My Short Review Of The Moto X after owning the HTC One, GS4 & Razr Maxx HD

[anon(847090)]

I don't know what you mean by optimized and unoptimized though. It's a dual core CPU, quad core gpu, and one proc for natural language and another proc for sensors.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

"another proc for sensors" is one of the thing that processor do. it does more

Contextual processor: The contextual computing processor handles the sensors, display and touch interaction,
but it also appears to function as the primary processor when the phone is in standby mode,
including showing status and notification information on the display.

Natural Language Processor: The natural language processor deals with audio, noise estimation
and noise cancellation;

 

[tonymhoffman]

One week? Really.. The worst shipping time ever? Have you ever custom ordered a car? Or bought a custom home? You'll survive in sure.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[tonymhoffman]

well said!!! what many don't understand is X's X8 chip is an optimized quad core.
while other device like S4 and One has quad core but is not optimized. Android only used dual core while the other two cores are never used unless some high end games uses it.
Moto X uses all four cores(2 cores and 2 DSP chips) at all time. making it much more efficient and power saving

This Is incorrect (partially) .

The SoC is a dual core doesn't matter how you slice that pie. 2

The GPU has 4 cores

There is also a contextual chip containing another core and a language chip adding another. 2

Those together equal 8 cores of the X8 system.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Premium1]

The thing is even being dual core. The GPU which is what matters for 95% of how the phone responds and fluidity is quad core

 

[joeybcdt]

The available storage space concerns me. I'm still on a Galaxy Nexus 32g and after almost two years of wiping and flashing I have to clear up some space. I miss an SD card slot.

I think the manufacturers were trying to push the consumer to use the cloud. Since we've all found out that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy I have no desire to use anyone's cloud.

 

[dad2paisley]

I need more then 16g and Verizon doesn't have 32g. I download lots of musics and video and would run out of space quickly.

 

[Farish]

The available storage space concerns me. I'm still on a Galaxy Nexus 32g and after almost two years of wiping and flashing I have to clear up some space. I miss an SD card slot.

I think the manufacturers were trying to push the consumer to use the cloud. Since we've all found out that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy I have no desire to use anyone's cloud.

Even though I agree with you, the cloud is coming whether we like it or not.

 

[dad2paisley]

I don't know what the cloud is? How much storage do you have left when you get your Moto X? Does the Moto X have an SD card. I hear it does and you can get a SD card up to 32G?

 

[Artisanthe]

My Thoughts....This is a SMART PHONE!!! Maybe even the smartest phone you can buy!

After ordering my VZ Moto on Thursday....and paying for next day shipping, I have had a couple of good days with the phone and color me Impressed! I upgraded from my trusty DINC Original and also own the GNEX 4. I truly look forward to seeing what Google does next with the Nexus, as the Moto X feels like an Really Optimized version of the Nexus.

First the bad.....No SD slot and only 16 GB for the Verizon version. This is not a problem for me since I use a Note 8 pad for my pictures and portfolios, but it will bother some.

Otherwise:
The Screen.....forget about it. It's Excellent and compares with ANY phone I have seen. 720p works here and the trade-off for battery life was Very Smart. Worry NOT!

The Experience....Google has Undersold this phone and I think it will Really have legs as others Discover it. Notifications....only illuminate a few pixels on the screen ....again to save juice...another improvement on the flashing LED. The Notifications are Smart also...and you can answer or dismiss them from the lockscreen with a swipe. Touchless Control Experience.....this phone truly borders on Artificial Intelligence and Anticipates what you want as it learns about you. It switches seamlessy to driving, hands-free mode and reads your incoming texts to you....and the search features are second to none. If you set up your cards in Google Now, the phone will also read your answers back to any questions you ask it. Set Alarms, Appointments, Calendar Events and make Calls and Texts without Ever touching the phone. Motorola Connect (a sleeper feature)....allows you to receive and send texts from your Computer screen and notifies you of any incoming calls.....without touching the phone....Nice! As I write this....after a Light day of use....but use nonetheless, I am still at 80% battery after a Full Charge this morning. This phone works hard to conserve battery juice. The Camera is better than I was led to believe and is as good as the Nexus. This phone is smooth and polished with no lag so far. The software is......Optimized.....a word you will hear often about this phone.

All in All....I Really believe this phone is a sleeper and may be the Best Android Option available....and yes I'll say it....the Smartest Phone available right now on ANY platform. After training the phone to my voice, I handed it to friends so they could try "Okay Google Now'.....not one of them could open the phone....yet it worked for me Every time. So much for Fingerprint sensors. Google has created a different type of phone here and eschewed the Spec Wars for a Very Intelligent Experience. Google Now easily surpasses Siri in tests....especially when you get past "simple" questions....and the Moto X makes the most of Google Now of any phone available. This includes my GNEX 4 running Android 4.3.

If you are on the fence....I had planned on the VZ HTC One myself....I am surprisingly Happy to cast my personal vote for the Moto X. I Do NOT believe it will disappoint you....D

 

[Puzzlegal]

If you are considering this phone, make sure you are happy with what it is today, and don't expect any upgrades.

I have a Motorola Photon, which is the Sprint-branded version of the Atrix. It, too, was a fine phone with a nice build quality and well-thought-out set of specs for it's time. But then ICS came out, with it's massive improvement in user interface.

First, Motorola told us that this phone would be upgraded to ICS, and gave a date.
Then, Motorola pushed an "update" that permanently locked the bootloader, so you couldn't use third-party ROMs.
and THEN, Motorola told us, "oops, just kidding, we won't be able to upgrade your phone to ICE after all."

This decision was made by the newly installed Google management, not the old Motorola.

So, while the X looks like a nice phone today, I simply don't trust Motorola to deal fairly and honestly with its customers, and I will not take the risk of buying it. I'll be getting a Samsumg or Sony or HTC.

 

[Ckidwell]

I should have clarified. Worst shipping time in a phone. Nothing custom, just a simple black moto x. I'll survive of course, just shocked that it didn't ship out on Friday or Saturday.

 

[guesswhat_567]

If you are considering this phone, make sure you are happy with what it is today, and don't expect any upgrades.

I have a Motorola Photon, which is the Sprint-branded version of the Atrix. It, too, was a fine phone with a nice build quality and well-thought-out set of specs for it's time. But then ICS came out, with it's massive improvement in user interface.

First, Motorola told us that this phone would be upgraded to ICS, and gave a date.
Then, Motorola pushed an "update" that permanently locked the bootloader, so you couldn't use third-party ROMs.
and THEN, Motorola told us, "oops, just kidding, we won't be able to upgrade your phone to ICE after all."

This decision was made by the newly installed Google management, not the old Motorola.

So, while the X looks like a nice phone today, I simply don't trust Motorola to deal fairly and honestly with its customers, and I will not take the risk of buying it. I'll be getting a Samsumg or Sony or HTC.

The problem with moto photon was it was based omap platform ..TI stopped supporting omap is shutdown now ..and it was very hard for OEM to spend lots resources to update the phones ..understand its bad for the consumer ..new moto phones are based of qualcomm platform ...and there is plenty of support from qcom and Dev community to keep it updated. And don't forget moto is now owned by Google ..so u wouldn't expect moto is going to skip updates ..in fact moto will be the best after nexus/gpe phones to get timely updates on carriers

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Joe the Insider]

If you are considering this phone, make sure you are happy with what it is today, and don't expect any upgrades.

I have a Motorola Photon, which is the Sprint-branded version of the Atrix. It, too, was a fine phone with a nice build quality and well-thought-out set of specs for it's time. But then ICS came out, with it's massive improvement in user interface.

First, Motorola told us that this phone would be upgraded to ICS, and gave a date.
Then, Motorola pushed an "update" that permanently locked the bootloader, so you couldn't use third-party ROMs.
and THEN, Motorola told us, "oops, just kidding, we won't be able to upgrade your phone to ICE after all."

This decision was made by the newly installed Google management, not the old Motorola.

So, while the X looks like a nice phone today, I simply don't trust Motorola to deal fairly and honestly with its customers, and I will not take the risk of buying it. I'll be getting a Samsumg or Sony or HTC.

Also keep in mind that the photon came out before Google owned Moto and remember that this is essentially a google phone. Updates wont be a problem.

 

[ultravisitor]

If you are considering this phone, make sure you are happy with what it is today, and don't expect any upgrades.

To add to what others here have said, Motorola has done well with updating its other phones, such as the RAZRs. Prior to those, my Droid X got two updates: it launched with Eclair, was updated to Froyo, and then was updated again to Gingerbread. Motorola has also acknowledged that it did its customers' a disservice with not updating other phones, which is why they are issuing $100 credits to people with those devices who wish to update to a new Motorola phone.

The Moto X is Motorola's flagship for launching themselves as a new Google company. I don't have any worries about Motorola not updating the Moto X.

 

[dammitcubs]

I seriously needed to reply to this. First off, Great review. i think this phone will be a hit and i'm glad you are liking it as I too am very interested in this phone.

That said, Please don't call then "cores". It's a dual core chip with two additional processors on different chips on the same board. That doesn't make it a quad core. If that's the case, your computer motherboard has like 40 cores. It's a dual core because with two additional low power specifically designed processors (by TI) which only two particular functions.

It's also faster or seems faster than a quad core because quad core snap dragons downgrade their core from 1.7 to 1.0 when all four cores are being activated. The moto x does not. Dual Core 1.7 processors do not downgrade their core frequency at heavy loads. Which is why you are seeing performance improvements. This is partially also related to more of a generic coding scheme and nothing particular related to utilizing the 4 cores in a quad core. Also, it's interesting to point out that at higher loads, say full dual core 1.7 loads, you will waste MORE POWER than a quad core running at full load (because the quad core will downgrade its clock frequency). Why is this important, if you happen to see the moto x burn through battery at a strange rate, its good to check the load on the main processors.

That is all.

Overall great article. Good phone. Love life.

 

[Rule9]

I seriously needed to reply to this. First off, Great review. i think this phone will be a hit and i'm glad you are liking it as I too am very interested in this phone.

That said, Please don't call then "cores". It's a dual core chip with two additional processors on different chips on the same board. That doesn't make it a quad core. If that's the case, your computer motherboard has like 40 cores. It's a dual core because with two additional low power specifically designed processors (by TI) which only two particular functions.

It's also faster or seems faster than a quad core because quad core snap dragons downgrade their core from 1.7 to 1.0 when all four cores are being activated. The moto x does not. Dual Core 1.7 processors do not downgrade their core frequency at heavy loads. Which is why you are seeing performance improvements. This is partially also related to more of a generic coding scheme and nothing particular related to utilizing the 4 cores in a quad core. Also, it's interesting to point out that at higher loads, say full dual core 1.7 loads, you will waste MORE POWER than a quad core running at full load (because the quad core will downgrade its clock frequency). Why is this important, if you happen to see the moto x burn through battery at a strange rate, its good to check the load on the main processors.

That is all.

Overall great article. Good phone. Love life.

Is that why regular quad core phones are appearing to handle battery life a little better while playing HD intensive games? Just curious which setup will handle recent and future HD games better. I suspect a straight up quad core s600 or s800 will though.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

 

[Wildo6882]

Good review. This phone has me sold...I just wish VZW had a 32gb option. I can make do with 16, but I'd really prefer to have that extra buffer. I HATE the friggin' carrier exclusive crap. I'm most likely picking up a Nexus 7 32gb, so any larger games I play will stay on there, but that's really a let down that VZW gets hosed on the customization and storage size.

 

[Puzzlegal]

To add to what others here have said, Motorola has done well with updating its other phones, such as the RAZRs. Prior to those, my Droid X got two updates: it launched with Eclair, was updated to Froyo, and then was updated again to Gingerbread. Motorola has also acknowledged that it did its customers' a disservice with not updating other phones, which is why they are issuing $100 credits to people with those devices who wish to update to a new Motorola phone.

The Moto X is Motorola's flagship for launching themselves as a new Google company. I don't have any worries about Motorola not updating the Moto X.

Has Moto updaetd phones that aren't on Verizon?

Also, does this phone have an unlocked bootloader?

Finally, the $100 credit was an insult. At the time they offered it, the used phone was worth more than that on e-bay. (and yes, you had to return the phone to them to get the credit.)

Hey, go ahead and ignore my experience. That's what I would probably do. I just feel a moral obligation to warn people just how shabbily the CURRENT management of Motorola treated their recent customers. I hope they treat you better than they treated me.

 

[procrastination]

...which is why they are issuing $100 credits to people with those devices who wish to update to a new Motorola phone.

What is this $100 credit you speak of? How do I get it?

I just upgraded from a DX to a MotoX on Verizon.

 

[grooks]

What is this $100 credit you speak of? How do I get it?

I just upgraded from a DX to a MotoX on Verizon.

Moto Trade-Up