Clear images have surfaced online purporting to be the 2017 Motorola Moto X smartphone. The images have been taken by an "anonymous tipster" and picked up by Techdroider and clearly show a future Moto smartphone.

The pictures show the phone will come with an all metal build, but the lack of connector pins for Moto Mods confirms it's not a handset that offers modularity like the flagship Moto Z device.

Although the images are fairly clear, it's obvious that some details have been removed, probably codes that identify this handset as a prototype, and potentially the exact sample number.

What's not clear is which family this device would belong to. As we've said, it's not following the same lines as the Moto Z (where we'd expect modularity to continue), so it could be a Moto X or a Moto G, although the metal build would suggest it falls into a higher tier than the often entry-level G.

For now all we have to go on for the new Moto device is these pictures, as no specs or features have been revealed. It's estimated to have a 5.5-inch display, something that Lenovo said was a minimum size for future handsets, while a front-mounted fingerprint scanner can be seen in the images. Reportedly, it's going to be available in silver or gold.

It's not clear when Lenovo/Motorola will officially unveil this new handset, an obvious guess would be Mobile World Congress in February, but for now all we can say is watch this space.