The Google / Motorola X Phone is a rumored Nexus-like-but-not-a-Nexus flagship smartphone that the Search giant is said to unveil at Google I/O in mid-May, and it looks like we have a new leak for you today detailing some of its specs and features but also showing us how the handset could look like.

The coincidence

Before we dive into the actual leaked hardware, let’s go back in time for a few moments, to recap some of the recent events in the mobile ecosystem starting with MWC 2013; events that could be relevant to today’s leak.

While the Galaxy S4 wasn’t officially part of the mobile show – although some rumors suggest the phone was unofficially present in Barcelona, Spain – it certainly did cast a long shadow over this year’s MWC edition via various leaks but also thanks to Samsung’s confirmation of the announcement of the March 14 New York-based Galaxy S4 media event. In case you forgot, Samsung issued the Galaxy S4 Unpacked event invitations right during MWC, further building anticipation for one of the hottest handsets of the year.

At the time, we speculated that this could be a well-coordinated attack from Samsung’s marketing department, or a serious attempt to generate extra buzz around the handset, at the expense of Samsung’s competitors that were displaying new hardware at MWC.

During the same show, we also heard that Google may have a serious problem with Samsung grabbing more and more market share from rival Android handset makers, right alongside most of the profits based on Android device sales, and we wondered whether the Galaxy S4 vs X Phone will be one of the battles for Android this year.

We ended up that particular article asking ourselves whether “Google [has] reason to crash Samsung’s Galaxy S4 party in the coming weeks and months with more X Phone rumors primed to hit the web on a more regular basis.” Such actions could potentially suggest that Google isn’t entirely happy with Samsung’s progress, even though officially Google has denied having a Samsung problem since that report appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

Well, call it a wild coincidence or not, but on the first day of the week the Galaxy S4 gets official, the X Phone made an appearance, specs, features and image included. Is Google making a move against Samsung?

The hot stuff

We have no way of knowing whether Google’s marketing team is indeed targeting Samsung with such leaks, so in the mean time let’s get right down to business and check out today’s Google / Motorola X Phone rumor!

According to AndroidWorld, an “anonymous tipster” sent the publication details about the X Phone, so here’s what the device could offer, once it becomes official:

4.7-inch Full HD display

NVIDIA Tegra 4i processor

16-megapixel camera

5-megapixel front-facing camera which also serves as a light sensor with eye scrolling features

dimensions: 131.2 x 66.7 x 7.9 mm

Obviously, we’re taking everything with a grain of salt here, because there’s no way to confirm the hardware or the leaked image right now. But again, it’s worth pointing out that the X Phone rumors have started to appear in time to somehow attempt to ruin Samsung’s party this week.

Interestingly, assuming the specs above are based on the real deal, the device does not feature a 5-inch Full HD display as most 2013 flagship devices will have to offer. Instead we’re looking at a 4.7-inch display, which would put the device on par with the HTC One and the rumored Xperia C670 (although the latter is said to sport a 4.8-inch display).

Also interesting is the fact that the X Phone could be among the first, if not the first, handset to come with a Tegra 4i SoC under the hood. And check out those monstrous cameras – someone clearly didn’t get the UltraPixel memo. However, the X Phone may offer users its own eye tracking technology, a feature that seems to be already confirmed for the Galaxy S4.

We’re also quite intrigued with that slim 7.9mm profile and can’t but wonder what battery life will the device have to offer. Comparatively, the Motorola Droid RAZR Maxx HD, which also comes with a 4.7-inch display, has similar dimensions (131.9 x 67.9 x 9.3 mm), but it’s slightly thicker.

As for that render above, it doesn’t exactly reveal a bezel-less handset, although we could be looking at just a placeholder image.

Other details are not available at this time, and we’ll notice that, strangely, the Android OS version is not mentioned. Previously, the X Phone was said to run a vanilla version of Android, just like Nexus devices – and yes, those rumors do say that the handset will come with Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie out of the box. Considering that Google is already removing clutter from current Motorola Android Jelly Bean upgrades, it would make plenty of sense to see Moto launch devices running Nexus-like Android versions in the future, whether the X Phone is real or not.

And what’s up with that Motorola NXT branding? Is it a play on Nexus and X Phone?

We have lots of questions that can’t be answered at this time, and we’ll remind you once again that this is an unconfirmed rumor so far. We’re certainly going to keep you posted on future X Phone rumors in the coming weeks, and we’ll certainly be interested to see whether Galaxy S4 sales will have to suffer as buyers await Google’s I/O event.

What smartphone would you rather buy this year, the Samsung Galaxy S4 or the Google / Motorola X Phone?

Thanks, Claudia!