signature makes its strongest argument. A 6.8-inch, 10-bit, 165Hz panel with Dolby Vision that is not just bright \u2014 it\u2019s aggressively bright. Up to 6200 nits means sunlight simply isn\u2019t a problem. Whether I was checking emails outdoors or streaming content, the screen cut through glare with ease.<\/p>\n

Watching content is where it really shines. Colours are rich without being overcooked, blacks are deep, and motion is fluid. It feels less like using a phone and more like holding a compact tablet in your hand.<\/p>\n

Audio backs it up, too. At first, it\u2019s easy to miss \u2014 until you start playing music and realise there\u2019s a second speaker along the top edge. Tuned with Bose and supporting Dolby Atmos, the stereo setup delivers surprisingly full, detailed sound. It\u2019s not going to replace a good pair of headphones, but for a phone this slim, it\u2019s impressive.\"\"<\/p>\n

Under the surface, the Signature doesn\u2019t hold back.<\/p>\n

Powered by Qualcomm\u2019s Snapdragon 8 Gen 5, paired with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, performance is exactly where it needs to be. Fast, responsive, and capable of handling anything you throw at it without hesitation. This is a true flagship engine.<\/p>\n

Battery life is another strong point. Despite the thin body, Motorola has managed to squeeze in a battery that comfortably delivers a day and a half of use. And when it runs low, 90W wired charging and 50W wireless charging get you back up quickly \u2014 though the device does heat up noticeably when pushing those faster speeds.<\/p>\n

On paper, it\u2019s everything you\u2019d expect from a premium device.<\/p>\n

But then reality creeps in.<\/p>\n

Motorola, like many Chinese smartphone brands, still leans heavily into preloaded apps \u2014 and not all of them are welcome. The good news is you can remove most of the bloat if you\u2019re willing to spend the time. The bad news is you still have to.<\/p>\n

Software is where the Signature stumbles most. Setup is straightforward, and transferring apps from another Android device is easy \u2014 but the experience lacks the refinement of Samsung\u2019s ecosystem. Simple tasks, like creating folders and organising imported apps, feel unnecessarily clunky. It\u2019s not a dealbreaker, but it\u2019s a reminder that Motorola still has work to do.\"\"<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the camera \u2014 arguably the most important battleground.<\/p>\n

Motorola has come armed.<\/p>\n

Four 50MP sensors, led by a Sony LYTIA 828, including ultrawide, telephoto, and front-facing cameras. On paper, it\u2019s impressive. In practice, it\u2019s even better.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

North Head Sydney: On the other side at least 3 kilometres away in Watsons Bay.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Almost to the other side using the zoom capability of the new Motorola Signature.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A little fuzzy but you know what you are seeing.<\/p>\n

Day or night, the Signature delivers strong results. Images are sharp, colours are vibrant without being unrealistic, and dynamic range is solid. Shooting across Sydney Harbour \u2014 from North Head to Watsons Bay \u2014 the consistency between lenses stood out. The 3x optical zoom, in particular, is genuinely useful, maintaining detail without falling apart.<\/p>\n

Push it further, and the 100x Super Zoom Pro kicks in. It works \u2014 but like most extreme zoom features, quality drops off quickly into grainy territory.<\/p>\n

Video performance is another highlight. With support for 8K recording and Dolby Vision capture, it\u2019s a capable tool for content creation, not just casual shooting.<\/p>\n

And this is where things start to shift.<\/p>\n

Because while the Samsung S26 Ultra is still the better phone overall \u2014 more polished, more refined, more complete \u2014 the Motorola Signature keeps showing up. Again and again. In scenarios where it shouldn\u2019t quite compete, it does.<\/p>\n

Display? Competitive.
Battery? Right there.
Camera? Surprisingly close.
Design? Arguably more interesting.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t Motorola trying to imitate Samsung.\"\"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Motorola trying to challenge it.<\/p>\n

And perhaps the most surprising part of this story is the price. While positioned as a premium device, some variants land closer to $1,199 \u2014 significantly undercutting Samsung\u2019s top-tier pricing.<\/p>\n

That changes the conversation.<\/p>\n

Because suddenly, the Signature isn\u2019t just an alternative \u2014 it\u2019s a value play at the high end.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not perfect. The software needs work. The bloatware needs to go. And Samsung still holds the crown.<\/p>\n

But after ten days of using both side by side, one thing is clear:<\/p>\n

Motorola isn\u2019t just knocking on the door of the premium market anymore.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s already inside \u2014 and for the first time in years, it looks like it belongs.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rating 9\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On my desk sat the new Motorola Signature (2026) \u2014 a $1,499 statement piece from a brand that\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":601587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[64,63,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-601586","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}