Review: Moto X

Text and photos by Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Google's Moto X is an intriguing new paradigm in smartphones. Created to compete with the iPhone, it is neither a flagship device with the best possible hardware specs, nor is it a Pure Android Nexus smartphone designed for serious smartphone enthusiasts. I try and discover what it is all about.

Since Google purchased Motorola Mobility over a year ago, presumably for that company's mobile patent stockpile, a lot was expected from their first device together. Motorola kept churning out some solid but unremarkable devices under the Atrix, Droid and RAZR lines and never showed any advantage in terms of software despite being owned by Google.

Google kept its partnerships with its hardware OEMs intact as Samsung and now LG were the companies tasked to create the Nexus flagship smartphones, which are sold unlocked and free of any third party overlays and software.

When Moto X was revealed earlier this month following a series of 'leaks', a lot of buzz from journalists and influencers who were gifted with early preview versions of the device. By invitation sneak peek events conducted by ex-Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki also stoked the public's curiosity, everything pointed to a major product release.

For Motorola, who has had to shed hundreds of jobs to fit into the Google stable, the Moto X is a testament to creating something relevant under tremendous pressure and scrutiny. All this at a time when competition in the smartphone space, most importantly in the Android space, is at an all time high.

For Google, the Moto X is the closest thing they have to Apple's iPhone, a device that's designed inside and out around the user and their experience.

In terms of design, the Moto X feels substantial and has a nice amount of heft to it. In true Googlephone fashion, it has some of the curvature and angular construction we've seen before in the Nexus S and Galaxy Nexus while the 4.7-inch AMOLED screen very much resembles the tapered display of the Nexus 4. It may be made out of plastic but it feels more premium than I expected. Motorola also built-in some degree of water resistance but it isn't anywhere as dunkable as Sony's Xperia Z.

The rear case of the Moto X is made from a grippy finish that's has a bit of trompe l'oeil going on as it looks like it is textured with a Kevlar-like weave, but it actually isn't. I read somewhere that it is made from recycled plastic bottlecaps.

Motorola boasts that the Moto X seems smaller than many competing 4.7-inch screened Android smartphones like the larger and heavier HTC One. That may be true, but the HTC One fully utilizes that 4.7-inch screen since it has a separate area for capacitive buttons, the Moto X integrates the buttons as part of that screen so it actually has less useful screen real estate.

I would put it above the the Samsung Galaxy S4 in terms of build quality but below the sculpted metal construction of the HTC One and the iPhone 5.

The rear of the Moto X features a 10 megapixel camera with an LED flash right below it as well as a small dimple with the Motorola a logo. The device has three microphones designed for noise cancellation and uses the ubiquitous microUSB port to charge and synch plus has an 3.5mm headphone jack right on top.

So, while the physical design is somewhat innovative, it is the Moto X's software that really differentiates it from the current crop of smartphones.

Moto X runs Android OS Jelly Bean 4.2.2 and while this isn't the latest and greatest version of the OS, the Moto X variant offers some unique (for now) software applications.

Touchless Control is the big one here and is Google's closest bit of voice recognition/control to Apple's two year old Siri personal assistant.

Borrowing a page from Google Glass, users can train their Moto X to respond to controls by simply uttering "OK, Google Now," followed by a question.

So far, this implementation of voice control works really well and is tied into Google's multiple search functions. Touchless control is smart enough that you can ask it a direct question like, "what's the weather today?" or "Do I need an umbrella?" and it will give a comprehensive answer on the weather conditions, the date and the location.

Touchless Control is quite stunning but it is a work in progress. I had my Moto X in my pocket while in a patio discussing bread and I heard it talking back giving me a recipe on how to make bread. I can see various embarassing situations arising from a smartphone that's always listening.

Moto X can tell if it is in a vehicle and can react accordingly by muting calls and notifications so as not to distract the user. It can go into a car mode setting as well designed around naviagation. It is also intuitive enough to know when you're in a meeting (based on calendar entries) and can be put in silent mode by simply placing it screen down in the table or flat surface.

Active Display is another subtle feature that's unique to the Moto X which slowly pulses icons for messages, missed calls, text messages and these can be acted on or dismissed as needed.

Quick Capture, which has proven to be my favourite feature, brings forth the Moto X's camera app with a quick dual-flick of the wrist.

it is one of those features that feels like a novelty at first but then becomes indespensable once you get used to it. It sure beats hunting down an icon app just to enable the camera. The camera is above average and takes pretty good pictures but sometimes fails to focus properly. Some colours like reds and yellows tend to be a bit too bright to the point of looking unnatural under certain lighting. HDR is automatically set as well which may bring mixed results but I found it to be tame in comparison to some other camera phones.

I do like the camera software as well as the ease of use. Simply press anywhere on the screen and a picture is made. Keep your finger pressed on the screen and it will continue to shoot photos as well. Shooring options slide in from the side and you can rotate between shooting options and effects. Slick stuff.

All of these active applications manage to draw very little power from the Moto X, which leverages Motorola's success in extending battery life which is the one feature Motorola's executives told me the competition is going to have a hard time matching. Other exclusive features are two free years of 50GB of storage on Google Drive, an app that makes it easy to move all your data, calls, texts and other information from your old Android phone (an iOS app is coming soon).

Moto X features a the X8 Mobile Computing system which is punctuated by a dual-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro and an Adreno 320 graphics processor. Performance is snappy and comparable to what the HTC One offers in side by side web-surfing tests. While the HTC One uses a quad-core processor, it also has double the resolution since the Moto X only sports a 720P HD resolution on its 4.7-inch screen.

Battery life was above average and I managed to stretch out a day's use from it including four or five 15-minute phone calls, lots of Twitter and Google +, some email as well as sporadic camera use. I also used the Moto X for 40 minutes as a mobile hotspot.

Moto X is a compelling smartphone for a number of reasons as it shows what Google can come up with when it creates both the hardware and the software experience. It presents an alternative to the Nexus program and is more desirable than many of the OEM solutions that slap on third-party bloatware over Android to the point that it is unrecognizable (and sometimes frustrating) to users.

I feel there are compromises like the limited 16GB storage ceiling, lack of microSD card expansion and expensive price (at $550 outright) that might be deal killers for anyone seriously looking at the Moto X as their main smartphone. It is also limited to Rogers subscribers right now, which will again limit the audience to users of that carrier.

The Moto X, is available now for $189.99 on select two-year plans or $549.99 outright, is only going to be available in black and white. After having seen and used both, the black version looks a bit better, less toylike but more serious albeit in a generic way.

All in all, I like where the Moto X is going, and the direction where Google the smartphone maker is headed, but it is hard to choose Moto X over some of the similarly priced but more feature packed flagship smartphones out there right now. It's a value play, and users will realize that this is where the Moto X falls short.

If you're new to Android OS, however, the Moto X is one of the most user-friendly and intuitive phones in the market right now. It dispenses with gimmickry to provide some really useful features that can enhance day to day usage.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Comments

[Shanaya]

Thanks for sharing the review of this smartphone.