Windows Phone user trying to decide between Moto X (2014) and Lumia 930.

[akin_t]

Currently I use a Lumia 920. I'm considering a new phone and either way, I'll be buying it off contract (i.e. Pure Version if I go with Moto X).

I haven't used Android in a long time, and I'm aware it's got more apps than WP. I had some concerns about performance which were immediately put to rest once I was able to use the Moto X in an AT&T store, it was fast and responsive. However, I have a couple concerns regarding UI and other things.

1. Can I get the stock KitKat 4.4.4 Camera App from the Play Store? If I do, will I still be able to record Video in 4K?

2. How is the daylight visibility of this screen? I'm coming from a Lumia so obviously I know it will be slightly worse, but to me this is a pass/fail test, I don't care how much more visible the Lumia is in daylight, as long as text on the Moto X is legible in bright daylight I'll be happy.

3. I've heard issues about the Camera ... When I played with it in the store, I didn't notice any issues whatsoever. What exactly are people complaining about? Is there something I've missed?

4. White vs Black face? White face comes with an aluminum band, the black face comes with an (Anodized/Colored?) aluminum band. Are the edges of the phone more likely to scratch if it's anodized/colored aluminum? If this is the case, I'll definitely go with the white face.

5. Lastly, any tips for ordering? I hear there's a ridiculous wait time. Anything I can do to speed up the process? Ihear some people are creating FedEx accounts to get their phones quicker.

Thanks in advance!

 

[mhunter6378]

1. The Google camera app is available and does work fine. The highest video resolution with the Google camera app is 1080P
2. Daylight visibility is fine. I keep my screen at about 50 - 60% and can see it fine outdoors. Over the weekend I was out in bright sunlight taking some pictures, I increased the brightness to 100% to take the pictures and it worked great.
3. I have no complaints with the camera. The auto focus does wander sometimes for me. That's why I usually use the tap to focus option, quicker to focus and holds focus better for me.
4. I don't know if there is actually a material difference between the two different bands. I think it's just a color difference. Lighter color for white face, darker color for black face
5. No tips for ordering, patience and persistence are key. The FedEx tip is just to alert you to shipping. Motorola is not the best at notifying you it's been shipped.

 

[someguy01234]

I have a very little experience with Windows Phone and the experience was bad, so I can only speak from Android side.

1. You can install Google Camera, which only have up to 1080p recording for the X. Google Camera is slightly different from stock Android camera, but I believe it is or will eventually be the default camera for Google Nexus devices. There are some stock-based Android camera on the Playstore as well, but they don't have 4K mode enabled for the X either.

I really don't see any issue with 4K recording using the Moto X stock camera.

2. No issue with daylight visibility, may be a little challenging when it's very bright (Miami here), but it's not different compared to other phones. I do know some LCD phones like the HTC M8 have brighter screen, but at 100% brightness it should be viewable under sunlight.

What I love from AMOLED screen over LCD is the improved viewing angle, so when I mount the phone in my car for GPS, the phone isn't facing directly at me all the time, but the saturated colors and good viewing angle help with the visibility.

3. The issue is poor low light performance, you can read the Camera section in my full review here for more details. Using HDR mode can greatly improve low light details and lessen the noises, I will post a comparison soon to prove this.

4. I always prefer black so I'm biased, but one thing that is true is the black face version hides the three IR sensors, so the phone look cleaner. I haven't scratched my aluminum frame, but I've been careful with it. Also since the AMOLED screen is almost completely black, at night the black front panel kind of blend in with the display if you have a black background or viewing a video that have dark scenes, so it's a nicer experience.

5. The wait time I believe is due to Motorola doesn't anticipate the demands. On a whole, Motorola have excellent service. When I ordered the Moto G 2014, it shipped 10days before estimated delivery and was FedEx overnight from China to US and I received it in 23hours. For the Moto X, it shipped 2 and half weeks before estimated delivery and have 2 days shipping. It might have been a little bad for the initial release, but it should get better now.

My tip is the 14days return period, overall I have good experience with Motorola customer service so if you have any issues like your screen not looking right (too yellow color temperature), some problem with the phone construction or the woodback peeling due to improper glue (rare instances really), then get an exchange.

 

[jasoraso]

Currently I use a Lumia 920. I'm considering a new phone and either way, I'll be buying it off contract (i.e. Pure Version if I go with Moto X).

I haven't used Android in a long time, and I'm aware it's got more apps than WP. I had some concerns about performance which were immediately put to rest once I was able to use the Moto X in an AT&T store, it was fast and responsive. However, I have a couple concerns regarding UI and other things.

1. Can I get the stock KitKat 4.4.4 Camera App from the Play Store? If I do, will I still be able to record Video in 4K?

KitKat camera works; but video won't go higher than 1080p. You can have both cameras installed and easily switch between them.

2. How is the daylight visibility of this screen? I'm coming from a Lumia so obviously I know it will be slightly worse, but to me this is a pass/fail test, I don't care how much more visible the Lumia is in daylight, as long as text on the Moto X is legible in bright daylight I'll be happy.

Daylight visibility is good; better than original. One thing to note is that Auto Brightness doesn't ramp up to 100%. If you will be in full sun for a while, it might be worth switching brightness. I was at a Mtn Bike race on Saturday, so I had installed a toggle on a screen to switch from auto brightness to 100% - that was nice when I knew I would be in full sun all afternoon

3. I've heard issues about the Camera ... When I played with it in the store, I didn't notice any issues whatsoever. What exactly are people complaining about? Is there something I've missed?

Biggest complaint about camera is low light noise. Camera works great in ideal conditions. In less then ideal conditions, you may want to turn on the "focus/exposure" setting - this puts a square on the screen you drag to where you want the focus and exposure to be metered - helps a bit. In dark situations, the camera seems to favor bumping up the ISO which creates noise. The camera app is very basic, without a lot of manual settings. The downside is that you can't adjust ISO or exposure manually, which otherwise would let you manually tweak the camera in low light situations to minimize camera noise.

The original Moto X also suffered in these situations, although subsequent updates improved the camera. I think that the camera in the new Moto X will also improve. In the meantime, using alternate camera apps in low light situations that allow for manual ISO or exposure settings can be helpful. If you really care about getting a good picture in those types of settings, you probably won't mind using an alternate camera in those situations.

4. White vs Black face? White face comes with an aluminum band, the black face comes with an (Anodized/Colored?) aluminum band. Are the edges of the phone more likely to scratch if it's anodized/colored aluminum? If this is the case, I'll definitely go with the white face.

I have had the black face for 5 days and haven't noticed any issues with the edges. Or my leather. Or anything

5. Lastly, any tips for ordering? I hear there's a ridiculous wait time. Anything I can do to speed up the process? Ihear some people are creating FedEx accounts to get their phones quicker.

biggest tip for ordering: don't order a phone combination that has backordered parts (white fronts or pure edition are the ones I was last aware of; but it appears that that situation may have changed this weekend. The Fed Ex account is useful to help know when your phone is coming (sometimes the Moto server doesn't update or send an email when it is shipped). The fed ex account trick probably is most useful if shipping is to a residential address.

One other tip for ordering - set up a motorola account prior to creating the order. If the order is tied to a motorola account, you can log in and check order status, including getting shipping info - thus negating the need to having a fed ex account. I already had a motorola account from my 2013 Moto X, and I ordered the 2014 under that account. Later, I was able to log in and see order details which included better updates than I got in my email. In fact, I never got a email that my phone had shipped, but I did get that information from logging into my Motorola account, including my fed ex tracking number.

Thanks in advance!

 

[akin_t]

Thanks for the quick replies guys!

So it seems on Auto brightness, the phone's visibility doesn't go the extreme maximum/minimum brightness levels. Have you had any complaints about this? Generally I kept my Lumia 920 on low brightness (we only had 3 options, low, medium, and high) and I was happy indoors.

I guess I have one more question. Why did you guys get the Moto X over the Sony Xperia Z3? I'm going to guess combination of price and because the Moto X runs stock KitKat 4.4.4? Xperia Z3 looks impressive on paper, but I just do not like the UI. As for the Lumia 930, I've just been unimpressed with Windows hardware offerings as of late as much as I love the interface of Windows Phone, I don't know if I can go another 2 years with it.

 

[mhunter6378]

Just before I bought the Moto X, I had my decision down to two phones - the Moto X and the Z3. If the Z3 had been readily available my decision would have probably been much harder but at the time and even still today they are somewhat hard to get here in the states. In the end it came down to two things for me, Motorola's superb radios for signal reception and their history of quick updates. With the new version of Android coming out soon that was really important for me. I may still pick up a Z3 at some point but I'm not giving up my Moto X when I do.

 

[guesswhat_567]

Thanks for the quick replies guys!

So it seems on Auto brightness, the phone's visibility doesn't go the extreme maximum/minimum brightness levels. Have you had any complaints about this? Generally I kept my Lumia 920 on low brightness (we only had 3 options, low, medium, and high) and I was happy indoors.

I guess I have one more question. Why did you guys get the Moto X over the Sony Xperia Z3? I'm going to guess combination of price and because the Moto X runs stock KitKat 4.4.4? Xperia Z3 looks impressive on paper, but I just do not like the UI. As for the Lumia 930, I've just been unimpressed with Windows hardware offerings as of late as much as I love the interface of Windows Phone, I don't know if I can go another 2 years with it.

Moto innovative features and sw experience .. They make my life easier

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[cbsevenfifty]

I wanted to try the 930 before the X came out. Shame Nokia was stupid enough to sign a US exclusive with Verizon, otherwise they would have had my money.

 

[Citizen Coyote]

I guess I have one more question. Why did you guys get the Moto X over the Sony Xperia Z3? I'm going to guess combination of price and because the Moto X runs stock KitKat 4.4.4? Xperia Z3 looks impressive on paper, but I just do not like the UI. As for the Lumia 930, I've just been unimpressed with Windows hardware offerings as of late as much as I love the interface of Windows Phone, I don't know if I can go another 2 years with it.

The Z3 is my runner-up for new phone, and while I have not yet pulled the trigger on a Moto X, here are my reasons for choosing it over the Z3:

1. Software experience: Sony's skin is about as light as they come, but Motorola's is even lighter. Moto has made a name for themselves by adding unique, useful software features (touchless control, location awareness, etc.) that just work and stay out of the way. While the Z3 comes with its own unique software features (PS4 mirroring chief among them), I feel I would use the Moto X's more often than the Z3's. Also, while Sony is pretty good about updating their phones, Motorola is better.

2. Radios: Motorola's radios are rock solid (I know this from past experience) and have always been a selling point for their phones. Sony's are an unknown to me. Also, while the T-Mobile version of the Z3 supports T-Mo's new Band 12 LTE whereas the Moto X does not, the T-Mo Z3 *only* supports T-Mo LTE bands. That's a big deal if you want to try a different carrier or travel abroad. The unlocked Z3 has broader band support, of course, but like the X lacks Band 12 capabilities.

3. Customization: The Z3 has fantastic battery life and a better camera than the Moto X. It's also waterproof as opposed to "splash resistant." However, every Z3 will look like every other Z3 barring choice of three colors. You can't say that about the Moto X.

4. Price: Officially the Z3 is not yet for sale in the US, although you can find it on eBay and phone sites. It runs around $650-680+ unlocked. The Moto X is $150 cheaper for almost the same specs (the X has slightly less RAM). Once fully available in the US it will probably be a little cheaper, but I expect it to run $550-600 for an unlocked, 16GB version.

If battery life and the camera are really important to you, then the Z3 (and its compact sibling) are worth a look. Otherwise, I'd go with the Moto X.

 

[thegrants82]

The Z3 is my runner-up for new phone, and while I have not yet pulled the trigger on a Moto X, here are my reasons for choosing it over the Z3:

1. Software experience: Sony's skin is about as light as they come, but Motorola's is even lighter. Moto has made a name for themselves by adding unique, useful software features (touchless control, location awareness, etc.) that just work and stay out of the way. While the Z3 comes with its own unique software features (PS4 mirroring chief among them), I feel I would use the Moto X's more often than the Z3's. Also, while Sony is pretty good about updating their phones, Motorola is better.

2. Radios: Motorola's radios are rock solid (I know this from past experience) and have always been a selling point for their phones. Sony's are an unknown to me. Also, while the T-Mobile version of the Z3 supports T-Mo's new Band 12 LTE whereas the Moto X does not, the T-Mo Z3 *only* supports T-Mo LTE bands. That's a big deal if you want to try a different carrier or travel abroad. The unlocked Z3 has broader band support, of course, but like the X lacks Band 12 capabilities.

3. Customization: The Z3 has fantastic battery life and a better camera than the Moto X. It's also waterproof as opposed to "splash resistant." However, every Z3 will look like every other Z3 barring choice of three colors. You can't say that about the Moto X.

4. Price: Officially the Z3 is not yet for sale in the US, although you can find it on eBay and phone sites. It runs around $650-680+ unlocked. The Moto X is $150 cheaper for almost the same specs (the X has slightly less RAM). Once fully available in the US it will probably be a little cheaper, but I expect it to run $550-600 for an unlocked, 16GB version.

If battery life and the camera are really important to you, then the Z3 (and its compact sibling) are worth a look. Otherwise, I'd go with the Moto X.

Z3 sounds like an awesome phone.

 

[planoman]

I had a Z2 and while a nice device, I was a nervous wreck due to the glass back. Also the flaps lose their tightness after a while and perhaps watertight seal. The device was nice and the Z3 looks to be a more rounded edges and improved somewhat. Due to the watertighness the camera could only do a few minutes recording at 4 k video if that is important. In fact most of the SD 801's heat up significantly when shooting 4 k video.

If the camera is important, it is a great camera. One more issue is that although it is a 20+ MP camera it shoots at like 8 MP for the superior auto setting if it is the same as the Z2. I suspect the Z3 will be $699 like the Z2 was on Sony USA when it hit the US store but less so on other outlets.

I also own a Lumia 925 that has 8.1 with Cyan and GDR 1. I like WP and the camera especially but need a few travel apps or I just cannot use it when I travel during the week so use it primarily on the weekends for the camera and compact size. My iphone 6+ has nudged it out with a great camera and all the apps needed.

 

[Citizen Coyote]

Z3 sounds like an awesome phone.

From the reviews I've read, it is a great phone. I'm eager to read AC's review, which should be dropping this week (according to last Friday's podcast). I just don't think it's the ideal phone for me.

 

[jestevez1222]

I was a windows phone user for a bit. I had a 920 and a 1520 for a while. Loved it, but wanted even MORE personalization. I went ahead and got the Samsung S5, but quickly regretted it when I saw many other better designed phones. Coming from Lumia phones, I can't handle a flimsy plastic design. Which is when I saw the Moto X. Quickly jumped on the Pure Edition and feel like I made the best decision. Like you, I was looking at the Lumia 930 being that it was the latest flagship Microsoft has to offer, other than the 6" 1520. I was reeeally looking into it before I looked more into the Moto X. A factor that helped make my decision was my location being that the 930 only has international version with very few bands that would work with my network on LTE. I didn't want to compromise on service since I'm paying so much for it (stupid contracts).