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Motorola Moto X
Moto X review
The Moto X is the long-awaited collaboration between Motorola and Google. Google became Motorola's owner and parent company about a year ago, which had many thinking that Moto would make the next Nexus phone. Instead we got the Moto X, a compact, stylish handset with decidedly mid-range specs. With an emphasis on battery life, contextual services and easy one-handed operation, it seems Motorola has the iPhone 5 in its sights, not the big screen powerhouses like the HTC One or Samsung Galaxy S4
Google acquiring Motorola was a bit of a Jonah and the whale situation. The search giant swallowed the telecommunications firm as it treaded water in the smartphone market. It pushed out three solid Android phones for Verizon - the Droid Razr M, the Droid Razr HDand the Droid Razr Maxx HD, and then fell silent - within the belly of the beast.
After a year and a half of relative radio silence, Motorola reemerged. First doing the three Droids for Verizon deal, showing the Droid Mini, Droid Maxx and Droid Ultra. Now we have its long rumored flagship, the Moto X.
Unlike those Droids, the Moto X is coming to all major American carriers. Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, U.S. Cellular and T-Mobile will each be carrying it.
And unlike any other phone on the market, the Moto X offers a lot more choice than just storage size, 16 or 32GB in this case. It comes in nearly every color you can imagine, as well as eclectic patterns like the wood paneling of an old Woodie station wagon.
When the Moto X first launches, this customization will be exclusive to AT&T, but it will open up to other carriers after an undisclosed period. That exclusive deal with AT&T could hurt the Moto X in the long run though. Potential customers waiting to build one on another carrier may lose interest when something new and shiny like an iPhone 6 comes along.
And Motorola has also opted into second place in the spec sheet game: the X has a dual-core processor and 720p screen, lower than the quad-core and 1080p combo that the HTC One and Galaxy S4 have taught consumers to expect from flagships.
While it looks lesser on paper, will it really make a difference day to day? Motorola is betting on no. Instead of going for all the gigahertz, its loaded the Moto X up with thoughtful features like hands-free Google Now voice commands, a clever notification system and camera access with the flick of wrist. It's also claiming twenty-four hour battery life on a 2200mAh cell, thanks to those lower wattage internals.
Can services trump specs? Has Motorola built the best Android phone for the "everyman" user? Or will it be lost in a sea of bigger screen phones with bigger specs and bigger names? Only time will tell. But as to whether or not it's a phone worth your money, just read on for the answer.
The Moto X is the long-awaited collaboration between Motorola and Google. Google became Motorola's owner and parent company about a year ago, which had many thinking that Moto would make the next Nexus phone. Instead we got the Moto X, a compact, stylish handset with decidedly mid-range specs. With an emphasis on battery life, contextual services and easy one-handed operation, it seems Motorola has the iPhone 5 in its sights, not the big screen powerhouses like the HTC One or Samsung Galaxy S4
Google acquiring Motorola was a bit of a Jonah and the whale situation. The search giant swallowed the telecommunications firm as it treaded water in the smartphone market. It pushed out three solid Android phones for Verizon - the Droid Razr M, the Droid Razr HDand the Droid Razr Maxx HD, and then fell silent - within the belly of the beast.
After a year and a half of relative radio silence, Motorola reemerged. First doing the three Droids for Verizon deal, showing the Droid Mini, Droid Maxx and Droid Ultra. Now we have its long rumored flagship, the Moto X.
Unlike those Droids, the Moto X is coming to all major American carriers. Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, U.S. Cellular and T-Mobile will each be carrying it.
And unlike any other phone on the market, the Moto X offers a lot more choice than just storage size, 16 or 32GB in this case. It comes in nearly every color you can imagine, as well as eclectic patterns like the wood paneling of an old Woodie station wagon.
When the Moto X first launches, this customization will be exclusive to AT&T, but it will open up to other carriers after an undisclosed period. That exclusive deal with AT&T could hurt the Moto X in the long run though. Potential customers waiting to build one on another carrier may lose interest when something new and shiny like an iPhone 6 comes along.
And Motorola has also opted into second place in the spec sheet game: the X has a dual-core processor and 720p screen, lower than the quad-core and 1080p combo that the HTC One and Galaxy S4 have taught consumers to expect from flagships.
While it looks lesser on paper, will it really make a difference day to day? Motorola is betting on no. Instead of going for all the gigahertz, its loaded the Moto X up with thoughtful features like hands-free Google Now voice commands, a clever notification system and camera access with the flick of wrist. It's also claiming twenty-four hour battery life on a 2200mAh cell, thanks to those lower wattage internals.
Can services trump specs? Has Motorola built the best Android phone for the "everyman" user? Or will it be lost in a sea of bigger screen phones with bigger specs and bigger names? Only time will tell. But as to whether or not it's a phone worth your money, just read on for the answer.
Design
At 5-inches, the Moto X is diminutive compared to the current Android leaders. This is good news for anyone who's felt like the HTC One or Galaxy S4 were going to rip out of their pocket, or slip out of their hand. The X is also built from a polycarbonate plastic that gives it a different feel from other phones on the market.
Its materials make it feel dense and well built; it actually feels a little bit ceramic. It's a marked contrast to the Galaxy S4, which feels plastic and hollow. The Moto X feels solid and well balanced. Weighing in at 130 grams, it's on the heavy side, but the weight isn't too much, and gives the phone a substantial, premium feel.
The rear of the phone is curved slightly, letting it nestle easily in your hand. Our review unit was a white model, with a slightly holographic woven pattern. The Motorola logo on the rear is dimpled, giving your index finger a perfect place to rest. Like an iPhone 5 or HTC One, the back is a little bit slippery, the only thing that detracts from a build otherwise perfect for one-handed use.
The Moto X's full measurements are 5.09 x 2.57 x 0.41-inches. It's easy to operate in one hand, due to its moderate size as well as a power button and volume rocker on the right side, right where your thumb can get at them.
Those are the only physical buttons on the phone. They're metal and raised and therefore easy to press, but do feel a little bit loose in their sockets. Shake the phone and you can faintly hear them rattle; this is something we encountered on the last Motorola phones we reviewed, the Droid Razr M and Droid Razr HD, a slight annoyance that detracts from the otherwise excellent feel of the phone.
The Moto X has a sealed design, with no microSD expansion. That's a bit of a bummer, since you'll be shelling out $200 or $250 for the 16 or 32GB option, with no 64GB model available. It has allowed Motorola to give its phone a pleasing unibody design, though. Despite a seam running along the side of the phone, it feels like one solid piece of high quality plastic.
The phone's display is a 4.7-inch AMOLED display, with a resolution of 720 x 1280 aka 720p and a pixel density of 312 ppi. As we mentioned, that's a peg below the full HD 1080p resolution of the leading Android devices like the HTC One and Galaxy S4.
Compared side-by-side to the HTC One's 1080p display of the same size, the Moto X is noticeably less sharp. It really does take that sort of comparison to notice the difference though. While the One's mind boggling pixel density renders crisper text, and slightly nicer HD video, the Moto X's display is still far from fuzzy.
Colors are strong, a bit saturated, but never dull. The auto brightness regulates the display well in indoor light and in a dark room. It's no better at avoiding sunlight washout than iPhone 5 or Galaxy S4.
As we mentioned, the Moto X can be customized to a ridiculous degree. When you buy it online through the Motomaker, you can choose colors for the front and back as well as highlights like the ring around the lens and the buttons. There's also an option to add a signature, like the engraving offered by Apple on the iPhone.
Your phone will still be subject to a carrier's logo, so expect AT&T's globe and Verizon's red check to blemish the rear of your device. Also, when the Moto X first launches, the Motomaker will only be open to AT&T customers. Motorola won't say when this exclusivity will end, just that it will, so eventually customers on other carriers will be able to get in on the fun.
Because of that, we'd advise those not on AT&T to wait to buy a Moto X until they can design their own. There's no charge for the service, so wait for it if you can
At 5-inches, the Moto X is diminutive compared to the current Android leaders. This is good news for anyone who's felt like the HTC One or Galaxy S4 were going to rip out of their pocket, or slip out of their hand. The X is also built from a polycarbonate plastic that gives it a different feel from other phones on the market.
Its materials make it feel dense and well built; it actually feels a little bit ceramic. It's a marked contrast to the Galaxy S4, which feels plastic and hollow. The Moto X feels solid and well balanced. Weighing in at 130 grams, it's on the heavy side, but the weight isn't too much, and gives the phone a substantial, premium feel.
The rear of the phone is curved slightly, letting it nestle easily in your hand. Our review unit was a white model, with a slightly holographic woven pattern. The Motorola logo on the rear is dimpled, giving your index finger a perfect place to rest. Like an iPhone 5 or HTC One, the back is a little bit slippery, the only thing that detracts from a build otherwise perfect for one-handed use.
The Moto X's full measurements are 5.09 x 2.57 x 0.41-inches. It's easy to operate in one hand, due to its moderate size as well as a power button and volume rocker on the right side, right where your thumb can get at them.
Those are the only physical buttons on the phone. They're metal and raised and therefore easy to press, but do feel a little bit loose in their sockets. Shake the phone and you can faintly hear them rattle; this is something we encountered on the last Motorola phones we reviewed, the Droid Razr M and Droid Razr HD, a slight annoyance that detracts from the otherwise excellent feel of the phone.
The Moto X has a sealed design, with no microSD expansion. That's a bit of a bummer, since you'll be shelling out $200 or $250 for the 16 or 32GB option, with no 64GB model available. It has allowed Motorola to give its phone a pleasing unibody design, though. Despite a seam running along the side of the phone, it feels like one solid piece of high quality plastic.
The phone's display is a 4.7-inch AMOLED display, with a resolution of 720 x 1280 aka 720p and a pixel density of 312 ppi. As we mentioned, that's a peg below the full HD 1080p resolution of the leading Android devices like the HTC One and Galaxy S4.
Compared side-by-side to the HTC One's 1080p display of the same size, the Moto X is noticeably less sharp. It really does take that sort of comparison to notice the difference though. While the One's mind boggling pixel density renders crisper text, and slightly nicer HD video, the Moto X's display is still far from fuzzy.
Colors are strong, a bit saturated, but never dull. The auto brightness regulates the display well in indoor light and in a dark room. It's no better at avoiding sunlight washout than iPhone 5 or Galaxy S4.
As we mentioned, the Moto X can be customized to a ridiculous degree. When you buy it online through the Motomaker, you can choose colors for the front and back as well as highlights like the ring around the lens and the buttons. There's also an option to add a signature, like the engraving offered by Apple on the iPhone.
Your phone will still be subject to a carrier's logo, so expect AT&T's globe and Verizon's red check to blemish the rear of your device. Also, when the Moto X first launches, the Motomaker will only be open to AT&T customers. Motorola won't say when this exclusivity will end, just that it will, so eventually customers on other carriers will be able to get in on the fun.
Because of that, we'd advise those not on AT&T to wait to buy a Moto X until they can design their own. There's no charge for the service, so wait for it if you can
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