Needless to say, I have not been satisfied with any other smartphone as much as I have been with the Moto X. In chronological order in the past three months up to today, I've owned the iPhone 5s, LG G2, Moto X, Note 3, another LG G2, and I'm coming back to the Moto X. I've listed my reasons below in hopes that other who are on the fence might see this and have an easier time making their decision. Before I start, I want to make it clear that I am a heavy user, so your use cases might be a bit different from mine. Generally, on Android devices I use about 5-7 hours of screen-on time (ranging brightness values depending on time of day) with 14-18 hours unplugged. The same use was given to the iPhone, but screen-on time and usage are displayed differently in iOS. Anyways, onto my observations with each device.
iPhone 5s: This was a seriously awesome device, but it had poor battery life. I couldn't even make it from 7am - 2pm before I needed to recharge. I had also used an iPhone 5 for a short period of time earlier this year and battery life was sometimes comparable, sometimes worse, and sometimes better, so take that for what it's worth. However, if battery life isn't a big concern to you and you don't mind a smaller display, get this phone. It's extremely fast, the camera took incredible shots and the camera features, such as slow-motion video, worked beautifully. Honestly, out of all of the devices I've used in the past few months, this had the best camera.
LG G2: I really liked this phone; battery life was great, it was fast, and the screen was beautiful. I did not like the slippery, glossy plastic back, and I did not like the crappy buttons on the back (this was the Verizon model, so the buttons are tiny and flush and there is no way of differentiating between which button was being pressed without looking, this is not an issue with the other carrier models). The camera was so-so. It wasn't the fastest, and it didn't take the best pictures, but it was pretty good for the most part and took excellent daytime pictures, but then again almost any phone can do that with ease. Battery life ranged from very good to incredible. On the stock LG ROM battery life was very good. I could average 5.5-6 hours of screen-on time with 14-16 hours of usage and easily get through the day. Battery life was incredible on an AOSP based ROM (like CyanogenMod) and I could easily get 6.5-7 hours of screen-on time with 18-20 hours of usage. Simply incredible. Now, you may have noticed that I owned two of these. Why? Well, because the G2, while an awesome device, has an AWFUL, absolutely AWFUL GPS chip. It's very slow to get a lock and stay on track when navigating, and almost never gets a lock that's closer than "within" 30-50 feet." While that might not sound bad, it makes navigation nearly impossible since you aren't told when to turn or take an exit at the right time, or it'll just lose your location completely. Returned my first G2 for this reason and got another one about two months later hoping it'd been fixed. NOPE. Still an issue. Returning my second G2 in a few days.
Moto X: So, I ordered the Moto X in mid-November after Moto Maker was available for VZW. I went in not really knowing whether I'd love it or hate it, but nevertheless, I was very excited after only good things from owners. I took delivery a few days later and over the course of two weeks or so, I fell in love with it. It was very fast and never lagged, battery life was excellent and could last me through the entire day (7am-9pm) with no problem with about 5-5.5 hours of screen-on time (amazing for this small of a phone with such a tiny battery). Active display was by far my favorite feature, with Touchless Controls and the twist-to-open-camera gesture tied for second. Every single feature actually made the phone more useful. I got this phone immediately after the G2, so I put GPS to the test and it was a night and day difference. The Moto X had no issue navigating me around and was easily able to get a lock within 5 feet of where I was at all times, even indoors. About a week after I took delivery, the Moto X got KitKat. At first, I hated it. Battery life and performance took a nosedive. I was extremely disappointed and didn't know whether I should keep it, so I began looking at other phones (this led me to my Note 3 purchase, but I'll talk about that later), but after a few days of letting everything settle in, battery life and performance normalized and were back to how it was prior to the update. Sadly, my Moto X was defective and the vibration motor broke and I had to send it back for repair. Just a day after sending it in, Motorola announced their Cyber Monday sale. I immediately called to request a refund instead of a repair. In the end, I missed out on the Wednesday discount code, so I'll be placing a new order tomorrow. Other than that slight mishap though, the device was amazing and I had no complaints. Camera was just fine and everything else was nearly perfect. Anyways, onto my next device...
Note 3: I had ordered this when my Moto X had begun acting weird after the KitKat update. Luckily, I was able to get this for a very, very cheap price so I figured I'd give it a try since I'd always been interested in trying a phablet. In the end, it wasn't that great. I didn't really have a use for the S-Pen, I still hated Touchwiz (after coming from my Galaxy S4), the phone was just way too big, and the battery life was not that great and I got better battery life from both the Moto X and the G2. The camera was worse than on my Galaxy S4, which had an excellent camera. Pictures weren't as detailed and shots were just not as good... not really sure why there was such a big difference considering the Note 3 and S4 have the same camera sensor, but it was undoubtedly worse. Lastly, it would still stutter for seemingly no reason. With such incredible specs I was disappointed to see dropped frames and stutters just from doing basic things such as pulling down the notification bar, scrolling through home screens/app pages, etc. It was unacceptable. Sold this after 5 days.
In the end, none of these devices were as well-rounded as the Moto X; they all suffered in one way or another. The Moto X, while not a perfect device, offered the best of nearly everything that each of these phones had to offer: amazing speed and fluidity with no lag, battery life that could easily get me through the day, and features that actually enhanced the user experience. It didn't have the best camera or the best display, but they were still both very good IMO.
TL;DR: iPhone 5s was great, but battery life sucked. G2 was awesome with great battery life, but had major GPS issues, which is something I use quite frequently. Note 3 was just too big, too bloated, didn't have good battery life, and the camera was decent. Moto X was pretty much perfect, but mine had a defect and had to be returned, but I am now returning to it after using all of these past devices. It's just that good.
Hopefully this will help other users who are having trouble deciding on what device to buy. Let me know if you guys have any questions, I'd be happy to answer any.
iPhone 5s: This was a seriously awesome device, but it had poor battery life. I couldn't even make it from 7am - 2pm before I needed to recharge. I had also used an iPhone 5 for a short period of time earlier this year and battery life was sometimes comparable, sometimes worse, and sometimes better, so take that for what it's worth. However, if battery life isn't a big concern to you and you don't mind a smaller display, get this phone. It's extremely fast, the camera took incredible shots and the camera features, such as slow-motion video, worked beautifully. Honestly, out of all of the devices I've used in the past few months, this had the best camera.
LG G2: I really liked this phone; battery life was great, it was fast, and the screen was beautiful. I did not like the slippery, glossy plastic back, and I did not like the crappy buttons on the back (this was the Verizon model, so the buttons are tiny and flush and there is no way of differentiating between which button was being pressed without looking, this is not an issue with the other carrier models). The camera was so-so. It wasn't the fastest, and it didn't take the best pictures, but it was pretty good for the most part and took excellent daytime pictures, but then again almost any phone can do that with ease. Battery life ranged from very good to incredible. On the stock LG ROM battery life was very good. I could average 5.5-6 hours of screen-on time with 14-16 hours of usage and easily get through the day. Battery life was incredible on an AOSP based ROM (like CyanogenMod) and I could easily get 6.5-7 hours of screen-on time with 18-20 hours of usage. Simply incredible. Now, you may have noticed that I owned two of these. Why? Well, because the G2, while an awesome device, has an AWFUL, absolutely AWFUL GPS chip. It's very slow to get a lock and stay on track when navigating, and almost never gets a lock that's closer than "within" 30-50 feet." While that might not sound bad, it makes navigation nearly impossible since you aren't told when to turn or take an exit at the right time, or it'll just lose your location completely. Returned my first G2 for this reason and got another one about two months later hoping it'd been fixed. NOPE. Still an issue. Returning my second G2 in a few days.
Moto X: So, I ordered the Moto X in mid-November after Moto Maker was available for VZW. I went in not really knowing whether I'd love it or hate it, but nevertheless, I was very excited after only good things from owners. I took delivery a few days later and over the course of two weeks or so, I fell in love with it. It was very fast and never lagged, battery life was excellent and could last me through the entire day (7am-9pm) with no problem with about 5-5.5 hours of screen-on time (amazing for this small of a phone with such a tiny battery). Active display was by far my favorite feature, with Touchless Controls and the twist-to-open-camera gesture tied for second. Every single feature actually made the phone more useful. I got this phone immediately after the G2, so I put GPS to the test and it was a night and day difference. The Moto X had no issue navigating me around and was easily able to get a lock within 5 feet of where I was at all times, even indoors. About a week after I took delivery, the Moto X got KitKat. At first, I hated it. Battery life and performance took a nosedive. I was extremely disappointed and didn't know whether I should keep it, so I began looking at other phones (this led me to my Note 3 purchase, but I'll talk about that later), but after a few days of letting everything settle in, battery life and performance normalized and were back to how it was prior to the update. Sadly, my Moto X was defective and the vibration motor broke and I had to send it back for repair. Just a day after sending it in, Motorola announced their Cyber Monday sale. I immediately called to request a refund instead of a repair. In the end, I missed out on the Wednesday discount code, so I'll be placing a new order tomorrow. Other than that slight mishap though, the device was amazing and I had no complaints. Camera was just fine and everything else was nearly perfect. Anyways, onto my next device...
Note 3: I had ordered this when my Moto X had begun acting weird after the KitKat update. Luckily, I was able to get this for a very, very cheap price so I figured I'd give it a try since I'd always been interested in trying a phablet. In the end, it wasn't that great. I didn't really have a use for the S-Pen, I still hated Touchwiz (after coming from my Galaxy S4), the phone was just way too big, and the battery life was not that great and I got better battery life from both the Moto X and the G2. The camera was worse than on my Galaxy S4, which had an excellent camera. Pictures weren't as detailed and shots were just not as good... not really sure why there was such a big difference considering the Note 3 and S4 have the same camera sensor, but it was undoubtedly worse. Lastly, it would still stutter for seemingly no reason. With such incredible specs I was disappointed to see dropped frames and stutters just from doing basic things such as pulling down the notification bar, scrolling through home screens/app pages, etc. It was unacceptable. Sold this after 5 days.
In the end, none of these devices were as well-rounded as the Moto X; they all suffered in one way or another. The Moto X, while not a perfect device, offered the best of nearly everything that each of these phones had to offer: amazing speed and fluidity with no lag, battery life that could easily get me through the day, and features that actually enhanced the user experience. It didn't have the best camera or the best display, but they were still both very good IMO.
TL;DR: iPhone 5s was great, but battery life sucked. G2 was awesome with great battery life, but had major GPS issues, which is something I use quite frequently. Note 3 was just too big, too bloated, didn't have good battery life, and the camera was decent. Moto X was pretty much perfect, but mine had a defect and had to be returned, but I am now returning to it after using all of these past devices. It's just that good.
Hopefully this will help other users who are having trouble deciding on what device to buy. Let me know if you guys have any questions, I'd be happy to answer any.
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