Moto X: Worth a 2 year conract?
- Thread starter rockitdog23
- Start date
so correct on this....this phone is smooth hands down...i am just waiting on verizon to introduce the moto maker, my girl couldnt wait so i play with hers a lot
I've spent the last four months using the htc one as my daily driver. I picked up a Moto X and couldn't be happier. Still love my one and I think they both have pros and cons. Both great devices. I'll happily switch between the two until the new nexus comes out. Then add that to the mix up.
Active notifications are amazing. I love it. This phone is quick. Smooth. Snappy. Frankly it handles chrome better than the one in some situations. Great phone. Can't go wrong. You can pick one up off contract for 586 out the door.
Sent from my HTC One
Active notifications are amazing. I love it. This phone is quick. Smooth. Snappy. Frankly it handles chrome better than the one in some situations. Great phone. Can't go wrong. You can pick one up off contract for 586 out the door.
Sent from my HTC One
The moto x is defiantly worth the 2-year price. I came from the 4s and I haven't looked back once. As for you, is this a phone meant for you for the next two years? Well that is according to what you like in a phone. My advice is try the moto x for a week. If you dislike the product as a whole, then return the phone. if you like the phone then come back and we will answer any question you have.
Posted via Android Central App
If you but a sixteen gig in store its 540 plus tax. 586 or so out the door as they have tax on a different amount. That is confirmed at att
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk 2
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk 2
So I didn't take the time to read every post but I wanted to jump in with my 2c on my experience with my Moto X. First off I love this phone, it is super fast and smooth and has given me the best experience so far of any Android device i've ever used. It does have a few bugs but the first OTA that is out or being deployed shortly (depending on the carrier) resolves these. Motorola made a lot of great design decisions with this phone and it shows. I'll address a lot of the issues 1 at a time that people keep bringing up with the specs.
-Dual core vs Quad core.....well this isn't an issue at all because the reality is that prior to ICS Android didn't even really properly support dual core chips. So yes there is kernel support for quad core but the OS itself really can't take full advantage of the 2 extra cores. What you get instead (even the Moto Engineers said this) is firmware tweaks where they attempt to load balance processes across each core while keeping all 4 cores clocked as low as possible as to not kill your battery. If you look at most benchmarks though, there really isn't a performance benefit to quad core over dual core except in synthetic benchmarks. I mean desktop computers barely utilize quad core chips and they do tons of multitasking, dual core is perfectly fine for mobile devices and should remain that way for a while. Even the new iPhone 5S is still dual core and the A7 is a pretty fast chip so don't let manufacturers trick you into think its junk if it isn't quad core. The S4 Pro chip that the X uses is actually a Snapdragon 600 chip, just the dual core model so it's still the new Krait 300 arch.
-Companion cores are like the M7 from Apple but better......So while Apple made a big deal about the M7 being this amazing thing, Motorola beat them to the punch with the Moto X. It has a contextual computing core that handles notifications for active display as well as all the sensor processing data but there is also a dedicated language chip for voice processing. Now we don't quite know the extent of what the voice processing chip does exactly and if 3rd party apps can use it or not but regardless both these chips help give the Moto X great battery life when it doesn't get heavy use.
-720p vs 1080p.......Well this is an interesting one here, the Moto X's 720p screen uses a full 720p display and has almost the same ppi as an iPhone 5/5S aka retina display. Yes you may notice a small difference if you stare at both a S4 and a X at the same time but in day to day use, you won't see the individual pixels and since you aren't taxing the GPU as hard, you'll get great fps from the Adreno 320 gpu. The final note is to cram in 1080p worth of pixels into a display, a lot of manufacturers don't use "full 1080p" displays, they kind of cheat and use something akin to a pentile display (i forget the actual name off the top of my head) but basically not every pixel is a real pixel. So while the ppi is very high aka 400+, its not "true 1080p".
-Device I/O performance......this for me is a big one and goes along with the design decisions Motorola made. They decided to use F2FS as their file system for the user space aka where all our data, apps, etc is stored as opposed to the standard EXT4. F2FS was developed by Samsung and was specifically designed for flash memory. On a PC/Server, a SSD drive has both the flash storage and a small processor/controller that handles a lot of the data queueing, i/o operations, etc....but on a flash memory chip in a smartphone there simply isn't space for that. F2FS was designed with this in mind and in simple terms sort of acts as a software controller. F2FS also has native TRIM support on file deletion (Android 4.3 brings TRIM but it is run every 24 hrs) which greatly helps keep performance consistent over long periods of time. The reason for this is typically after a sector on the flash storage has been written to, when a file is deleted only the "index" is deleted, the actual sector still will retain its value so when the time comes to rewrite to that sector, it needs to be wiped first then written which will slow things up. By clearing the value right away this scenario is avoided and your device won't degrade over time. So basically F2FS is one of the many reasons the Moto X runs so buttery smooth.
Here is a link to some F2FS benchmarks:
[Phoronix] Linux 3.11 File-System Performance: EXT4, Btrfs, XFS, F2FS
Finally, how future proof is the Moto X? Well it has BT 4.0 which is fairly new and while it has basic support now that Motorola developed, it will have the official Android support after the 4.3 update. It has an Adreno 320 GPU which is one of the fastest on the market right now and again after 4.3 is released it will gain OpenGL ES 3.0 which is very new. The device has 2GB of ram which at least for the near future is plenty (I think the only device with 3GB is the Note 3?). The Moto X uses a mostly stock Android which will help keep the overhead low without the additional UI bloat stealing away cpu cycles and system resources. Motorola also really seems to be trying to redefine themselves as a company and fix their image. There have been multiple posts by Punit Soni (head project manager for motorola) where he has tried to personally help people with their issues with the Moto X and has replied that Motorola is going to offer many software updates in a timely manner for this device. Hopefully this means that as long as the device can run a new version of Android that Motorola will update the device to it.
So if you want a quick summary? Yes buy this phone.
-Dual core vs Quad core.....well this isn't an issue at all because the reality is that prior to ICS Android didn't even really properly support dual core chips. So yes there is kernel support for quad core but the OS itself really can't take full advantage of the 2 extra cores. What you get instead (even the Moto Engineers said this) is firmware tweaks where they attempt to load balance processes across each core while keeping all 4 cores clocked as low as possible as to not kill your battery. If you look at most benchmarks though, there really isn't a performance benefit to quad core over dual core except in synthetic benchmarks. I mean desktop computers barely utilize quad core chips and they do tons of multitasking, dual core is perfectly fine for mobile devices and should remain that way for a while. Even the new iPhone 5S is still dual core and the A7 is a pretty fast chip so don't let manufacturers trick you into think its junk if it isn't quad core. The S4 Pro chip that the X uses is actually a Snapdragon 600 chip, just the dual core model so it's still the new Krait 300 arch.
-Companion cores are like the M7 from Apple but better......So while Apple made a big deal about the M7 being this amazing thing, Motorola beat them to the punch with the Moto X. It has a contextual computing core that handles notifications for active display as well as all the sensor processing data but there is also a dedicated language chip for voice processing. Now we don't quite know the extent of what the voice processing chip does exactly and if 3rd party apps can use it or not but regardless both these chips help give the Moto X great battery life when it doesn't get heavy use.
-720p vs 1080p.......Well this is an interesting one here, the Moto X's 720p screen uses a full 720p display and has almost the same ppi as an iPhone 5/5S aka retina display. Yes you may notice a small difference if you stare at both a S4 and a X at the same time but in day to day use, you won't see the individual pixels and since you aren't taxing the GPU as hard, you'll get great fps from the Adreno 320 gpu. The final note is to cram in 1080p worth of pixels into a display, a lot of manufacturers don't use "full 1080p" displays, they kind of cheat and use something akin to a pentile display (i forget the actual name off the top of my head) but basically not every pixel is a real pixel. So while the ppi is very high aka 400+, its not "true 1080p".
-Device I/O performance......this for me is a big one and goes along with the design decisions Motorola made. They decided to use F2FS as their file system for the user space aka where all our data, apps, etc is stored as opposed to the standard EXT4. F2FS was developed by Samsung and was specifically designed for flash memory. On a PC/Server, a SSD drive has both the flash storage and a small processor/controller that handles a lot of the data queueing, i/o operations, etc....but on a flash memory chip in a smartphone there simply isn't space for that. F2FS was designed with this in mind and in simple terms sort of acts as a software controller. F2FS also has native TRIM support on file deletion (Android 4.3 brings TRIM but it is run every 24 hrs) which greatly helps keep performance consistent over long periods of time. The reason for this is typically after a sector on the flash storage has been written to, when a file is deleted only the "index" is deleted, the actual sector still will retain its value so when the time comes to rewrite to that sector, it needs to be wiped first then written which will slow things up. By clearing the value right away this scenario is avoided and your device won't degrade over time. So basically F2FS is one of the many reasons the Moto X runs so buttery smooth.
Here is a link to some F2FS benchmarks:
[Phoronix] Linux 3.11 File-System Performance: EXT4, Btrfs, XFS, F2FS
Finally, how future proof is the Moto X? Well it has BT 4.0 which is fairly new and while it has basic support now that Motorola developed, it will have the official Android support after the 4.3 update. It has an Adreno 320 GPU which is one of the fastest on the market right now and again after 4.3 is released it will gain OpenGL ES 3.0 which is very new. The device has 2GB of ram which at least for the near future is plenty (I think the only device with 3GB is the Note 3?). The Moto X uses a mostly stock Android which will help keep the overhead low without the additional UI bloat stealing away cpu cycles and system resources. Motorola also really seems to be trying to redefine themselves as a company and fix their image. There have been multiple posts by Punit Soni (head project manager for motorola) where he has tried to personally help people with their issues with the Moto X and has replied that Motorola is going to offer many software updates in a timely manner for this device. Hopefully this means that as long as the device can run a new version of Android that Motorola will update the device to it.
So if you want a quick summary? Yes buy this phone.
You can also go for Next and it is a one and 1/2 year contract. Then at the next unveiling in a year pay extra due.
srkmagnus
Retired Moderator
I'm starting to like this device more and more. Moto really did do a good job and it shows. Hopefully this is the beginning of a good future for upcoming phone releases by the company.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk 2
Sent from my GT-P7510 using Tapatalk 2
I agree. I do research my phones and usually have the list narrowed down to 3 phones that I compair and decided from there which phone is best for me.
I choose the Moto X because if seem to fit what i was looking for.I was a little hesistant since the last Motorola phone I had was the dx(got on release day) and wasnt happy with overall.
But this little Moto X has really impresed me from the smooth OS, a large screen in a small frame phone ,to the Touchless Control,Active Notifications.I m glad I went with the Moto X
ConTejas
Well-known member
C'mon. Moto X has midrange specs. We know it performs wonderfully, and feels great in the hand, but it pales in comparison to Q4 2013 devices on the spec sheet. Deal with it already. You obviously liked it enough to buy it, but you're kidding yourself if you think it has Q4 2013 flagship specs. Someone coming from an iPhone should be accustomed to a device that performs well without burning up the spec sheet. That said, if you're not in a terrible rush I'd suggest you wait to see how vanilla Android performs on a device that DOES burn up the spec sheet...ala Nexus 5/Kitkat. Most likely save yourself a bunch of cash too.
grooks
Well-known member
ConTejas
Well-known member
Says the guy with a fraction of my thanks/likes and whom added NOTHING of value to my post...just didn't "like it." Well it's pure fact and I offered the OP my suggestion. I don't sign contracts, but I wouldn't suggest doing it for the Moto X on ATT or Tmobile. Especially in Q4. Only stopped in because it's a "trending topic." Try again buddy.
benhmadison
Well-known member
The Nexus 5 as nice as it may turn out to be still won't have active notifications, Motorola connect, touchless control or the battery life that makes the Moto X the best device available for Android. If you don't think it can hang with the likes of the Note 3 you are wrong. It's a winner!
ConTejas
Well-known member
Short list? S800 or equivalent, Adreno 330 or equivalent, 1080P, 13+MP camera with OIS, Android 4.3+. You know what they are, and non of them exist in the Moto X. We can argue till the cows come home of their need or relevance, but those are Q4 2013 flagship specs. I already said I've enjoyed the Moto X, and as a longtime Nexus user it felt light and comfortable from a software perspective, and great in the hand. Just don't be so defensive against the midrange specs comments, becase it's a fact, and be proud Moto made it work as well as it does
Have a gander: http://forums.androidcentral.com/moto-x/308805-rant-about-specs.html
It was quite a good thread before it was derailed by senseless bickering. There are a few posts in there that might change your perspective, from some awfully knowledgeable users who have far more thanks/likes than you do (if that's your standard for judging others...)
I'm starting to think that that thread should be stickied. Just like the iPhone thread
Posted via Android Central App
NoYankees44
Well-known member
Or you could wait and see the impending Nexus. If rumors are to be believed, it will have all those spec boxes checked. Plus guaranteed immediate software updates and no need for a contract. Will be reasonably priced too if it follows the Nexus trend.
The only thing the moto x has on it(based on rumors) is the Moto active notifications and voice recognition. If you can live without those 2 features, it is a wash for the nexus.
The only thing the moto x has on it(based on rumors) is the Moto active notifications and voice recognition. If you can live without those 2 features, it is a wash for the nexus.
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