Motorola Moto X 2013 Review

Introduction:

If you haven’t noticed, Motorola has been relatively quiet in the smartphone space for the last couple of years now. Sure, we’ve seen some high-end devices during that time, like last year’s DROID RAZR MAXX HD for example, but the brunt of Moto’s love has been mostly exclusive to Verizon – leaving everyone else in a dry spell. Naturally, Google’s acquisition of Motorola had a lot to do with it, as the company soon restructured its strategy by focusing its efforts on fewer devices, rather than going with the usual approach of over-saturating the market with an army of devices. Adios Motorola CLIQs! Bye-bye Motorola ATRIXs! Sayonara Motorola Photons! It seemed as though the brakes were applied everywhere, except Verizon and its DROID line.

Enter a new era in Motorola’s history, where they intend on bringing to market a single new flagship device that would take on the competition. Indeed, Google might be pulling some strings behind the scenes and all, but this new Motorola is taking a highly different approach – one that seems very uncanny for them to do. Instead of seeing different lines of Motorola made Android phones, the Moto X is that diamond in the rough device that Motorola is banking on to attract consumers to Motorola’s new approach to the business. In an era where cutting edge Android smartphones are leaving long lasting impressions, it’ll be intriguing to see whether the Moto X will have the guts and execution to redefine the game.

The package contains:

• microUSB cable
• Wall Charger
• SIM Removal Tool
• Get Started Guide
• Safe, Smart, & Protected Guide

Design:

It’s not stylish by any means, nor is it exuding a premium element to its construction, but the Moto X’s design is best described as humbling and modest. Visually, the design is understated when compared to the beauties out there, like the HTC One and iPhone 5, but regardless of that, it’s the size of the phone and its ergonomic aesthetics that really impresses us the most. First and foremost, this doesn’t feel or look like a smartphone that’s packing a 4.7-inch display, as it barely feels any bigger than the iPhone 5, which has a significantly smaller screen. And at the same time, it makes the HTC One appear comparably gigantic. Certainly, it’s not the skinniest thing out there, but the tapered edges help to make it seem skinnier than it really is in person.



Constructed out of this composite material, which is essentially a plastic frame, it helps to keep the handset very lightweight (4.59 oz) – thus, complementing its compact stature. Taking a closer look at the rear casing, the rubbery finish definitely helps to keep it clean and dirt-free, but there’s also an attractive pattern on it that mimics the look of carbon fiber. Considering that the rear casing has a prominent curve with its construction, it makes for one comfortable and natural feel in the hand. Some might view the design as uninspiring or boring, but there’s one unique aspect with the Moto X that differentiates itself from everything else out there – customized designs, which we’ll expand in the next section.


As for the rest of the phone, we’re pretty much greeted to the usual suspect of characters. Seeing that it’s running a mostly stock Android experience, there are no capacitive buttons on its façade, but we do take notice of its narrow earpiece, light/proximity sensors, and front-facing 2-megapixel camera.

Looking around its trim, we’re greeted to the usual suspects that we find. It physical power button and volume control may be really thin to the eye, but they’re distinct to the touch and responsive when pressed. Rounding things out, we have a 3.5mm headset jack, noise cancelling microphone, and its microUSB port for charging/data connectivity. Sorry folks, there’s no quick and easy physical video-out connection with this, but rather, you’ll need to rely on its “Wireless Display” feature to get the job done – though, it’s only compatible with Miracast Wireless enabled displays.

In the rear, it’s sporting a 10-megapixel Clear Pixel camera, similar to what’s featured on the new line of DROIDs too. Naturally, it’s complemented by an LED flash.


Moto Maker:

The base models of the Moto X are nothing worth writing home about, especially when they’re just generic looking. Going with a totally new approach to the process, Moto Maker provides prospective owners the power to customize the Moto X – inside and out, through its online portal. It’s something different, obviously, as we’re given options to selecting the color scheme and design pattern with the phone’s casing. Additionally, we can even choose what colors the accents on the phone are going to be – like the ring around the camera lens and its power button.


If that isn’t enough, there are also various secondary customizations that can be made to the handset’s software. From having a personal message load with the phone’s boot up process, to choosing a complementary background wallpaper to match the color of the phone, it’s pretty amazing what can be done! Heck, you can even purchase accessories, like cases and headphones, that can match the unique look of your particular Moto X.

Depending on the selections, the price of the phone will undoubtedly go up from the base white/black models of the Moto X. Further down the road, we’ll even see other unconventional materials for its frame; like actual wooden bodies. Since the phone is assembled all in the good old U, S, of A, the turn-around time for a custom job takes 4 days or less (subject to parts availability). Without question, this is an undertaking that we haven’t seen before with a phone. On one hand, we’re thrilled by this new prospect, but the downside is that it’s exclusive to only AT&T for now. We’re crossing our fingers that this will be rolled out to everyone else soon too – including the Google Play Edition version when it launches in the future.

Display:

Let’s not beat around the bushes here folks, but the specs on the Moto X’s display are nothing worth bragging about. By today’s standards, its 4.7-inch 720x1280 (720p) AMOLED display is far from imposing, especially when compared to the 1080p beasts floating about. Details are effective enough to make everyday things easy on the eyes, seeing that it employs the favorable RGB arrangement with its pixels – while its saturated color reproduction and wide viewing angles are expected qualities from what we’re normally exposed to with AMOLED tech. Out of everything, though, it’s the edge-to-edge nature and minimal bezels of the display that are absolutely amazing. In fact, it helps to make the handset extremely form fitting and compact – more than anything else we’ve seen!

Another interesting aspect is the Active Display feature of the handset, which shows pertinent notifications in a confined area on the display – thus, helping it to reduce power consumption. Instead of turning on the Moto X to view notifications, Active Display will initiate whenever it receives something new, or when it’s nudges or flipped over from a display down position. Its purpose works, especially when we’re now less inclined to turn on the phone all the time.

Interface and Functionality:

On the surface, the Moto X appears to be running a stock Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean experience, but after some snooping around, it’s not entirely vanilla per se. Well, everything from the onset seems like it, as the apps panel, lock screen, and notifications panel all adhere to stock Android. However, the camera UI is totally different (more on that later). Overall, it’s Android, so we’re given the same level of personalization we know and love. Thankfully though, the Moto X is graced with its own set of nifty features that separate it from other flagship devices – albeit, they’re also found with the upcoming DROID line as well.



Touchless Control:

With the aid of Google Now, the Moto X is constantly at our service, seeing that it’s actively listening with its Touchless Control feature. So how does one activate it? Simple, we just speak the words “OK Google Now,” which soon launches Google Now for instant service access. Before getting started, we’re required to program the Moto X to audibly know our voice – so it’s able to differentiate it from other people, or instinctively make out our voice in a noisy room. In our experience, it works pretty well, but it requires a second stab in noisier environments.

Powered by Google Now, it allows us to ask questions, place phone calls, make appointments, find out the weather, get turn-by-turn directions, and much more. As much as we appreciate the hands-free nature of the feature, it’s not entirely the case, seeing that we’re still required to interact with the device – such as pressing the “send” button for text messages, rather than speaking “send” to actually deliver it.


Motorola Assist:

Never be distracted by things when you’re driving, at a meeting, or sleeping at night, thanks to Motorola Assist. Now this is pretty useful, as long as it’s activated of course, as the Moto X knows when you’re driving with the aid of GPS information. It’ll automatically read incoming texts, as well as auto-reply to them too. Furthermore, the “resume music play” enables Motorola Assist to connect to your car’s stereo over Bluetooth. For meetings that are in your calendar, Motorola Assist will place the phone on silent and also auto-reply to messages. And finally, the smartphone will be placed into silent mode too according to what time we specify we’re asleep for bed.



Motorola Connect:

With the aid of our computer’s Chrome browser, we can actually view text messages and incoming calls list from the Moto X on our computer. After installing an extension for the desktop Google Chrome browser, we can view and reply to text messages, but when it comes to calls, we can view them and select to either ignore or send a message to them – we can’t actually accept phone calls through Chrome. It’s a great feature when we can’t track down our phone, which allows us to still reply to messages with our computer.

Google Drive:

Exclusive to the Moto X, owners are treated to 50GB of free storage courtesy of Google Drive, which is especially handy considering there’s only 16GB or 32GB of internal storage on the smartphone – with no local expandability available with it.



Wireless Display:

As long as you have a compatible Miracast Wireless enabled display, you can use the Moto X’s Wireless Display feature to stream what you’re doing on the phone to the big screen. Naturally, the hardest part about this feature is actually having a compatible display available to use, but if you do, it should be useful in viewing photos, watching videos, playing games, or surfing the web.

Without a doubt, the most notable feature with the Moto X’s Android experience is Touchless Control, but beyond that, there’s nothing particularly out of the ordinary with the experience. It’s not trying to have the same distinct visual appeal of HTC’s Sense 5 UI, nor is it trying to give us several ways of accomplishing something like Sammy’s TouchWiz Nature UX experience. At the end of the day, the Moto X is all about making things we do on an everyday basis with our phone simple – and honestly, it does just that!

Messaging:

Having such an ample amount of real-estate to work with, combined with its responsiveness, the stock Android on-screen keyboard is fabulous to use when it comes to typing messages. It works relatively well, but in order to input punctuations, we’re required to access them in another layout.


Running stock Android, we’re naturally presented with the standard Email and Gmail apps, which both function and look the same as any other Android phone out there.



Organizer:

No surprises here folks, but the core set of organizer apps on the Moto X follow in the same footsteps as other Android smartphones before it. Therefore, the presentation and functions of its set are identical and unchanged – though, it’s wonderful that its Touchless Control feature enables us to check up on certain stuff, like appointments, with just the aid of our voice.



Processor and Memory:

We’re starting to see something unfamiliar here with the Moto X, which on paper, doesn’t quite come off as menacing with its specs sheets when compared to other flagships out there. Even now, it seems as though high-end gear under the hood is paramount to deliver a polished performance with most of today’s flagship Android smartphones, but it looks like the Moto X is breaking up that mentality.

Armed with Motorola’s home brewed X8 Mobile Computing System, which is comprised out of a modified dual-core 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor with 2GB of RAM, a natural language processor, and a contextual computing processor, it’s undoubtedly impressive in what it’s able to pull off – so much so, it’s close to the same level we experience with quad-core devices. Everything is utterly snappy with its performance, which is saying a lot for a dual-core. Going forward, the Moto X is a perfect example of why specs should no longer matter with Android.

	Quadrant Standard	AnTuTu	GLBenchmark 2.5 (Egypt HD)	Vellamo (HTML5 / Metal)
Motorola Moto X	8509	18483	6048 / 54 fps	2412 / 749
Samsung Galaxy S4	12078	24701	4437 / 39 fps	1702/704
HTC One	12481	23308	3551 / 31 fps	2395 / 781
Google Nexus 4	4757	16749	4917	1375 / 600

Packing only 16GB of internal storage with our review unit, it’s telling us right away that we need to be extremely conscious what we put in and save locally. Fortunately, the 50GB of Google Drive storage really helps in the long run.

Internet and Connectivity:

Showing us that its Motorola X8 Mobile Computing System is no slouch, the Moto X handles surfing the web through Chrome with all the finesse and speed we’d expect, which also helps that it’s packing 4G LTE connectivity.


Depending on which carrier version you pick up, the Moto X is available in both GSM and CDMA flavors – with 4G LTE connectivity too. Customary by now, especially for a flagship, it’s packing on all the usual assortments of connectivity features. The listing includes aGPS, Bluetooth 4.0 with EDR, dual band 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, and NFC.

Camera:

Ah, the camera UI is the reason why the Moto X isn’t entirely running a stock Android experience. Similar to the stock Android camera app, the one here on the Moto X is very clean looking – leaving only two icons in the UI for video recording and switching to the front-facing camera. Swiping over to the right, we’re given this circular dial to access different functions – like HDR mode, panoramic, touch focus, flash settings, slow motion video, geo-tagging, and Quick Capture Camera. With the latter, it relies on a couple of twisting movement with the hand to instantly launch the camera UI at any time. Therefore, even if the phone is locked or in sleeping mode, we simply twist twice with the phone in hand to get access to the camera app.


For those wondering, it does feature burst shooting as well, which requires us to press and hold onto the screen for consecutive shooting. Overall, it’s lacking the immense shooting modes and features of its rivals, but Motorola’s thinking is all about simplicity, which is what they no doubt achieve here.

Everyone seems to be relying on their own camera tech, and the Moto X isn’t a stranger to that, since it’s sporting a fancy termed 10-megapixel Clear Pixel camera. For those wondering what the big deal is about this new fancy termed item, it’s a RGBC sensor (“C” is for clear) that is said to be able collect up to 75% more light than your usual RGB Bayer sensor. When combined with its f2.4 aperture lens and 1.4µ pixel size, this “Clear Pixel” camera can lend some help to those situations when capturing fast moving objects.

Needless to say, the best shots are snapped when lighting is aplenty. In fact, they’re more than acceptable for 4” x 6” printouts, as it produces a fair amount of sharp details even when things are moving swiftly, and colors that are vibrant and rich.


Taking it to places with less lighting, we’ll mention that it’s able to brighten up shots, and it handles dynamic range very well, but there are compromises to its quality – such as noise and the lack of fine detail. As usual, the LED flash is potent enough to cast enough lighting to the scenery, but photos tend to have a warmer tone to them. When it comes down to it, the Moto X takes some pleasant images, but don’t expect it to dethrone the shakers in the space.

Moreover, the Moto X’s 1080p video recording quality acts in the same manner, as it handles things better with sufficient lighting as opposed to lower light. Details are pleasant and crisp, but there’s a hint of aritfacting when panning quickly. Audio recording is a bit distorted to tell you the truth, plus, its focus is rather slow. Under low lighting, though, its capture rate jumps down to 24 frames per second, which doesn’t make it particularly pleasing when it’s a bit noisier looking. And finally, there’s slow motion video as well in the mix, for those who really want to highlight specific motion.

Motorola Moto X Sample Video:



Motorola Moto X Low Light Sample Video:



Motorola Moto X Slow Motion Sample Video:



Multimedia:

Being almost stock Android, the Gallery app on the Moto X is the same straightforward one we find on pretty much all Android smartphones. Its presentation is your standard fashion, as well as its functionality and features set.


With the Google Play Music app, it’s the all-in-one solution we need for listening to some of today’s popular tunes – even more if you happen to be a subscriber to “All Access.” Even with those microdots in its rear, which makes up its speaker grill, the Moto X is capable of pumping out tones that have a commanding presence. Strong no doubt with its output, it also doesn’t strain at the loudest setting.


No surprises here when it comes to video playback, since the Moto X’s vivid display combined with its speedy performance enables it to play high definition videos with ease. Better yet, it supports all the popular codecs right out of the box – like DivX, H.264, MPEG-4, and Xvid.

Call Quality:

Voices have a subtle robotic tone to them through the Moto X’s earpiece and speakerphone, but it’s not something terrible that would prevent us to comprehend our conversations. Conversely, our callers have a better time on their end of the line, as voices have enough distinction and clarity. Although it takes close to 5 seconds to adapt, the noise-cancellation feature manages to mute background noise – such as wind.

Battery:

With its 2200 mAh battery, the Moto X pushed out a full day of battery with our normal usage. For power users, though, just expect to charge it once you’re done with your 8 hour work shift. It’s not one of the handset’s strongest aspects, but we’re still nonetheless pleased by what it’s able to churn out.

Conclusion:

Motorola is undoubtedly changing as a company. There’s no denying that they helped to popularize Android to the masses, with devices like the Motorola DROID a few years back, and then the DROID RAZR line after that, but with this new venture with the Moto X, they’re doing something totally new. So when it comes down to it, can the Moto X really stand and hold its ground amongst the elites in the Android space?

It’s a tough call for now, seeing that it’ll mainly hinge whether consumers can actually take fancy in the handset’s new and rich customized designing process – it’s what makes this handset so differently! If you can tolerate the wait and different approach, you’ll be rewarded to a very interesting looking smartphone that you can honestly call unique. Still, the customization element is only available to AT&T for now, but we’re hoping that Motorola wises up and gives it to everyone else. At the same time, the handset’s performance is well within the same level that its highly esteemed rivals are able to muster, so there are barely compromises here.

At $200 with a 2-year contract, any human being with a desire to research things before making a purchase will know that it might seem a bit steep when compared to the higher spec’d Android stuff floating around. It’s arguable that it’s a bit pricey, but it’s still within that sweet golden price point we’re accustomed to seeing attached with flagships. However, we can’t help but think about cannibalization, especially with Verizon, as the Moto X is going to go toe-to-toe with the Motorola DROID Ultra. Indeed, they’re being treated and targeted differently, but it makes you wonder just a tiny bit for this flagship.

Kudos to Motorola for bringing this smartphone to all four major wireless carriers in the country, including good old US Cellular as well. That’s something to say about the handset’s intentions, as it lives up to prestigious honor of being recognized as a flagship. It’s the perfect strategy for it, especially if Motorola really wants to be taken seriously by its rivals again. At the end of the day, the Moto X is a pleasant start to reinvigorate Motorola, but it still needs just a bit more premium gas in the tank to drastically rocket the Moto X straight to the top of the ladder.

Software version of the review unit:
Android Version: 4.2.2
Build Number: 13.9.0Q2.X-116-X-17-51
Kernel Version: 3.4.42