Motorola’s close partnership with Pantone is about to deliver another headline color. After painting several of its recent smartphones in Mocha Mousse, Pantone’s Color of the Year 2025, the company is reportedly preparing a much lighter and more airy hero shade for 2026, tentatively called Lightest Sky.
The name comes from a leak by well-known tipster Evan Blass, who shared that Pantone’s 2026 Color of the Year will carry the Lightest Sky label, ahead of Pantone’s official reveal. 
If that prediction is right, Motorola is almost certain to make this tone the signature color for its 2026 lineup, just as it embraced Mocha Mousse on select models this year.
No one outside Pantone has seen the final swatch yet, so Lightest Sky could turn out to be a delicate pastel blue, a soft gray-blue that recalls early morning clouds, or even a pale cyan with just enough saturation to stand out on store shelves without screaming for attention. We should get clarity soon: Pantone is expected to formally announce the 2026 Color of the Year on December 4.
Color collaborations like this are a powerful marketing tool, helping phones pop in promo photos and in real life. But the community is split. Some buyers say they don’t care whether it is Mocha Mousse, Bronze Green, or Lightest Sky – if there is no simple black version, they are not interested. Others argue that it is time for Motorola to invest as heavily in long, reliable software support as it does in fresh paint jobs, because a stylish finish means little if system updates dry up too quickly.
Still, the Pantone deal does give Motorola a recognisable visual identity. You can already see the direction in the recent Motorola Edge 70, which arrived in a Pantone-certified Bronze Green that feels more premium in person than standard midrange finishes. If Lightest Sky is indeed next, expect 2026 Motorola phones to double as rolling showcases for Pantone’s new palette, pairing softer, calmer colors with slimmer designs and, hopefully, update policies that last as long as the hardware.
Whether you love minimal black or collect each limited color, Motorola’s 2026 generation is shaping up to be a key test: can the brand balance trend-setting shades like Lightest Sky with the kind of long-term support that power users have been asking for year after year?