Two Moto X's, Different Results

svenEDGE

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I'm not sure how it's amazing, seeing as it's one faulty phone after another. It can't both be the built - they were made weeks apart. I'm not sure if I even want this phone anymore. What a hassle...!

This phone is absolutely worth getting one that works. I have never been so happy with a phone.

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HollyDolly

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I would get out of these forums and start communicating with Motorola engineers on Google +. There are a slew of them there..

I found a bug in the Bluetooth stack in the Qualcomm chip and 48hrs later Motorola sent a engineer to my house with a stack of special phones that allowed them to run logs and debugs to fix the software issue. Motorola is dedicated to making their business a success. Calling their care is not the way to go. Get on G+ & start talking to people that can get you a phone that works.

Posted via Android Central App
I already posted a message to Punit Soni on Google+ and he said Matt Jones would help me. I haven't heard from anyone at all since. Then I wrote the supervisor who was finally able to help me get my phone (the replacement phone that Motorola was 'holding' for absolutely no reason) and instead of her calling back, someone from the Help Desk contacted me to do some "technical support" things. He wanted remote access to my phone to check settings, except...he couldn't even hear me himself speaking on the phone because the microphone on this replacement is so crappy. So he's like, "I'll have corporate call you" and I'm like, "Is that Franco? Because he was useless in even getting my phone, so NO". So he's like, okay, sorry...good luck.

So I'm sitting here with no properly working phone, no one is helping me get a replacement, and I'm not sure what to do anymore??

Can someone provide me a link to the proper Google+ page I need to go to get actual help?

ETA: I've now been contacted by Matt Jones from Motorla (per Punit Soni) and we've been emailing about possible trouble-shooting issues, none of which so far match my phone scenario.

I'd almost give up on the phone and think, maybe it's just not going to work for me reception-wise, but that shouldn't affect how I sound on the microphone to others (and recording my own voice), now should it?
 
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clankfu

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I found a bug in the Bluetooth stack in the Qualcomm chip and 48hrs later Motorola sent a engineer to my house with a stack of special phones that allowed them to run logs and debugs to fix the software issue.

WOW! That's amazing.

Btw, what was wrong with your bluetooth?
 

benhmadison

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I've had a saga of issues with my first Moto X - reception, speaker, microphone, etc.

I ordered a replacement and just received it yesterday. I have since set it up to the exact specifications of the first Moto X I received - which is still in my possession - and I'm now having other issues with the 2nd phone. Both have the KitKat update. Both have the same build (13.11.3Q2.X-69-3-8), and everything is set up the same.

Here are the problems:

1. Phone #2: the reception - even on Wifi - is jerky. Like it's struggling to keep a steady stream.
2. Phone #2 is slower to boot.
3. Phone #2 is slower on speed/reception
4. Phone #2 is missing a system file? (See below for explanation)

I've set the phones side-by-side and turned them both off, then turn them on simultaneously. The 2nd phone takes 15 seconds longer to fully boot. But that's not all.

I've run a speed test on wifi on both, standing right next to my home router, and turning off mobile data to make sure it doesn't interfere with the testing. Repeatedly, the replacement phone (phone #2), comes out behind the 1st phone (the one I want to return), the ping is higher, and the speed is jerky. What I mean by "jerky" is that when the 1st phone runs a speed test, it's a smooth sweep with the speed test needle - and it's steady, getting a good 28-32Mbps down (I have 35Mbps via cable internet). The 2nd (replacement phone) gets an inconsistent 19-26Mbps down, and the pings is always higher, sometimes by 20-30 points. I also noticed this on pulling down emails: On Mail Droid, on both, the 1st phone pulls it down, no problem. The 2nd, replacement phone freezes and gives me the message "cannot connect to server" and I have to hit refresh too many times for it to work. I already hard reset both phones.

Finally, my 1st phone has something under the Battery option that is missing on the 2nd (replacement) phone: it's the Android KitKat logo, with "com.android.systemui" next to it. This can't be found anywhere on the 2nd phone. I'm attaching photos of both the speed test and the missing systemui. See photos below.

And, let me tell you, the 2nd phone is not that much better on speaker/audio. People still claim to have a harder time hearing me, and when I record my own voice on my voice mail greeting, it's barely audible - even though I'm speaking rather loudly.

Thoughts?

It is completely possible to get 2 or more defective units in a row regardless of the manufacturer. These companies mass produce these devices with little to no quality control. I had 3 different Moto X's and the battery life was quite a bit worse on 2 of the 3(same locations, same use, same setup). It sounds like you have been through the ringer by Motorola. If they can't take care of you soon try a different device.
 

HollyDolly

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It is completely possible to get 2 or more defective units in a row regardless of the manufacturer. These companies mass produce these devices with little to no quality control. I had 3 different Moto X's and the battery life was quite a bit worse on 2 of the 3(same locations, same use, same setup). It sounds like you have been through the ringer by Motorola. If they can't take care of you soon try a different device.
Thanks for saying so. I wrote an extensive email to the Motorola person I was put in touch with and let him know that my issue is not an isolated incident. I've just received my Fedex label. I'm instructed to ship both lemons back - as soon as they get it (on the 26th), they'll process it, then send me another replacement code so I can start the whole process all over again.

Can I tell you - I'm really tired of setting up my phone at this point. I hope the next phone works, but looks like I won't be getting my hands on it until 2014...
 

benhmadison

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Thanks for saying so. I wrote an extensive email to the Motorola person I was put in touch with and let him know that my issue is not an isolated incident. I've just received my Fedex label. I'm instructed to ship both lemons back - as soon as they get it (on the 26th), they'll process it, then send me another replacement code so I can start the whole process all over again.

Can I tell you - I'm really tired of setting up my phone at this point. I hope the next phone works, but looks like I won't be getting my hands on it until 2014...

As cool as the whole "design your own phone" idea is, it lends itself to many problems if defective units are involved etc. IMO they should have done the Moto G thing with the Moto X and just sold different color backs, that way if there is an issue you would just be able to swap the body of the unit out vs redesigning a whole new unit.
 

HollyDolly

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As cool as the whole "design your own phone" idea is, it lends itself to many problems if defective units are involved etc. IMO they should have done the Moto G thing with the Moto X and just sold different color backs, that way if there is an issue you would just be able to swap the body of the unit out vs redesigning a whole new unit.
Agreed. And they can't seem to keep up with the requests.

Motorola did offer to send me a replacement phone without the personalization of Motomaker - just a straight-out phone, but that defeats (most) of the purpose of customizing a phone to my liking. I didn't go through all this only to end up with two lemons and then just be given whatever they have at hand in their warehouse.

Also, this "made in America" thing is not looking good with all the duds being mailed out to people. I said so to Motorola, too. But I don't think they must cared, to be honest...
 

anon(464338)

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Sorry this is happening to people. But please everyone remember that for every "dud" there are many many more that aren't. I suspect if everyone with a good running problem free device posted saying so, the servers would crash. Doesnt give the ones with problems consolation though

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tonymhoffman

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WOW! That's amazing.

Btw, what was wrong with your bluetooth?

I own a Subaru and when I don't remove the pair from my steering wheel and the phone before repairing the device to the list of hands free devices for the car the auto connect will not work and it causes the Bluetooth to get stuck over riding the wireless chip and not allowing me to connect to any wireless networks. Only after a reboot does it work again. this issue was not moto x only but something myself and the Qualcomm/Moto engineer could replicate across devices using Qualcomm chips.

It was a cool 5hrs none the less. Cool dude and I'm amazed at their willingness to get things right.. Shoot, they had me on a conference call with 10 engineers and 2 different teams before they sent the guy to my house. This kind of makes me think holly may be not reaching out to the right people and this is holiday season so some of these people like punit are already on vacation. Both times I've had questions about my phone Motorola has dispatched via hangouts a team of engineers to look into it.

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clankfu

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I own a Subaru and when I don't remove the pair from my steering wheel and the phone before repairing the device to the list of hands free devices for the car the auto connect will not work and it causes the Bluetooth to get stuck over riding the wireless chip and not allowing me to connect to any wireless networks. Only after a reboot does it work again. this issue was not moto x only but something myself and the Qualcomm/Moto engineer could replicate across devices using Qualcomm chips.

It was a cool 5hrs none the less. Cool dude and I'm amazed at their willingness to get things right.. Shoot, they had me on a conference call with 10 engineers and 2 different teams before they sent the guy to my house. This kind of makes me think holly may be not reaching out to the right people and this is holiday season so some of these people like punit are already on vacation. Both times I've had questions about my phone Motorola has dispatched via hangouts a team of engineers to look into it.

Posted via Android Central App

Once again...that's amazing. I've never heard of anything like that before. Truly above and beyond.
 

t0ked

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It's really unfortunate the issues you are going through. I myself have now 3 MotoX phones on my family account and all of them have been great out of the box, no need for exchanges. Hopefully the next one is as perfect as the ones I have. I honestly have not been as satisfied with a phone as I have been with these MotoXs.

All in all though, the customer service I'm reading about from Motorola seems pretty heads and tails above what I would ever expect from any other phone maker.

Don't give up on the X yet!
 

HollyDolly

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So tonight, I was driving somewhere unfamiliar, and I got lost. Since I didn't know the exact address of the place I was heading to, I tried to look up on my (2nd/replacement) phone. HAHA - no reception. It was stuck on 3G with barely any bars, in the middle of the city, and it couldn't search anything on Google. Scary.:-!

I NEVER had that happen with my Photon. The week before I received my replacement phone, the first Moto X did the same thing - not able to connect to Google in the middle of several cities.

Now I'm wondering about this phone's reception altogether. Also, I'm really tired of people going, "Sorry? I can't hear you" whenever I call someone.

I'm afraid to order a 3rd phone. If that ends up not working, I'm done with Motorola. How can the quality of their product be so inconsistent?
 

mrsmumbles

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So tonight, I was driving somewhere unfamiliar, and I got lost. Since I didn't know the exact address of the place I was heading to, I tried to look up on my (2nd/replacement) phone. HAHA - no reception. It was stuck on 3G with barely any bars, in the middle of the city, and it couldn't search anything on Google. Scary.:-!

I NEVER had that happen with my Photon. The week before I received my replacement phone, the first Moto X did the same thing - not able to connect to Google in the middle of several cities.

Now I'm wondering about this phone's reception altogether. Also, I'm really tired of people going, "Sorry? I can't hear you" whenever I call someone.

I'm afraid to order a 3rd phone. If that ends up not working, I'm done with Motorola. How can the quality of their product be so inconsistent?

Regarding the WiFi test, if both phones are testing simultaneously, one is liable to suck more BW than the other, which would explain that. As for the poor reception, can you retry a trusted phone on the same network again, to rule out possible network issues?

Sent from my LG870 via Tapatalk 2
 

benhmadison

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So tonight, I was driving somewhere unfamiliar, and I got lost. Since I didn't know the exact address of the place I was heading to, I tried to look up on my (2nd/replacement) phone. HAHA - no reception. It was stuck on 3G with barely any bars, in the middle of the city, and it couldn't search anything on Google. Scary.:-!

I NEVER had that happen with my Photon. The week before I received my replacement phone, the first Moto X did the same thing - not able to connect to Google in the middle of several cities.

Now I'm wondering about this phone's reception altogether. Also, I'm really tired of people going, "Sorry? I can't hear you" whenever I call someone.

I'm afraid to order a 3rd phone. If that ends up not working, I'm done with Motorola. How can the quality of their product be so inconsistent?

Sounds like these phones are bound and determined to make your life miserable j/k. I can also vouch for the signal not being as good as previous Motorola devices I have used. With the Nexus 5 I get much better signal than I did with the Moto X. I am not trying to down the X as I still miss certain things about it, but for me the N5 has been the better overall device.
 

HollyDolly

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Regarding the WiFi test, if both phones are testing simultaneously, one is liable to suck more BW than the other, which would explain that. As for the poor reception, can you retry a trusted phone on the same network again, to rule out possible network issues?

Sent from my LG870 via Tapatalk 2
Actually, I didn't test them simultaneously, because yes...that would degrade the speed. I did one, then the other, then over and over...I think I tested both about 9-10 times, same results: Replacement phone coming in last compared to the 1st phone.

I have no switched back to my Photon again and here's a comparison: I tried to make a call to my cable company on the Moto X and they kept saying they couldn't hear me. Switched phones, same location (my office) and called them back: they can hear me just fine.

I'm also finding lots of threads with the same call quality/reception issues. I'm thinking...this phone might not work for me, after all?
 
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HollyDolly

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Sounds like these phones are bound and determined to make your life miserable j/k. I can also vouch for the signal not being as good as previous Motorola devices I have used. With the Nexus 5 I get much better signal than I did with the Moto X. I am not trying to down the X as I still miss certain things about it, but for me the N5 has been the better overall device.

They're succeeding in making my life more difficult! :p

Actually, I was just talking to a Sprint tech person who seemed very well-versed in phones and is a member of all the usual forums around here, and he highly recommends the Nexus 5. I hadn't considered it before, but now I am. Should I get one instead?

What do you miss about the Moto X? And tbh, the active notification is not that big a deal for me, because I get so many emails, etc. all the time that I have to unlock my phone to see what's come through. The only thing I've read (and correct me if wrong) is that the Nexus 5 doesn't have Google Now as an option (which, btw, doesn't always work anyway).

I'm going to do some spec comparison shortly, but while a beautiful phone is great, I NEED a working phone with good call quality and reception. I have already read something about the Nexus 5 having "ear piece" issues, so I'd be interested in any input. But seriously, the idea of another lemon...I can't.
 

ultravisitor

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Actually, I was just talking to a Sprint tech person who seemed very well-versed in phones and is a member of all the usual forums around here, and he highly recommends the Nexus 5. I hadn't considered it before, but now I am. Should I get one instead?

The Nexus 5 is absolutely the only other Android phone I would consider owning. Seriously. If a Moto X doesn't work for you, then go with the Nexus 5.
 

tonymhoffman

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Back in the day when I worked in the IT field there was an understanding that 99 percent of the time the problem was between the chair and the keyboard. Not the computer.

The more I read these post the more this becomes true haha

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HollyDolly

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The Nexus 5 is absolutely the only other Android phone I would consider owning. Seriously. If a Moto X doesn't work for you, then go with the Nexus 5.
Yea, I hadn't considered it at all until now, no idea why. I guess my reasoning for going with the Moto X was because I had a really good experience with the Photon as far as reception and I had heard Motorola has really good antennas. But that's not been my experience with 2 Moto X's so far and I'm just afraid to try a 3rd, because it might just not be the right antenna for my area. I live in the city, so signal shouldn't be such an issue, but it actually seems to be.

If anyone can tell me anything - the good/bad/ugly about the Nexus 5, I'd greatly appreciate it!
 

HollyDolly

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Heaven help me with off-shore employees who supposedly speak English but can't seem to put two sentences together!

I've been researching the Nexus 5 32GB. Apparently, the 16GB is available on Sprint but the 32GB can be purchased through Sprint WorldWide Chat - where people don't speak or understand English :mad: - and so...I wanted to know, can the Nexus 5 32 GB be purchased via a contract upgrade or not? I've spoken with 3 reps, and they're all confused.

If it can only be purchased out-of-pocket, I'd rather not. If that's the case, I'll just risk another lemony Moto X again.
 

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