- Feb 19, 2011
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So, I've noticed a lot of people on here asking the same question i had.."Htc One, GS4 or Moto X?", Well, I have owned those phones and now i own the Moto X and i want to help others and give everyone my thoughts of the Moto X and how it compares to the Big 2 Phones.
Build Quality:
I know you are all going to expect me to say the the HTC One has the best build quality out of the 3, But i must say that i was extremely surprised about how solid the X is. The buttons are very easy to push unlike the HTC One. The HTC Ones button is on the top left (Worst placement ever) and was almost flush with the phone, So cases that had cut outs and even naked, it was hard to push the button. The X buttons are on the right side toward the corner and they stick out enough to hit and have a nice click to them. Also, The materials they use seem like some kind of space age material and the effect on the back is gorgeous. I even like it better than the Nexus 4's glass back. If you have noticed, I haven't really mentioned the GS4 in this and that's, Because its just plastic with no thought of durability or distinct design. As for the One, The aluminum is nice, But it does scratch easily and for those who like to go naked with their devices, its very slippery.
Sound Quality/Call Quality:
HTC one wins when it comes to music through the ear buds and phone speaker.
The Moto X wins for superb call quality.
Galaxy S4 wins for excellent software when it comes to sound (Equalizer)
Software Features:
I'm going to say this now and i will probably get bashed for this, But i just feel that even though the GS4 has all kinds of "amazing" features like smart scroll, air gestures and all those other smart features,To me they're Gimmicks, They're unrealistic and they work 30% of the time. I just don't think for most people they are real world use. I can't tell you how many times ive tried the wave your hand over the screen and answer phone only to look like an *****, because it didn't work the first 2 times. Smart scroll just doesn't work and i despise that i HAVE to use the stock browser and not chrome.
HTC One has Blink feed and Sense 5. Blink feed is alright, But half the feeds i follow weren't available and their really isn't any organization either. It's a neat idea, But i would rather not waste my whole screen for it when i can use apps like feedly, greader or press for all my rss feeds. Sense 5 is fluid, beautiful looking and who does't love HTC's widgets? My problem with Sense though is there is way too much extra's that are just wasted space. Ex: A weather widget in the app drawer..??? Really? Htc Zoe is a neat function and works well.
Moto X here is where i think blows the competition away, Because then features work, they are realistic and overall make you feel like your phone is truly a smartphone.
Touchless Controls - works flawlessly especially when you are driving. When you get into your vehicle and start driving, The phone recognizes this and goes into "driving mode". Driving mode will automatically read out your texts messages after it's asks you " Would you like me to read message from so and so" you can then say yes or she let you say reply with a auto message that tells the contact that you are driving and will get back to them soon. It will call tell you when someone is calling and once again have an option to answer or ignore. This makes sense and this is something that other manufacturers need to make note of. This feature is actually called Moto Assist, But works in conjunction with touch less control's.
Active Notifications : - Another great feature that just makes sense, Any notifications like messages, emails, calls or app updates pop up on a nice minimal black screen with little amount of pixels lit and shows me those notifications without killing battery and constantly waking up my phone. Veru useful at meetings, dinner time
and during the night.
Motorola Connect - This is a feature that a lot of reviewers did not mention and im surprised, Because it is one of my favorite features of the Moto X. This allows you to get your messages and recent calls on your pc sent from your phone. I am sitting in front of my pc now typing this review and i got a message from my wife and a pop up came up and i was able to reply on my pc. It shows all your conversations, Even the ones that weren't done on the pc. Same goes for recent calls. It shows me what calls i have including missed calls.
Camera:
The Moto X is probably the least of of the 3 when it comes to the camera, BUT HEAR ME OUT... The camera is actually capable of taking great pictures especially in low light and so fatr i am very happy with the pictures that i have taken. I just think it that HTC and Samsung have the edge in camera. I will say that i prefer the camera UI on the X over the Onre and GS4 though. It's simple, clean and i love the wheel. It makes me want to use the other features more, because they aren't a pain to get to and use. Don't let this turn you away, The Camera is very good and low light pictures are a huge plus.
Display:
I am going to say something i never thought i would say. 1080P Screens are overrated and just, because the X has a 720p display doesn't mean it's bad. Actually it's very very good and there is no pixels to be seen. I'd take better battery over display and i always love when people have their brightness at 20%, because that's just insane and i love that i can keep it at 80% and it not affect the battery to much. Speaking of Brightness, The X is the brightest than the others and can easily be seen outside. I own a Nexus 7 2013 edition and ive used 3 different 1080p displays and im not disappointed at the least by the X's display. No worries here!
Performance
I'm not going to go into much detail here, but i will say this...The Moto X may not have top specs, BUT it is as smooth as the best out there and even smoother than the GS4. There is NO LAG, NO SLOW DOWNS and simply is a ultra fast phone. Remember people, The X has the same Adreno GPU as the GS4, So graphics are going to be fluid and lag free. Make no mistake, Motorola proved their point and shows everyone specs isn't everything, It's all about how you use those specs. Obviously there's no much of a UI like touchwiz or Sense 5 and obviously that makes a difference.
If you guys have any questions, Feel free to ask me and i will help as best as i can. This is just a short review, So im sure their is some details left out, but there's one thing i can say for sure...
The Moto X is going to be my phone for a while and even though Verizon doesn't have Moto maker, When they do i will be selling my White Verizon Moto X and making my own. I am extremely happy with this device and i am moving forward with it.
Build Quality:
I know you are all going to expect me to say the the HTC One has the best build quality out of the 3, But i must say that i was extremely surprised about how solid the X is. The buttons are very easy to push unlike the HTC One. The HTC Ones button is on the top left (Worst placement ever) and was almost flush with the phone, So cases that had cut outs and even naked, it was hard to push the button. The X buttons are on the right side toward the corner and they stick out enough to hit and have a nice click to them. Also, The materials they use seem like some kind of space age material and the effect on the back is gorgeous. I even like it better than the Nexus 4's glass back. If you have noticed, I haven't really mentioned the GS4 in this and that's, Because its just plastic with no thought of durability or distinct design. As for the One, The aluminum is nice, But it does scratch easily and for those who like to go naked with their devices, its very slippery.
Sound Quality/Call Quality:
HTC one wins when it comes to music through the ear buds and phone speaker.
The Moto X wins for superb call quality.
Galaxy S4 wins for excellent software when it comes to sound (Equalizer)
Software Features:
I'm going to say this now and i will probably get bashed for this, But i just feel that even though the GS4 has all kinds of "amazing" features like smart scroll, air gestures and all those other smart features,To me they're Gimmicks, They're unrealistic and they work 30% of the time. I just don't think for most people they are real world use. I can't tell you how many times ive tried the wave your hand over the screen and answer phone only to look like an *****, because it didn't work the first 2 times. Smart scroll just doesn't work and i despise that i HAVE to use the stock browser and not chrome.
HTC One has Blink feed and Sense 5. Blink feed is alright, But half the feeds i follow weren't available and their really isn't any organization either. It's a neat idea, But i would rather not waste my whole screen for it when i can use apps like feedly, greader or press for all my rss feeds. Sense 5 is fluid, beautiful looking and who does't love HTC's widgets? My problem with Sense though is there is way too much extra's that are just wasted space. Ex: A weather widget in the app drawer..??? Really? Htc Zoe is a neat function and works well.
Moto X here is where i think blows the competition away, Because then features work, they are realistic and overall make you feel like your phone is truly a smartphone.
Touchless Controls - works flawlessly especially when you are driving. When you get into your vehicle and start driving, The phone recognizes this and goes into "driving mode". Driving mode will automatically read out your texts messages after it's asks you " Would you like me to read message from so and so" you can then say yes or she let you say reply with a auto message that tells the contact that you are driving and will get back to them soon. It will call tell you when someone is calling and once again have an option to answer or ignore. This makes sense and this is something that other manufacturers need to make note of. This feature is actually called Moto Assist, But works in conjunction with touch less control's.
Active Notifications : - Another great feature that just makes sense, Any notifications like messages, emails, calls or app updates pop up on a nice minimal black screen with little amount of pixels lit and shows me those notifications without killing battery and constantly waking up my phone. Veru useful at meetings, dinner time
and during the night.Motorola Connect - This is a feature that a lot of reviewers did not mention and im surprised, Because it is one of my favorite features of the Moto X. This allows you to get your messages and recent calls on your pc sent from your phone. I am sitting in front of my pc now typing this review and i got a message from my wife and a pop up came up and i was able to reply on my pc. It shows all your conversations, Even the ones that weren't done on the pc. Same goes for recent calls. It shows me what calls i have including missed calls.
Camera:
The Moto X is probably the least of of the 3 when it comes to the camera, BUT HEAR ME OUT... The camera is actually capable of taking great pictures especially in low light and so fatr i am very happy with the pictures that i have taken. I just think it that HTC and Samsung have the edge in camera. I will say that i prefer the camera UI on the X over the Onre and GS4 though. It's simple, clean and i love the wheel. It makes me want to use the other features more, because they aren't a pain to get to and use. Don't let this turn you away, The Camera is very good and low light pictures are a huge plus.
Display:
I am going to say something i never thought i would say. 1080P Screens are overrated and just, because the X has a 720p display doesn't mean it's bad. Actually it's very very good and there is no pixels to be seen. I'd take better battery over display and i always love when people have their brightness at 20%, because that's just insane and i love that i can keep it at 80% and it not affect the battery to much. Speaking of Brightness, The X is the brightest than the others and can easily be seen outside. I own a Nexus 7 2013 edition and ive used 3 different 1080p displays and im not disappointed at the least by the X's display. No worries here!
Performance
I'm not going to go into much detail here, but i will say this...The Moto X may not have top specs, BUT it is as smooth as the best out there and even smoother than the GS4. There is NO LAG, NO SLOW DOWNS and simply is a ultra fast phone. Remember people, The X has the same Adreno GPU as the GS4, So graphics are going to be fluid and lag free. Make no mistake, Motorola proved their point and shows everyone specs isn't everything, It's all about how you use those specs. Obviously there's no much of a UI like touchwiz or Sense 5 and obviously that makes a difference.
If you guys have any questions, Feel free to ask me and i will help as best as i can. This is just a short review, So im sure their is some details left out, but there's one thing i can say for sure...
The Moto X is going to be my phone for a while and even though Verizon doesn't have Moto maker, When they do i will be selling my White Verizon Moto X and making my own. I am extremely happy with this device and i am moving forward with it.
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