A questionable report from China today claims that Motorola has swapped the upcoming Moto 360’s svelte stainless steel body for a cheaper plastic one that makes the device much thicker. No reason is given for the change, which seems highly unlikely at this point given the excitement from consumers for a metal smartwatch.

Citing “industry sources,” TechWeb claims that despite what Motorola has led us to believe, the Moto 360 will actually have a plastic housing instead of a stainless steel one. The report also claims that Motorola’s first Android Wear device will have wireless charging, a 48mm face, and will measure 13.55mm thick.

That’s significantly thicker than competitors like the LG G Watch, which measures 9.9mm, and the Samsung Gear Live, which measures 8.9mm. But we advise you take to take this particular report with a healthy pinch of salt, because it smells fishier than a fishmonger’s fishing net.

Motorola would be crazy to take away the one thing people are most excited about when it comes to the Moto 360. Almost all of its competitors are made of plastic, and the Moto 360’s stainless steel chassis is what sets it apart — and makes it look so incredibly good-looking.

Motorola has already made metal prototypes of the device that have been showcased out in the wild — we saw them at Google I/O — so it’s not as if the images we’ve seen of the Moto 360 are just mockups based on little more than an idea that turned out to be impossible to make.

In addition, the company has been promising us a metal smartwatch, and it seems highly unlikely it would change its design so significantly this close to launch without mentioning anything.

The fact that TechWeb’s report doesn’t provide a reason for the change makes us even more suspicious. It doesn’t try to convince us that there are manufacturing issues, that stainless steel is too expensive, or that plastic feels nicer against the skin; it simply suggests Motorola made the change without reason, because it can.

 

• SourceTechWeb
• ViaTechRadar