Explain to a foreigner what's so great about the Moto X?

[I Can Be Your Hero]

The Moto X wasn't released here in Australia, but I consistently see people (both posters on websites and critics) praise the Moto X, which has really intrigued me as to what it is about the phone that's so appealing.

From what I gather, it's pretty much stock Android (just like any regular Nexus device), has different (better?) camera software, has active notifications (which a notification light does?) and had 'Ok Google' which is now available in Nexus devices.

Am I missing something? That's the difference in software I believe. So is it the fact that you can custom make the Moto X that makes it so appealing? Combining colours you want and possibly engraving the phone?

What is it about the experience from the Moto X that isn't in, say, a Nexus?

 

[UJ95x]

Active notifications does a lot more than a notification light. The light tells you, "Hey, someone _____ed you!" Sure you can customize the light's color but you still have to unlock the phone and go into the app to read it. The active display tells you exactly what you missed and lets you go directly in the corresponding app.
The Always listening feature isn't in Nexus devices, on those, it only works when on the home screen. Not when the phone is off like with the X.
That's the most noticeable differences in software, a lot of people really like the phone for its form factor (Curved to fit your hand nicely and not as big as the other phones, but still has a pretty great screen size) not like the usual slabs/bricks that you see with other phones.
Being able to customize it is just a bonus, I'm sure 90% or more of the people who got one would do the same, even without Moto maker
I don't have either phone so I'm probably not the best source but those are the big differences I can see between the two. Hopefully someone else can add on

 

[DayThyme]

From what I gather, it's pretty much stock Android (just like any regular Nexus device)

It's stock android+. The plus being active notifications, touchless controls and motorola assist.

has different (better?) camera software

the camera is the worst part of the Moto X.

active notifications (which a notification light does?)

no, with active controls it shows you that you have a missed call or a text or a voicemail or an email by a symbol that flashes on and off. But the thing that makes the active notifications different is that you just have to touch the screen to read the text without unlocking the phone.

and had 'Ok Google' which is now available in Nexus devices.

with the moto x, it is touchless and always listening so you don't have to touch your phone to use Ok Google Now commands. This is great while driving. It also is nice when you can't find your phone - you just say Ok Google Now find my phone and the phone beeps.

What is it about the experience from the Moto X that isn't in, say, a Nexus?

touchless controls, motorola assist and active notifications.

With motorola assist, the phone senses when you are driving by the gps and reads your text messages to you. Great, very practical feature to have.

 

[anon(847090)]

what other posters said but i want to stress upon form factor... its nothing like nexus. I own Nexus and it like any normal phone but moto X really feel great while holding..

its difficult to explain, you have to hold it to understand.

 

[snoking]

Another thing I like is not having to use the power button to wake it up. If you pick it up without a active notification and you miss swiping down to wake it, then I just turn it face down and back up and the lock appears so that I can swipe it down. Now if they just had away to put it to sleep without the the power button or timer.

I had a HTC Resound before that was a real good device, but the Moto X 5 or 10 faster, and much smooth with very few warts! Chris

Sent from my A200 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[scrounger]

Assist also has sleeping and meeting functionality.
Active Notifications will allow you to see that you received a call or text message & who it was from, then take appropriate action. If you weren't going to respond immediately, you have not turned on the screen which saves battery. The AMOLED screen only turns on the pixels it needs. Most people use the phone to check the time & notifications and since the screen usually uses the most battery, not turning it on will allow the battery to last longer. Average usage between charges is about a day.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[GadgetGator]

I echo the thoughts about not having to press a button to get the screen to come on. I love being able to take it out of my pocket and have it light up for me just with that action. So many times all I want to know is what time it is, or what temp it is. This tells me. Without having to press a single button. If I want to know more, I can touch the screen and see, but I still didn't have to press the power button (which I have always HATED having to do). Yes I know there are 3rd party options for that trick, but it is so much better having it baked into the phone.

I also love the impressive battery life. It may be no big deal to some of you, but I came from a phone that literally couldn't make it more then 8 hours (5 if it was a heavy use day...with 3 hours screen time it was done). Today after two weeks I just hit a new milestone in battery life: 1 day 6 hours with over 5 hours screen time. That would have been impossible with my old phone so this makes me ecstatically happy.

Finally, the customization was a nice little bonus. I liked that. And they got it to me quick.

 

[TBolt]

@Gadget how did you get weather to appear with the time in active notifications?

Sent from my moto x using Tapatalk

 

[davidnc]

As others have said above:
Its close to vanilla android with a few features thrown in:
Active Notifications
Touchless controls
Always listening
Camera gesture
Also not having to use power button to wake phone up , just give it a nudge and shows time .
Pretty much lag free
So far fast updates,some of the core apps are actually update from the play store therefore no need to wait on an entire OS update just to fix minor stuff.
Great Battery life.
Easily Pocketable.
Comfortable to hold

 

[carter17]

It has to be one of the most stable phones out there. It just does what its supposed to do

Posted via Android Central App

 

[karmamule]

It also has lots of nice little touches that individually are very minor, but when taken together add up to a phone whose manufacturer clearly cares about details:

• Power up animation is really nice, changes for the holiday, and if you go through Motomaker also has a personalized greeting
• Fun little extras like 'Windy Day' will pop up on occasion. (And if you don't want them they're easy to stop)
• Consistent performance. There's less stuttering/pausing/hitching than any other Android phone I've had. (That includes the HTC One and LG G2)

One less minor item I've grown to appreciate: if there's any signal to be pulled in, the Moto X will do it. It always seems to have decent signals in parts of my hometown that other phones struggle with.

 

[JoeNM84]

Form factor and active notifications are my favorites. Most comfortable phone I've held, I have small hands so the size is perfect compared to the giant phones that I would be annoyed to use. Love being able to see the time and any messages right when I pull it out of my pocket without actually having to turn the screen on.

 

[Roger Gibbens]

I agree with what has been posted here. It is not each individual feature that wows you, but the entirety of the experience. Sounds a little corny, but it is true for me. This is the smoothest and least jumpy phone I've ever used. The only thing I would add is that it got the Kit Kat update quicker than most other phones which is very encouraging for future support.

 

[JRDroid]

It is the experience. First is the size and feel of the phone. It feels so nice in hand, and it is BARELY bigger than my wife's 5c despite having a much larger display.

An LED tells you something has happened, some phone have multi color so there is slightly more information, but many have a single color. Active display shows you exactly what app sent you a notification and you can even see what the notification is all without unlocking your phone. Plus it allows you to unlock directly into the app that sent you a notification.

The Moto X and Nexus 5 always listening are not at all the same, in fact the Nexus 5 is not always listening. With the Nexus 5, you can activate voice actions from the home screen and Google Now. On the Moto X, you can activate them from any app or even with the screen completely off. You do not have to touch your phone what so ever with the Moto X, you have to wake up, unlock, and get to the launcher with the Nexus 5. When you are driving and want to send a quick text or start a call, the experience is hugely different.

It really is a conglomeration of many small features that make the Moto X so great.

 

[DayThyme]

I agree about the great signal/radios on the Moto X. I have a GNote3 and side by side the Moto X and the GNote3 show the signal at the same level of dBms and asu's, but the Moto X holds onto the 4G LTE signal better compared to the GNote3 and the Moto X consistently outperforms the GNote3 in speedtests.

 

[DayThyme]

An LED tells you something has happened, some phone have multi color so there is slightly more information, but many have a single color. Active display shows you exactly what app sent you a notification and you can even see what the notification is all without unlocking your phone. Plus it allows you to unlock directly into the app that sent you a notification.

This is huge not just for convenience sake, but to save battery life.

 

[cpcxgsr]

Form factor and ergonomics is perfect. IPhone screens are a bit small.... Samsung s3/4/notes are on the big side... Moto X just works!

As mentioned before, active display is a huge plus! Convenience factor, having to pull phone out of your pocket, your clock/messages turns on ASAP! Or when your phone is on the table facing up, once you move it or lift it up, it automatically shows time/messages.

As if its reading your mind! Also battery life is amazing! I can get through the entire work day on one charge. But grant it, I still bring my charger. Bad habit coming from gNex.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Take57]

Let's not overlook something very fundamental: Motorola engineered a really good radio for this phone.

 

[cpcxgsr]

Agreed. Radios strength is strong. I get 3+ bars in areas where I didn't in the past (GNex). Good job Motorola! Whereas the Samsung GNex is complete dog shi...

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Devlyn16]

As a parent, who also [for work reasons] must keep their phone password locked, I cant stress enough how wonderful being able to bypass the lock screen to snap pictures of my kids is. A simple twist of the wrist and I'm snapping pics of my kids or my dogs before they can "stop doing" what ever I ws trying to capture.

the moto assit feature while driving is great as well