Is this phone going to be right for my needs?

RavenSword

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As far as my phones and tablets go, I always valued real world performance and experience over theoretical performance and horsepower.

That's a reason why I always liked IOS devices because they valued the same thing. However, I'm on android and think I'm going to stick with it for the next few years, so I'm looking for a android phone that gives me that experience. I'm wondering if the moto x might be it.

I own a nexus 4 at the moment, and it's a good phone. I like it's performance and it seems fast enough for what I use my phone for (Internet, email, YouTube, video, music, and things like that. Honestly, while I play some games on the phone, I find I like playing them more on my tablet when I can due to the bigger screen. Like, I'm not going to really play dead trigger on my phone) but I always wanted LTE and a better battery.

Another thing is I need to go the carrier route on AT&T. I can't afford a 600 plus dollar purchase, but I can trade in my nexus 4 to almost pay for a on contract price phone. So there's not much out of pocket cost for me. And I'm on my parents family plan, so I'm cool staying on that for another two years at least.

But I also want something as close to stock android as I can. I don't really care for the way OEMs skin android.

I also don't hack, root, or tinker. I just use the phone as is. It's mainly because I think it would give me anxiety to root and dig into the phones code or whatever. I just don't want to deal with it.

The only thing I'm a bit nervous about with the moto x is if the stuff I use phones for will be effected a year from now due to the device not being quad core.

What do you guys think?
 

SteelGator

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As far as my phones and tablets go, I always valued real world performance and experience over theoretical performance and horsepower.

That's a reason why I always liked IOS devices because they valued the same thing. However, I'm on android and think I'm going to stick with it for the next few years, so I'm looking for a android phone that gives me that experience. I'm wondering if the moto x might be it.

I own a nexus 4 at the moment, and it's a good phone. I like it's performance and it seems fast enough for what I use my phone for (Internet, email, YouTube, video, music, and things like that. Honestly, while I play some games on the phone, I find I like playing them more on my tablet when I can due to the bigger screen. Like, I'm not going to really play dead trigger on my phone) but I always wanted LTE and a better battery.

Another thing is I need to go the carrier route on AT&T. I can't afford a 600 plus dollar purchase, but I can trade in my nexus 4 to almost pay for a on contract price phone. So there's not much out of pocket cost for me. And I'm on my parents family plan, so I'm cool staying on that for another two years at least.

But I also want something as close to stock android as I can. I don't really care for the way OEMs skin android.

I also don't hack, root, or tinker. I just use the phone as is. It's mainly because I think it would give me anxiety to root and dig into the phones code or whatever. I just don't want to deal with it.

The only thing I'm a bit nervous about with the moto x is if the stuff I use phones for will be effected a year from now due to the device not being quad core.

What do you guys think?

The Moto x sounds ideal for you.you are going to get everything you are looking for, on what all review point to being a phone that performs very well.

The stuff you are using the phone for does not require a quad core. I believe this phone will last very well for you, and keep you happy until upgrade time.
 

atrain2324

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Welcome to Android!

Sounds like the Moto X is your way to go...I know hardware freaks are up in arms over it but the handset I currently own (an LG Optimus V) sports Android 4.2.2 via PAC-Rom is proof you don't need some so-called speed and power demon to run the latest and greatest of Android (especially if the rumors hold true that Android 5.0 would be running on phones with 512 RAM and limited internal space).

As far as carriers go...AT&T in my opinion is reaching a crossroads (in some respects, so is Verizon) as they are beginning to realize they do not have enough bandwidth and spectrum to satisfy its customer's data-hungry needs (hence their Hail Mary purchase of Cricket and their failed attempt at T-Mobile). I know people will knock me for this, but Sprint might be the carrier that will win out...in the long term. Rather than slap a few band-aids over their network like AT&T and Verizon have, they are trading short-term pain for long-term gain by rebuilding their network from the ground-up. And while I personally may ***** and moan at times about Sprint's network quality at the moment, I am excited for what is in store for Sprint now that the Softbank acquisition has been approved and in effect.
 

Woosh

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As far as my phones and tablets go, I always valued real world performance and experience over theoretical performance and horsepower.

That's a reason why I always liked IOS devices because they valued the same thing. However, I'm on android and think I'm going to stick with it for the next few years, so I'm looking for a android phone that gives me that experience. I'm wondering if the moto x might be it.

I own a nexus 4 at the moment, and it's a good phone. I like it's performance and it seems fast enough for what I use my phone for (Internet, email, YouTube, video, music, and things like that. Honestly, while I play some games on the phone, I find I like playing them more on my tablet when I can due to the bigger screen. Like, I'm not going to really play dead trigger on my phone) but I always wanted LTE and a better battery.

Another thing is I need to go the carrier route on AT&T. I can't afford a 600 plus dollar purchase, but I can trade in my nexus 4 to almost pay for a on contract price phone. So there's not much out of pocket cost for me. And I'm on my parents family plan, so I'm cool staying on that for another two years at least.

But I also want something as close to stock android as I can. I don't really care for the way OEMs skin android.

I also don't hack, root, or tinker. I just use the phone as is. It's mainly because I think it would give me anxiety to root and dig into the phones code or whatever. I just don't want to deal with it.

The only thing I'm a bit nervous about with the moto x is if the stuff I use phones for will be effected a year from now due to the device not being quad core.

What do you guys think?

N4 is about a year old now.....how's it holding up for your needs?

Welcome to Android!

Sounds like the Moto X is your way to go...I know hardware freaks are up in arms over it but the handset I currently own (an LG Optimus V) sports Android 4.2.2 via PAC-Rom is proof you don't need some so-called speed and power demon to run the latest and greatest of Android (especially if the rumors hold true that Android 5.0 would be running on phones with 512 RAM and limited internal space).

As far as carriers go...AT&T in my opinion is reaching a crossroads (in some respects, so is Verizon) as they are beginning to realize they do not have enough bandwidth and spectrum to satisfy its customer's data-hungry needs (hence their Hail Mary purchase of Cricket and their failed attempt at T-Mobile). I know people will knock me for this, but Sprint might be the carrier that will win out...in the long term. Rather than slap a few band-aids over their network like AT&T and Verizon have, they are trading short-term pain for long-term gain by rebuilding their network from the ground-up. And while I personally may ***** and moan at times about Sprint's network quality at the moment, I am excited for what is in store for Sprint now that the Softbank acquisition has been approved and in effect.

Ha, No offense but do you not remember the WiMax band-aid? Sprint has LESS spectrum than the other two big guys, the difference is they have less ppl too. So maybe in the future they can get their act together and this whole network revamp which is a stupid band aid as well, VoLTE is coming so this upgrade to Sprint's network may be pointless.

Sprint also uses some painful spectrum which causes bad building pen and while Verizon and AT&T generally use lower tiers, you have Sprint with most of its network on 2500mhz. Sure they will possibly soon have that 800mhz from their IDen network but who knows how much or how long that will take them to achieve.

They've also been bleeding money and customers for years now. If Softbank buys them they will at least have a few $$s in the bank. But who knows if they will change the terrible leadership that I believe they've had for so long.

You'd be better off with T-Mo which will most likely pass Sprint in LTE coverage AND reliability, if they haven't already. Plus the T-Mo 3G is actually usable.

Unless they announce a price increase or the elimination of unlimited data, I see no reason to hop onto Sprint until they get their network straightened out.
 

gamefreak715

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If you have a family share plan and plan to update, they'll try to get you to go to a share-everything plan and the whole family would have to switch to that plan since you can't have 2 family plans. To upgrade, you can't keep the family plan anymore. But tell them to give you a tiered data plan. I think those share everything plans are complete money grabbing rip offs. I personally am also on my parents plan but I pay data, which I locked in 4 GB for $30/month. My decision is going to come down to paying full price to keep that promo or pay 20 bucks more/month to get tiered 5gb. VZW is the only choice where I live.. I like this phone a lot but kinda wanna see what the nexus 5 is priced at, full retail, first.

Posted via Android Central App
 

SteelGator

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So I assume things will still probaly run fine on this 2 years later?

Yes, you can expect it to run well for the next couple of years. There will be better speced phones out, and we will all be geeking for them, but the x will still be running fine.

More likely than your phone being a problem is that a new feature you feel like you must have will come along and force your upgrade.
 

RavenSword

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If you have a family share plan and plan to update, they'll try to get you to go to a share-everything plan and the whole family would have to switch to that plan since you can't have 2 family plans. To upgrade, you can't keep the family plan anymore. But tell them to give you a tiered data plan. I think those share everything plans are complete money grabbing rip offs. I personally am also on my parents plan but I pay data, which I locked in 4 GB for $30/month. My decision is going to come down to paying full price to keep that promo or pay 20 bucks more/month to get tiered 5gb. VZW is the only choice where I live.. I like this phone a lot but kinda wanna see what the nexus 5 is priced at, full retail, first.

Posted via Android Central App

I've upgraded phones before with no issues on the family plan. We have a shared pool of I think 15 gbs. We generally do OK.
 

SteelGator

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Not sure if serious.

This was sarcasm. Too many people here have been up in arms about the dual core vs quad core issue, and ignoring the design features that make the comparison irrelevant. There is a visceral reaction to folks that think the x is going to be obsolete in 6 months, mostly because it defies logic.
 

Aquila

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You'll have nothing to fear from hardware obsolescence and virtually no mainstream or necessary apps will have required or suggested minimum specifications of quad core anything. Quite the opposite, Google is pushing for better performance on lower spec'd devices to create an overall better experience on their OS globally, where quad-core $600 devices are definitely not the norm.

The only thing I am leery of is being locked into a carrier/OEM upgrade pipeline, being used to Nexus updates within a few hours of an announcement. If that is not going to be a sticking point for you, from your description I think you're very safe making this choice... but we're close enough to the next Nexus that I'd be curious about it's software and hardware options, of which we know nothing today. It could potentially have LTE on AT&T and T-Mobile answering one of your calls, and one could assume that Google's involvement with the Moto X could carry over into the Nexus lines in the philosophy of battery life, etc. so that may be an option to consider as well.
 

hodan

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So I assume things will still probaly run fine on this 2 years later?

That's the question, really. A two year old Galaxy Nexus has trouble with Jelly Bean. It was somewhat mid-range at its release.

I am firmly anti-iPhone and pro-Android, but I'm not sure ANY android phone will last for 2 years.

People in tech have been saying that hardware finally caught up with software - for the 25 years I've owned computers, yet they're never right.

Specifically regarding the Moto X, I'm not sure - it's got a unique processor setup and it'll be hard to predict long-term performance.
 

Aquila

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A two year old Galaxy Nexus has trouble with Jelly Bean

Mine actually absolutely flies on 4.3 and did so on 4.2.2 as well. My wife's is still on 4.2.2 and is doing great. I'm not sure if anyone else is having issues but I've not seen a G-Nex struggle with Jelly Bean at all. Both of ours are Verizon, not sure if that makes it better or worse.

It was somewhat mid-range at its release.

Absolutely false. The Galaxy Nexus in November/December 2011 was the best device available from any manufacturer, taking that title from the Galaxy S2 by a narrow margin and holding that title for six more months. Just the fact that it easily holds its own in real world performance against most 2012 devices and some 2013 devices is to it's credit. I can drop it next to an S3, DNA and iPhone 4S and I open games, web pages, G+, Google Now and the camera faster despite it being quad-core. It experiences none of the lag of the S4 on touchwiz and with 4.3 it's battery life has tremendously improved.

There hasn't been a single "mid range" Nexus released yet. Every single one was, on the day that it was released, either the top of the pack or, with the case of the Nexus 4, best device, but had some shortcomings on the LTE front. It still had the best software, best processor, best screen tech, etc, etc. of anything out and the biggest complaint was oddly not the LTE or storage, but the stock Android camera. The argument of the best phone available (user experience, not spec sheet) up until next week is resoundingly between the Nexus 4 and the HTC One.

The "mid range" Nexus argument really confuses me. If there had been one that was midrange I could see someone mistakingly projecting it upon the others, but there hasn't. Every nexus device has led it's niche, be it phone or tablet so far and there hasn't been anything announced to suggest that the next Nexus 10 and Nexus phone will not follow suit. The last two years of Nexus devices are all on 4.3, alive and kicking the tar out of their competitors.
 

JHBThree

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Mine actually absolutely flies on 4.3 and did so on 4.2.2 as well. My wife's is still on 4.2.2 and is doing great. I'm not sure if anyone else is having issues but I've not seen a G-Nex struggle with Jelly Bean at all. Both of ours are Verizon, not sure if that makes it better or worse.



Absolutely false. The Galaxy Nexus in November/December 2011 was the best device available from any manufacturer, taking that title from the Galaxy S2 by a narrow margin and holding that title for six more months. Just the fact that it easily holds its own in real world performance against most 2012 devices and some 2013 devices is to it's credit. I can drop it next to an S3, DNA and iPhone 4S and I open games, web pages, G+, Google Now and the camera faster despite it being quad-core. It experiences none of the lag of the S4 on touchwiz and with 4.3 it's battery life has tremendously improved.

There hasn't been a single "mid range" Nexus released yet. Every single one was, on the day that it was released, either the top of the pack or, with the case of the Nexus 4, best device, but had some shortcomings on the LTE front. It still had the best software, best processor, best screen tech, etc, etc. of anything out and the biggest complaint was oddly not the LTE or storage, but the stock Android camera. The argument of the best phone available (user experience, not spec sheet) up until next week is resoundingly between the Nexus 4 and the HTC One.

The "mid range" Nexus argument really confuses me. If there had been one that was midrange I could see someone mistakingly projecting it upon the others, but there hasn't. Every nexus device has led it's niche, be it phone or tablet so far and there hasn't been anything announced to suggest that the next Nexus 10 and Nexus phone will not follow suit. The last two years of Nexus devices are all on 4.3, alive and kicking the tar out of their competitors.

Ehhh the galaxy nexus could be pegged as mid range. Mostly because of its dated processor and weak camera. It certainly didn't bear some of the specs like the nexus 4 or nexus one did. (The nexus s was a mid range phone as well, I would argue)

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
 

Aquila

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Ehhh the galaxy nexus could be pegged as mid range. Mostly because of its dated processor and weak camera. It certainly didn't bear some of the specs like the nexus 4 or nexus one did. (The nexus s was a mid range phone as well, I would argue)

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

What I mean is that there was nothing better out. Mid and high range don't mean much in absolute, only relative to the competition and not just in a spec contest, but in a total experience context. ICS blew stock GB out of the water and stock ran circles around the GB TouchWiz and Sense OS devices out from 2011. Despite the S2 having very similar, if slightly inferior, specs to the GNex (many reviewers called them nearly a tie on hardware), the software made quite a delta on it's own that wasn't closed for many months.
 

RavenSword

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You'll have nothing to fear from hardware obsolescence and virtually no mainstream or necessary apps will have required or suggested minimum specifications of quad core anything. Quite the opposite, Google is pushing for better performance on lower spec'd devices to create an overall better experience on their OS globally, where quad-core $600 devices are definitely not the norm.

The only thing I am leery of is being locked into a carrier/OEM upgrade pipeline, being used to Nexus updates within a few hours of an announcement. If that is not going to be a sticking point for you, from your description I think you're very safe making this choice... but we're close enough to the next Nexus that I'd be curious about it's software and hardware options, of which we know nothing today. It could potentially have LTE on AT&T and T-Mobile answering one of your calls, and one could assume that Google's involvement with the Moto X could carry over into the Nexus lines in the philosophy of battery life, etc. so that may be an option to consider as well.

Yeah, that's another option I'm considering. Really, if I just got a nexus 4 with LTE and a better battery, I'd be cool with that.

But for whatever reason I have a feeling the moto x might not suffer like other OEMs just because Motorola is owned by Google. I know google said they are not going to give them special treatment, but that doesn't mean they won't give them a kick in the ads to update faster.
 

SteelGator

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Yeah, that's another option I'm considering. Really, if I just got a nexus 4 with LTE and a better battery, I'd be cool with that.

But for whatever reason I have a feeling the moto x might not suffer like other OEMs just because Motorola is owned by Google. I know google said they are not going to give them special treatment, but that doesn't mean they won't give them a kick in the ads to update faster.

Thing is, updates are dependent on the carrier. The Moto X will likely lag like other carrier phones for updates. I hope that the extra features play nice with KLP.
 

RavenSword

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Thing is, updates are dependent on the carrier. The Moto X will likely lag like other carrier phones for updates. I hope that the extra features play nice with KLP.

Yeah, and that's another thing. See, I'm the kind of person who likes to updates right when it's available. Whether that's app updates or device firmware. This goes for tablets, phones, game consoles, etc.

But I do also wonder how important or needed these updates are becoming outside of the number change point releases like whatever 5.0 is going to be.

How much is Google pushing through its play services app so they can potentialy get around the carriers?

I'd hate to miss out on a important firmware release.

Also, another question, if there's a issue with the phone due to Android update or whatever, will we still have to wait for the OEM and the carrier to OK it before we can receive it?

Say for example my phone was having touch response issues due to a version of android. And Google knows what's wrong and has a fix they are ready to send out. So I still have to wait for the OEM and the carrier to OK it?

Honestly, the only phones I ever had on contract were iPhone, so I never worried about getting updates or my carrier roadblocking it's updates. So I'm not sure if I'm even going to be happy with a on contract android phone since Google can't bypass the carriers like apple can. Does that mean I'm forever stuck buying Nexus or Google play phones? Not saying those are bad devices, but the nexus, at this moment, does not have LTE or great battery life and the Google play edition phones are expensive upfront.

I don't mind buying subsidized right now because I like being on my family plan and don't have issues being locked in for another 2 years and I don't have a issue with the bloatware because the moto x doesn't have that much and I can disable it.

However, I don't have a issue with the potential of never receiving updates because my carrier won't let it happen. Is the carrier firmware update thing a big deal still? Is ATT good at this usually?

Pretty much, if I can get (subsidkzed) stock android (or as close as I can) and have it with LTE, great battery life. I would love that. And if it's faster than my nexus 4 I have now, even enter.
 
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Aquila

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Lots of points there, but it all boils down to the carrier/OEM/Update relationship. It's improving but very slowly, and in no way is it not still a problem. That by itself makes me nervous about non-nexus devices.

So on to the larger question of, "does it matter"? Google is (thankfully) definitely pushing to provide more of it's services without a requirement for a firmware update and so perhaps we have to assess it as a probability of earth-shattering changes in KLP. On that front, everything that is known thus far, indicates that it will not be wildly different, but rather will focus on optimization on more less expensive devices. With that in mind, being on a Flagship device with Jelly Bean will in most respects be an identical user experience to those on KLP. In many ways it might be like having one device on 4.3 and on on 4.2.2 in the current climate.

The hope is obviously that the Moto X's software being so very close to pure will accelerate updates from code drop, but if that is truly a primary consideration, I would seriously recommend hanging out for news on the next Nexus phone and then making a decision. Unfortunately, that's likely 45-60 days away for solid tips and closer to 75 days away for an announcement.
 

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