Unveiling the 2015 Moto X "Style," third generation Moto G, and a new Moto X "Play," Motorola continues to quietly change the smartphone game.

On Tuesday, following up its (highly recommended) cult hit second generation Moto X 2014 and value-packed Moto G 2014, Motorola held an event in New York City, London and Sao Paulo to introduce the third generation Moto X, Moto G and a new in-between Moto X model for 2015.


Here's what's coming soon, and in some cases, available in days.

Moto X 'Style' / 'Pure Edition'

The flagship of Motorola, the Moto X, has always been about customizability, convenience and a balance between must-have features and rock-bottom price.

The Moto X 2015 -- dubbed the "Moto X Style" for the global audience and "Moto X Pure Edition" in the U.S. -- continues that tradition on a new level.

It comes with a 5.7-inch Gorilla Glass 3-covered display sporting a 2560 x 1440p resolution, which is a big bump up from the 5.2-inch 1080p Moto X 2014. It's powered by a hexa-core Snapdragon 808 at 1.8GHz with 3GB of RAM.

If those phablet-type specs make you worry about the phone's battery life (one of the few drawbacks of last year's model), Motorola has upped the battery size to a full 3000 mAh from the 2014's 2300 mAh battery. It's still nonremovable by design, but Motorola boasts you can inject eight hours of power in 15 minutes through its industry-stand-out, quick-charging technology.

This year the Moto X also included microSD support for up to 128GB, seemingly by popular demand.

Also by popular demand: a camera that promises to be much better than previous models. The camera has a 21-megapixel sensor, and according to Motorola, far faster shutter speeds than before. There's also a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with a wide-angle lens, night mode, and -- a first for smartphones -- flash. Motorola apparently thinks selfies at night are quite important.

The device looks like a Moto X, as style has never been a problem for the brand, but instead of a two-speaker (look that only uses one), Motorola has finally made its front-facing speakers actually play in stereo, with a feature called Smartboost, to boot.

Though it's called "Pure Edition" in the U.S., the Moto X Style will come with Android 5.1 Lollipop plus Motorola's minimal, handy, completely opposite-of-bloatware software, including Moto Voice and Display.

And, as always, you can build your own custom Moto X using the company's "Motomaker" website.

Third-Generation Moto G

The second big announcement on Tuesday was of the Moto G 2015, which is more than a bump up in specs in the low-cost Moto G tradition.

The third generation Moto G comes with a 5-inch display, still sporting 720p resolution, but running on a quad-core Snapdragon 410 at 1.4GHz with the option of 1GB or 2GB RAM. Forty dollars extra gives you 2GB with 16GB internal storage, but both options include microSD storage for the first time, though only up to 32GB.

The camera for the Moto G got a boost this year as well, now up to 13-megapixels with dual tone flash and autofocus, and the front-facer is up to 5-megapixels now (though the front-facing flash is only for the Moto X).

Beyond a specs bump, Motorola has made the Moto G 2015 to IPX7 certifications, which (for all you non-industrial certifications buffs) means you can drop it up to a meter underwater for 30 minutes and the phone will be fine. It also features dual-SIM capability

The Unlocked Generation is Upon Us

Both of those phones have great specs, but the Apple iPhone 6, Samsung Galaxy S6, LG G4, and others can outmatch the Moto X with various impressive hardware features of their own. So what's the big deal?

The price for a Moto X 2015 when its released in September starts at $400, unlocked. The Moto G starts at $200, unlocked, and is on sale now.

If you haven't heard about "unlocked" phones, you will in the future, since it's both the direction both carriers and consumers are going. It'll mean no more two-year contracts, but also no more subsidized prices for iPhones and Galaxy S's.

Premium phones like those cost about $200 with a contract, but can be up to four times as expensive without the carrier subsidy. But Motorola didn't even bother partnering with any wireless carriers this year, and is just selling the Moto G and Moto X online, on Amazon, and through Best Buy, completely unlocked and at close to the same price as comparable subsidized phones.

After spending half a year with it, I called the Moto X 2014 the perfect phone to start an unlocked future, one where you actually own your smartphone and can flit between various wireless carrier options at whim (or more likely, for better deals).

The Moto X 2015 has actually surpassed the Moto X 2014 in that regard. It's cheap and unlocked, yes, but it also has this final -- possibly revolutionary -- feature:

It's designed to work with every single carrier.

The Moto X comes with universal LTE banding that promises to makes crossing the Verizon-Sprint / AT&T-T-Mobile spectrum barrier as easy as popping in a different SIM card.

Who needs Google's Project Fi when your smartphone is already universal? (Wired seems to agree, saying, "It could change how we buy phones.")

New Moto X "Play": Not for US

The last major announcement to touch on is the crossover smartphone that's in-between the Moto X and Moto G in design and specs.

The Moto X Play came out of left field for everyone watching the event on Tuesday, but the surprise was tempered quickly by the fact that it's not going to be available in the U.S.

Nonetheless, it's an interesting phone that introduces one feature that's never been seen in the premium smartphone world. For that matter, it hasn't been seen since smartphones: a two-day battery.

The phone runs a mid-range 1.7GHz Snapdragon 615 processor with 2GB RAM on a 5.5-inch display running at 1080p. It comes with the same 21-megapixel camera as the Moto X, and sports microSD expansion as well.

For those lower-powered hardware specs, its 3630 mAh battery is next to ridiculous. "If you had a problem with the Moto X 2014's short battery life," Motorola seemed to be thinking, "we'll show you some battery life..."

It will be available in August for major markets outside of the U.S., with seemingly no plans to bring this Moto X marathoner to our shores at all.