In 2011, Google acquired Motorola and Moto X is the first device to be unveiled post-acquisition. It’s targeted towards everyday consumers with a 4.2.2 Jelly Bean OS, a 10 MP Camera and 4.7 inch screen. The reviews are out and this device has mostly received good grades from major reviewers. Joshua Topolsky from The Verge marked it eight out of 10 and Brian Bennet from CNET scored it four out of five.
Let’s dive deeper into the specs on this review roundup.
The body
The design of this phone seems to be a big plus. Daniel Bader from Mobile Syrup says:
“There’s something effortless about holding the Moto X in your hand, and it continues to be the reason, above all others, that I pick it up, day after day. Motorola has made a lot of its curved back and dimpled Moto logo in which your index finger rests, but there’s something else.
Cast your mind back to when Samsung first unveiled the Galaxy S3; they claimed it was inspired by nature, like holding a smooth pebble. Such comparisons are more apt for the Moto X, which boasts a compact frame that almost melts into the palm. Its density is equally distributed from top to bottom, and the polycarbonate chassis boasts proportions more appropriate for the average-sized hand than any flagship smart phone in recent memory.”
The display
For a 720p, this is not the best screen but it is far from being the worst says Joshua Topolsky from The Verge. He writes, “I know what you’re thinking: a 720p AMOLED display on a high-end Motorola phone? No thanks!
I was thinking the same thing when I got this device in my hands. And no, it’s not the best display on a smart phone that I’ve used. But it is far — far — from the worst. In fact, it’s slightly above average (certainly compared to Motorola’s past efforts in this area), though not a best-in-class performer like the HTC One’s Super LCD display. Even next to a Galaxy S4 — a phone with a truly improved AMOLED display — the Moto X screen seems acceptable.”
Audio
Sean Riley from Android and me says critics think that this device is louder than the HTC One which has been touted to be one of the loudest smartphones.
“It (the speaker) looks pretty small, but it actually plays impressively loud… It’s extremely loud without distortion… It can monitor the temperature and movement of the speaker membrane to safely boost sound up to 6x more than normal without risk of blowing the speaker out… The Moto X’s speaker is actually significantly louder than the One’s, and there isn’t much distortion, either.
Performance
Even though it’s not the first smartphone to include a dual core processor, it works far better than some others and performs smoothly, says Russel Holly from Geek.
“The Moto X, is completely optimized for the kind of improvements provided by the latest versions of Android, and the end result is easily the smoothest Android phone. On top of delivering a smooth UI, the phone pauses for nothing. Complex games or apps with a heavy dataset will load with the same speed as quad-core processors, and switching between complex apps doesn’t reveal any sense of lacking despite only having a dual-core processor.
Moto X is more than capable when it comes to network performance as well.
The 802.11ac radio in this phone includes a separate amplifier for the 5 GHz network, which allows for faster upload speeds when connected to those networks. When compared to other 802.11ac phones, the Moto X was able to offer an average of 9 MB faster upload during speed tests but there didn’t seem to be any noticeable difference in real world applications. This feature would likely be most useful when using a 5 GHz Miracast adapter for a more capable Wireless Display transmission.” .
Battery life
The Moto X has an impressive battery life and keeps the phone alive and gunning for almost a day. Chris Chavez from Phandroid says:
“While an average 2,200 mAh battery might not sound like much, don’t let it fool you — it takes the Moto X a long way. That’s not to say you’ll get a full 24 hours worth of usage (no matter what you’ve read), but the Moto X should get you through your day, until you make it home at night.
According to Motorola, the Moto X is capable of 13 hours of straight talk time, and around 24 with mixed usage. My results varied but on average, I’d get around 14 hours of “normal” usage (checking Twitter every so often, making a few phones calls, checking a few texts, watching a YouTube video or 2), but with very light usage, I could often hit that 20 hour mark. In fact, standby mode is where the Moto X truly shines.”
Camera
This seems to be the weakest area of this device. It simply does not match up to its competitors.
“The particulars in this case are 10-megapixel rear camera (there’s a 2MP shooter out front) that adds in a “clear pixel” along with the red, green and blue pixels to let in more light and alleviate motion blur. Pictures are shot in 16:9, and video records at 1080p.
All that said, we’ve not been overly impressed by the quality of images we’ve shot with the Moto X camera. Perhaps we’re used to the over saturated pictures from other phones we’ve used this year (namely the HTC One, LG Optimus G Pro, and the Samsung Galaxy S4 and its cousins), but we’ve seen too many dark and dreary results. Colors seem muted. Images almost appear to be underexposed. And we’ve strugged with getting the proper focus in far too many shots.
That’s not to say we haven’t gotten some pretty good shots from Moto X. Because we have. It just feels like we’re having to work at them, or that it takes some post-production from something like Snapseed or the auto-enhance feature in Google+ to end up with something presentable.” says Phil Nickson from Android Central
The bottom line
Chris Chavez from Phandroid and Armando Rodriguez from TechHive round it up well.
“In the end, the Moto X was made to provide Motorola with a mainstream success of iPhone-level proportions. Motorola made a very strategic move in not focusing on specs, but on what the X could offer that was unlike the millions of other Android devices on the market. Something personal, something convenient, something that would change the way people interact with their smartphone. There’s a value in that and it’s why the Moto X — while it might not pack the higher spec numbers — at $200 on contract, it’s priced on the same level as high-end handsets offered by Samsung, HTC, and LG.
“I have to give Motorola and Google some credit: They’ve demonstrated that we don’t need bleeding-edge specs to get a solid smartphone experience. The Moto X announcement may not have lived up to everyone’s hype, but the phone itself is still worth considering. At $200 on contract, you’re getting a phone that performs as well as ‘high-end’ smartphones like the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 while still offering helpful extras like Touchless Control and Active Display.”
