Quick summary
Motorola has revealed its 2027 flagship, the Signature 27, which will be released later this year, starting a new naming convention for the brand.
The discovery coincides with Qualcomm’s announcement of its new Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 chip, which this phone is among the first to use.
Beyond that, however, Motorola’s ultra-premium collaborations include Bang & Olufsen sound and an ongoing Pantone partnership to deliver unique colors.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to stand out in the flagship phone market. With Apple dominating and Samsung holding a large share of Android users, what must a brand do?
Motorola’s take is to go ultra-premium, with its latest Signature 27 flagship revealed in tandem with Qualcomm’s latest chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 – which comes in two versions for this new generation, adding an ‘Extreme’ variant for additional AI power.
Not only does the Signature 27 embody this top-tier chipset, it has a variety of other collaborations that maintain its premier status. Sound is courtesy of Bang & Olufsen, the renowned Danish audio manufacturer. The finish, meanwhile, continues with Motorola’s long-standing Pantone partnership to deliver unique colors.
The Signature 27 is also named differently than Motorola’s previous flagship models. It’s much simpler: the two-digit number represents its year (that’s 2027 – despite a 2026 on-sale date coming up), with assumed ’28’, ’29’, and so on, to take its place in the coming years.
I’m surprised by some aspects of the feature set over the addition of the Qualcomm hardware inside though. Visually, Motorola has really gone all-in here, with a large camera unit on the rear that includes four lenses, plus a flash unit. It has Samsung-threatening vibes about it, so Galaxy fans should watch out.
(Image credit: Motorola)
This camera setup has a 50-megapixel Sony Lytia 910 sensor, known for its large scale, as the main camera. There is also a 200-megapixel periscope zoom, ensuring that the Signature 27 meets a wide range of photographic needs – from wide-angle to zoom shooting.
Qualcomm’s hardware will boost these camera capabilities even more, as the latest chip is capable of shooting with super-high 8K resolution at 60 frames per second. There’s also the “integration of Qualcomm’s Image Stabilization” technology, so Motorola’s 3.5-degree optical image stabilization (OIS) hardware can compensate for judder when panning, walking or taking shots with a handheld.
The Signature 27 is also the first phone from Motorola to feature audio from B&O. It’s the debut product of a recently announced multi-year partnership with Bang & Olufsen, so expect more in the future. It will be interesting to see how the sound design here uses the brand’s expertise to advance over its peers.
The overall aesthetic of the Signature 27 is just different, too, offered in Coal Smoke, Tactical Weave or Capulet Olive – all of which are different Pantone colors. Like Motorola’s recent Razr 70 Ultra, the addition of texture brings another premium element that stands apart from typical Android phone standards.
The Motorola Signature 27 is expected to go on sale later this year, with more information to follow in the coming weeks and months. With Samsung-beating power levels, but also cameras and finish that fans of the rumored Galaxy S27 Ultra may find distracting, this is an amazing surprise flagship reveal – and I can’t wait to see more.