Motorola’s big move: Hands-on with the Moto X

A gallery and video of Motorola's beautifully designed phone.

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[mike8675309]

Curious about the glass front. Is there no band around to keep the glass off the surface when upside down? And if not, is there expectation that this glass is really going to be o.k?

 

[f0xik]

And how would the user make a screenshot on this thing?

Since ICS one has to hold down the power button and the volume down button.

On my Arc S that's somehow achievable, on Nexus 4 it's easy (those buttons are on the opposite sides) but on Moto X they're on the same side?

 

[frozentech]

Gorrilla Glass is some pretty impressive stuff. I've never scratched a phone with it on it. Which isn't saying you *can't* scratch it. But it does take some doing and or some bad luck.

...overall I am disappointed. Looks like a nice phone but I want a quality slider phone damn it.

 

[stige]

looks like a high level of polish is getting put into these new phones. not necessarily ground breaking but definitely good to see emphasis being put in the subjective fields. the race for better benchmarks in identical, black, candybar slabs was getting boring.

 

[CrookedKnight]

16GB, non-expandable? Oy. Another nice-looking handset I'll never give a second look. How is it that the one thing Apple gives users a choice on is the thing that every other smartphone manufacturer wants to kill?

 

[OmniWrench]

The phone does customize its responsiveness to your voice, says Motorola, so in theory someone shouldn’t be able to cause mayhem by walking into a room full of Moto X phones and saying “OK, Google Now, call John.”

Please promise to test this in the (I'm assuming) eventual full review!

 

[cjsomar]

What an utter disappointment. Where's the pricing innovation? Why on earth did Motorola even launch the Droids if anyone who buys one is going to immediately have buyer's remorse if, by its own admission, Googlemoto thinks the X is a superior device? $200 on contract? Customization only available for AT&T initially?

I had high hopes for this device, but it sounds like a totally unremarkable phone being distributed by the same greedy carriers with all the usual limitations and frustrations of on-contract pricing and psuedo carrier exclusivity.

 

[Galeran]

How is moving / flipping the phone not a "hardware interaction?" It's not buttons, true, but you already said that.

 

[lisabeeren]

was this a bit of anti-climax for anyone else?

 

[Digitlman]

So, a phone that listens to you all the time?

That can't go badly, right? I mean, nobody is spying on us so it's ok, right?

 

[fuzzytux]

What's the off-contract price?

 

[Boskone]

I think you can emulate the screen-down sleep thing with Tasked, fwiw.

f0xik[/url]":2mq7re58]And how would the user make a screenshot on this thing?

Since ICS one has to hold down the power button and the volume down button.

On my Arc S that's somehow achievable, on Nexus 4 it's easy (those buttons are on the opposite sides) but on Moto X they're on the same side?

On my Nexus 7, I hold it with my left hand, and use the index and middle finger to press the power and volume down respectively.

Aside from the button pressing, I'm finding this to be my normal portrait hold.

 

[dbmarketing]

I'm sorry, but why is this phone so special? Am I missing something? It doesn't really seem like anything that makes you go "OMG I WANT IT." I guess it would be nice for a Motorola fan, as it seems to be an okay phone - but I just feel Motorola isn't doing anything to really come out and wow potential customers.

 

[StealthFocus]

Also the 32 GB is exclusive to AT&T only at launch. So non expandable and storage is exclusive? Who are the business idiots that think this is a good idea.

 

[maclancer]

Does the Moto X came unlocked if we pay full price?

 

[umaromc]

Digitlman[/url]":2air1bir]So, a phone that listens to you all the time?

That can't go badly, right? I mean, nobody is spying on us so it's ok, right?

We're a bunch of cows just realizing we live on a farm?

 

[Korgoth]

A mid range phone with customization for a high end price. I guess they are going to spend $400,000,000 marketing it. Otherwise it's DOA.

 

[CrookedKnight]

maclancer[/url]":2p5ar79i]Does the Moto X came unlocked if we pay full price?

Engadget says yes:

"all custom models sold through Moto Maker will ship four days from the time of order (made possible by the Ft. Worth, TX manufacturing facility) and arrive with unlocked bootloaders. If you choose to go the carrier route, only T-Mobile and Sprint will be offering unlocked models from the jump. Additional developer versions, plus an unlocked Google Play model will be made available at a later date."

 

[Shudder]

So the carrier I have the least interest in is the only one with 32GB? No thanks, Motorola. You can't say that a 32GB size will be useful to customers, and it's the only size I want, and then say only some of them can have it.

Apple has been offering 32GB since 2009. 4 years later, Google thinks the most anyone wants is 16.

I'll just stick with my similarly-specced 1 year old HTC phone that has a total of 48GB of space.

 

[vudaful]

I'm curious what the off contract price would be and if and when I can use this on Verizon.

 

[Deleted member 330960]

Korgoth[/url]":2l843hii]A mid range phone with customization for a high end price. I guess they are going to spend $400,000,000 marketing it. Otherwise it's DOA.

Forgive my ignorance, but what constitutes a high end phone? The specs look high end to me and the design is quite nice. I'm an iphone user in case you couldn't tell.

 

[CrookedKnight]

StealthFocus[/url]":3u8hja1j]Also the 32 GB is exclusive to AT&T only at launch. So non expandable and storage is exclusive? Who are the business idiots that think this is a good idea.

The ones who make money on every gigabyte we download from "the cloud" instead of storing it on our own hardware. That would be Google and the carriers.

 

[RCook]

The cool things I'm seeing will all be picked up by the devs at XDA soon enough with .apks available for sideload. Otherwise it's not that impressive. Also does no one else find having to say "Ok Google Now" about the stupidest phrase ever? Please tell me it's customizable.

 

[potato44829]

Motorola sells a midrange phone at a flagship price, episode II.

Could've just made a "play edition GS3" and sold it for half the price.

Nah, the GS3 runs circles around this.

 

[Shudder]

tayhimself[/url]":1htzcsov]

Korgoth[/url]":1htzcsov]A mid range phone with customization for a high end price. I guess they are going to spend $400,000,000 marketing it. Otherwise it's DOA.

Forgive my ignorance, but what constitutes a high end phone? The specs look high end to me and the design is quite nice. I'm an iphone user in case you couldn't tell.

Well for comparison, phones from 3 months ago, the One and S4, have 1080p screens, a similar processor, and the same amount of RAM. Oh and they're the same price or cheaper with double + the storage.

The X is a phone with a lower resolution, half the storage, and more expensive. Makes no sense.

 

[Black_Obsidian]

RCook[/url]":3nzkwn4y]The cool things I'm seeing will all be picked up by the devs at XDA soon enough with .apks available for sideload. Otherwise it's not that impressive. Also does no one else find having to say "Ok Google Now" about the stupidest phrase ever? Please tell me it's customizable.

++. I'll need my Android phone to answer to, "Hello, computer!"

Also, color me disappointed. Mid-range specs for flagship prices? No thanks.

 

[potato44829]

Shudder[/url]":2ziw4y5s]

tayhimself[/url]":2ziw4y5s]

Korgoth[/url]":2ziw4y5s]A mid range phone with customization for a high end price. I guess they are going to spend $400,000,000 marketing it. Otherwise it's DOA.

Forgive my ignorance, but what constitutes a high end phone? The specs look high end to me and the design is quite nice. I'm an iphone user in case you couldn't tell.

Well for comparison, phones from 3 months ago, the One and S4, have 1080p screens, a similar processor, and the same amount of RAM. Oh and they're the same price or cheaper with double + the storage.

The X is a phone with a lower resolution, half the storage, and more expensive. Makes no sense.

Motorola's dead! It's the truth! The end is nigh!

 

[carlisimo]

tayhimself[/url]":23om2pjs]
Forgive my ignorance, but what constitutes a high end phone? The specs look high end to me and the design is quite nice. I'm an iphone user in case you couldn't tell.

It has enough RAM, so I'd say it's just the CPU that looks weak. Maybe not for now, but I'd worry about how good it will be a year from now.

The screen isn't the highest end either, since the One beats it with 1080p at the same screen size, but I don't think it's a big deal; 720p at 4.7" is still great.

 

[zoomzit]

I don't expect Google to be stock full of Market and Price experts with PhDs, but I do expect them to contemplate their own history:

Priced High to Market:
Nexus Q
Pixel
Motorola X phone

Priced Low to Market:
Samsung Chromebook (280 days and counting as the top seller on Amazon)
Nexus 4
Chromecast (sold out in the first day)
Nexus 7

One of these groups allows Google to fundamentally change the market and achieve incredible success, the other group is largely DOA.

 

[charleski]

According to the EXIF, your last (grainy) photo was taken at ISO 800. That's not particularly special when compared to an iPhone5 or Lumia 920.

 

[potato44829]

tayhimself[/url]":n9ygx0cq]

Korgoth[/url]":n9ygx0cq]A mid range phone with customization for a high end price. I guess they are going to spend $400,000,000 marketing it. Otherwise it's DOA.

Forgive my ignorance, but what constitutes a high end phone? The specs look high end to me and the design is quite nice. I'm an iphone user in case you couldn't tell.

A high-end android generally has 2GB RAM, for sure 4G LTE, high-megapixel camera, and an HD (720p now only on the lower-high end) screen. Quad core is pretty standard now too, though I think it's disputable what performance increase it brings (my SIII beats the N7 in every way)

 

[srs]

On contract price is meaningless, and this phone is nothing special.

The biggest selling point seems to be "Made in the USA"....

edit: no microsd, or removable battery. I'd rather go with Samsung or Sony.

 

[LJ]

Midrange phone for $199 w/ 2 year contract?

So it's a dual core phone. For a lot of apps, that doesn't matter (it does for stitching your photos in a photo-sphere, though). However, if it's a dual core phone, why is it being sold at high end phone prices?

S4 galaxy active is better in every way, in my opinion. More durable. Waterproof. Faster.

Why would anyone pay so much for this phone?

 

[LJ]

Doctor Hoot[/url]":101zykp0]

tayhimself[/url]":101zykp0]

Korgoth[/url]":101zykp0]A mid range phone with customization for a high end price. I guess they are going to spend $400,000,000 marketing it. Otherwise it's DOA.

Forgive my ignorance, but what constitutes a high end phone? The specs look high end to me and the design is quite nice. I'm an iphone user in case you couldn't tell.

A high-end android generally has 2GB RAM, for sure 4G LTE, high-megapixel camera, and an HD (720p now only on the lower-high end) screen. Quad core is pretty standard now too, though I think it's disputable what performance increase it brings (my SIII beats the N7 in every way)

Wrong. The N7 is a quad core snapdragon. This is a dual core snapdragon. For many things (most things?) the nexus 7 will be faster. Same for the Nexus 4.

On paper, anyway, the nexus 4 is a better phone.

 

[adipose]

I repeat my comment from the other thread. Where is my slideout keyboard!!??

The alternate colors will help attract some teenagers, maybe. Other than that I don't see anything compelling.

Getting carpal tunnel from shaking the phone around to turn on the camera should be fun, too. Just give me a damn camera button and you can forget all that garbage.

 

[Sephoroth]

Hopefully the off-contract price is more reasonable. The on-contract price says very little (after all, IIRC the Nexus 4 was $200 on contract with T-Mobile as well and is still $432 when bought outright from them).

The Ars article doesn't seem to mention that the device comes with 50GB of Google Drive storage for 2 years and supports 802.11ac which would make this device a nice specification bump for the Nexus 4 if it ends up in the same price range.

 

[CrookedKnight]

As far as performance goes, it remains to be seen what kind of difference the additional cores on the SoC will make. People make too much out of the dual/quad distinction as it is, and this chipset does include two extra cores that will be taking workload off of the main CPU.

That said, the price point and storage spec are still garbage.

 

[adipose]

Per the design paradigms of the later versions of Android (Android 4.2.2, in this case), there is no home button.

A lot of Motos don't have physical buttons, but when they do, they have all of them, not just home.

But this Moto definitely has a touch home button, just not a physical one (ok, button is the wrong word, but when I read that I thought you meant no way to press "home").

 

[Deleted member 174040]

adipose[/url]":2wk2dsym] Where is my slideout keyboard!!??

I think you're in a minority that the industry, unfortunately, feels comfortable ignoring.