Moto X Force With 'Shatterproof' Display

On Thursday, Motorola dramatically unveiled a new 2015 Moto X model, the Moto X Force, that Motorola says sports a shatterproof display. Not crack-resistant or "tough as nails," but shatterproof. And the company is backing up the claim with a four-year replacement guarantee.

The announcement, and Motorola's bold boast about the screen, came in the form of an entertainingly over-the-top video demonstration, which Motorola dubbed the #ShortestPressAnnouncementEver.

Here's a rundown of the major specs:

•  64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 @ 2.0GHz with Adreno 430 GPU, 3GB RAM, and the "Moto Voice" natural language processor baked in.
•  5.4-inch AMOLED ShatterShield Display with Quad HD (2560 x 1440p) resolution, 540 pixels per inch
•  32GB or 64GB internal storage, microSD expansion up to 2TB (though 200GB cards are the largest that exist so far)
•  21-megapixel rear camera with phase detection autofocus, auto-HDR, 4K video capture @30fps, and dual-LED flash
•  5-megapixel wide-angle, front-facing camera with dedicated LED flash and 1.4um pixel size for low light
•  3760mAh battery with TurboPower charging (13 hours in 15 minutes), Qi and PMA wireless charging support, rated up to 48 hours of mixed usage
•  802.11 a/b/g/n/ac WiFi with 2.4GHz + 5GHz MIMO, Bluetooth 4.1 LE, GPS, and NFC
•  Support for HMTS / HPSA+, GSM/EDGE networks and 4G LTE bands: B1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, 20, 25, 28, 40
•  Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, upgradeable to Android 6.0 Marshmallow

It's interesting to note that the Moto X Force is just one LTE band away from the Moto X (Style) Pure Edition's "universal LTE banding." And its wide range supported network types may leave a chance open that the Moto X Force could work on some GSM-based U.S. networks, though probably not as smoothly and trouble-free as if it were designed for it. 

The only missed opportunity with the Moto X Force is that, while it has a water-resistant nanocoating like the Moto X Style, Motorola could have really made the device accident-proof if it had given the Force the same waterproof design that comes with the third-generation Moto G. That (cheaper) device's IP67 waterproofing is rated for up to 30 minutes in three feet of water.

If the Moto X Force had that, you could not only repeatedly drop the phone on a concrete surface without consequence -- you could drop it, bank it off a curb and into a puddle, all (probably) without ruining your day.