A Quick Look at the Moto X - Motorola's New Flagship
by Brian Klug on August 1, 2013 3:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Qualcomm
- MSM8960
- Motorola
- Mobile
- Android 4.2
- Moto X
- S4 Pro
Thoughts on Moto X
My initial thoughts with the Moto X are that it's a great device, easily one of the best feeling, sized, and shaped devices of this year. The screen is big enough without the device being bulky, and Motorola says that over 70 percent of the front surface of the Moto X is display. I'm still not a fan of AMOLED, but in this case a lot of the features (active display) do need it to be power efficient. The customization options are novel and unique, even if they're limited to AT&T in the USA for the time being. The idea of a wood-backed phone excites me since it means each device will be unique and have different wood grain, and having some way to differentiate one's handset from all the other black squares out there would be awesome. Having the same device available on all the US operators is also a huge win for Motorola, who has been otherwise stuck to endless Verizon exclusives that dramatically limit the reach of its flagships, even if the Moto X isn't a single SKU solution for all the operators (I do not have cellular banding information for each variant). Even now though, we saw the announcement of some Verizon Motorola Droids that basically include the same hardware platform and a number of features from the X.
The fruits of Google's interaction with Motorola are a bit more unclear. The Moto X runs a primarily stock UI, but it isn't entirely free of operator interaction – there's operator branding and light preloading, of course nowhere near the level that you'd get on a phone that goes through the normal interaction, but calling this "unadulterated android" still isn't factually correct, and it's definitely not Nexus with all that operator branding. I find myself puzzled as well that the Moto X isn't running Android 4.3. For other OEM partners, I can understand not having the absolute latest version of the platform running because of UI skinning and features, with a stock UI and operating under Google's umbrella, it's just a bit harder for me to explain away, especially given how far along Samsung and HTC allegedly are with 4.3 builds.
The last bit is pricing. The rumor and buildup led me to believe that Moto X would be priced like the midrange device the silicon inside misgives it for, but at $199 on contract it's priced just like a flagship halo phone with a quad core SoC. I realize specs aren't the be all end all for everyone, but I was hoping the Moto X would be the realization of an Android for the masses movement and platform direction from Google with the price to back it up, which would've been $199 with no contract. I have no doubt we'll see the Moto X move down in cost quickly, and it's premium, it's just surprising to see $199 out of the gate for what is a midrange platform (8960Pro) right now.
I need to spend more time with the Moto X to really pass judgment. I've popped my personal SIM in and will use it as my daily driver for a while and give it the full review treatment.
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UpSpin - Friday, August 2, 2013 - link
Compared to your Evo 4G LTE the Motorola:- has a better (if you love OLED) or at least equivalent screen (no Pentile!)
- a faster CPU
- a much faster GPU
- more RAM
- much more responsive interactions, simpler usage of Google Now and probably longer standby time thanks to the dedicated natural language processor and contextual processor
- (for root) same usable screen (you can switch them off) and use Pie Control instead
- better camera
- overall smaller
- but most importantly: customizable.
So for whom is this phone? Probably young people who want to have their personal device instead of a phone everyone has.
PS: Not every phone must be suited for you, and just because you don't like it, doesn't mean that others, maybe younger people with different interests, use cases and priorities (like personalization instead of a kickstand), also don't like it.
themossie - Saturday, August 3, 2013 - link
My comment was intended to show how Motorola is alienating much of their previous smartphone audience. Other comments have amply criticized this phone spec-wise in comparison with current-generation phones in its price range, so I did my best to give a different perspective :-)The best anyone has said in its defense is "it's good enough" (yes, but not cheap enough for 'good enough') and "it's customizable" (check out custom battery doors for the Galaxy S3/S4)
My more fashionable friends buy custom cases for their phones... and they switch out these cases every few months depending on moods. No switching out the back of a Moto X.
It's the price that will kill it in the market - it's not an objectively bad phone. Limited customization isn't enough differentiation to justify this kind of price. I see little interest in 'Touchless Control' / 'OK Google Now', if comments on Anandtech and ArsTechnica posts are any indication.
So, yes, I do expect that other, maybe younger? people (I'm 25) also won't like it. For whom is this phone indeed?
I still want to see a (wooden?) Surface Pro style kickstand on a smartphone :-)
- The Mossie
Krysto - Thursday, August 1, 2013 - link
Tell that to Nokia, too.CSMR - Friday, August 2, 2013 - link
Quad core and 1080p are just for ignorant consumers who don't understand that the third and fourth cores will never be used and the extra pixels over 720p will not be seen,darwinosx - Friday, August 2, 2013 - link
Agree on the cores. Not sure I do on 720 vs 1080 tho. I would.akdj - Monday, August 5, 2013 - link
I couldn't agree more. Excellent post. Five years from now when developers and UI's take advantage of multiple core procs, absolutely. Today...they mainly sit idle while consuming power. IOW, battery drain.Same as 1080p on a 5" screen. These DPI measurements are off the chart. While the 'retina' idea and push has been phenomenal for everything visually....1080p and >350 ppi is largely overrated and again, a battery suck
300-350 ppi with better contrast, whites blacks and color will, IMHO lay waste to any 1080p high density phone that forgets the 'real' attributes to what makes a 'good' display vs a 'great' display.
J
gallen408 - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link
*facepalm* No, I would rather spend $199 +2 years for a phone with 4 application cores (two of which are frequently unused even by the os, really just great for benchmark bumping really), and a 1080p display that 80% of consumers would not have noticed if not for told by a marketing team that gets barely three hours of actual screen on time and needs to be recharged two or three times a day. Oh, and dont forget that the quad core 320GPU in this thing smokes the GS4 & HTC One in nearly every benchmark...Specs are becoming less important as the user experience improves to take advantage of the HUGE amount of unused power these devices have. The nano-particle water resistance is a nice thought as well.
I am all for as much power as possible but there needs to be a threshold between power & efficiency. After all, how many consumers purchase 350+HP sports cars that really don't fit their day to day lifestyle? This is more like the crossover hybrid.
StormyParis - Thursday, August 1, 2013 - link
'coz we all know the Antutu score is the most important feature of a phone. Which is why my PC is the best phone, ever !Zink - Thursday, August 1, 2013 - link
Yeah, at 1.7 GHz this phone should match the HTC One for all but some games and photo editing etc. Quad core performance is nice to have but will not be noticeable for most users I would think.flyguy29 - Monday, August 5, 2013 - link
A spec battle cannot be won outright. The customization options differentiates it and may give t a longer shelf life than your average flagship. Look how quickly the BB Z10 faded into obscurity. I would imagine that them flagship pricing helps cover the costs of stocking, servicing and marketing all of those back covers. Your choice. I too would chose specs (especially mi memory) than having the ability to choose from 15 different battery covers, for which I could only use one. "contextually aware" is smoke and mirrors for " 720p is good enough since we have smart indicators and microphones".