QUESTION : Nexus 5 or Moto X?

[Adranalyne]

Popularity of "vanilla" Android? For regular customers, they probably bought a Moto X because they were drawn in by it's features - Touchless Control, Quick Capture, customization.

Also, the Moto X hasn't sold that well, so any popularity you're speaking of is probably from enthusiasts who appreciate just how good of a phone it is.

 

[Ry]

Also, the Moto X hasn't sold that well, so any popularity you're speaking of is probably from enthusiasts who appreciate just how good of a phone it is.

Relative to global sales of other devices, it probably hasn't sold well. Curious to see if we'll ever get a breakdown within a carrier.

 

[Adranalyne]

Relative to global sales of other devices, it probably hasn't sold well. Curious to see if we'll ever get a breakdown within a carrier.

I'm not concerned with the sales figures, though. Having purchased the Moto X, Motorola insured that I'll be purchasing it's successor if this is the type of quality they're going to offer. Throw in the fact that they managed to get 4.4 on it earlier than other devices and it shows how serious Moto is at making the best phone they can.

 

[Haalcyon]

I'm not concerned with the sales figures, though. Having purchased the Moto X, Motorola insured that I'll be purchasing it's successor if this is the type of quality they're going to offer. Throw in the fact that they managed to get 4.4 on it earlier than other devices and it shows how serious Moto is at making the best phone they can.

Motorola has ALWAYS offered exceedingly high quality products, even when they were just making "beepers". Why should their flagship smartphone be any different? Quality is something I take for granted when I hear the name Motorola. In fact, it may even be listed as a synonym.

G Pad 8.3

 

[JeffDenver]

Re: QUESTION : Moto X or Nexus 5???

Absolutely. You're absolutely right. You couldn't be more right. Can you pass the salad dressing please?

THAT is a great analogy. Plain lettuce allows you to season the salad to your taste. I'd rather choose my own dressings.

 

[JeffDenver]

Re: QUESTION : Moto X or Nexus 5???

Maybe it should be TouchWiz eating the salad. It needs a diet.

LOL

The main issue I have with these skins is that you don't have the option to pass on them. If you like the phone, but don't like the skin, you can't just have the phone. The Skin is the price of admission. Thats the main reason I started buying Nexus phones.

The GPE phones are a great idea. If these ever get subsidized by carriers, I think Vanllia Android will become popular real quick.

 

[JeffDenver]

Popularity of "vanilla" Android? For regular customers, they probably bought a Moto X because they were drawn in by it's features - Touchless Control, Quick Capture, customization.

I'd argue that a lot of that appeal comes from not being bogged down by a skin.

 

[Adranalyne]

Re: QUESTION : Moto X or Nexus 5???

LOL

The main issue I have with these skins is that you don't have the option to pass on them. If you like the phone, but don't like the skin, you can't just have the phone. The Skin is the price of admission. Thats the main reason I started buying Nexus phones.

The GPE phones are a great idea. If these ever get subsidized by carriers, I think Vanllia Android will become popular real quick.

Root? Custom ROMs?

 

[guitarizt]

The pocketnow video was great. For my parents or more of an iphone type crowd the Moto X is awesome. The things I like are that it looks better, has a better speaker, battery life, and "OK Google" works with the phone off.

I bought the Nexus 5 and the decision wasn't even close for me because for me I like the better cpu, ppi, kitkat, and being able to get software updates asap. All that being said, I would be happy with either a Moto X or a Nexus 5. If you want to get the Moto X just because of the cool colors, then that's reason enough. It really depends on what you want.

Republic Wireless just came out with the Moto X for $300, but I think it can only ever work on their network. It's at least something to check out that I didn't see mentioned yet.

 

[Ry]

I'd argue that a lot of that appeal comes from not being bogged down by a skin.

Sales of the Galaxy devices beg to differ.

(as in "regular" people don't care and marketing works)


Posted via Android Central App

 

[JeffDenver]

Sales of the Galaxy devices beg to differ.

How did you determine that they bought the phone because of the skin and not in spite of the skin?

 

[Haalcyon]

How did you determine that they bought the phone because of the skin and not in spite of the skin?

Exactly, when I bought a Note 3 it was despite that I knew it had a skin on it that negatively affects performance. Imagine how a GPe Note 3 (okay, the S-Pen would just be taking up space), but imagine how FAST it would be. It would be ...it would be...as fast as ...as...as a G2.

G Pad 8.3

 

[Ry]

How did you determine that they bought the phone because of the skin and not in spite of the skin?

How does the Moto X validate vanilla Android when it is advertised to the masses with its Touchless Control, Active Display, Quick Capture camera, and exterior customization?

I run into people who ask if I have a Samsung charger. It takes microUSB. They don't know that they're compatible. TouchWiz, Sense. They don't know nor do they care too much. And that's fine. Android is about choice and customizations. Even Samsung and HTC get to do that.

Promise of updates. "Stock" Android. These are things that are pretty low on a regular user's checklist when buying a phone. Heck - Google is making they're own Android experience starting with the Nexus 5, further fragmenting the user experience going from phone to phone.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[JeffDenver]

How did you determine that they bought the phone because of the skin and not in spite of the skin?

How does the Moto X validate vanilla Android when it is advertised to the masses with its Touchless Control, Active Display, Quick Capture camera, and exterior customization?

Answer my question and I will answer yours.

 

[Ry]

Answer my question and I will answer yours.

I don't need to. These customers don't even know what the skin is. TouchWiz? Nature UX? Nope. They know it's a Samsung phone. And marketing is telling them to want a Samsung phone. So they're buying Samsung phones. Not despite the skin.

 

[Rule9]

IMO the reason you do not see a demand for vanilla android is simply because most people do not know it exists. They think the skins are normal android.

The Moto X is an excellent example of why Vanilla Android is better than Skinned Android. It's popularity is a validation of Vanilla Android.

no. I went BACK to an oem phone from buying nexus phones. What may have been a point in vanilla's favor when skins offered nothing but bloat and blingy yet useless features is no longer true.

The oems this year offer extremely good and compelling features that are not available from 3rd party Play Store apps, the physical design on some are extremely premium, better batteries, better cams, and in many cases the core apps like sms, dialer, music player, car modes, notification panel tweaks, system settings etc are actually better made than the pure Google alternatives.

Ry has a point, sales do beg to differ from your stance, and it's not because people don't know about vanilla either. If your stance was accurate, the N5 wouldn't have a $350 price tag because it could compete in the $700 smartphone market. It's a great phone but it's not in the $700 league.

Sent from my Sony Xperia Z1

 

[bd1212]

Forgive my ignorance, but how much value is an unlocked Verizon Moto X? What other carriers can you use it on?

A Verizon Moto X was $450 for a few days (maybe a week? I didn't pay attention to it), but now it's back up to $499. I don't think you can use the Verizon model on any other carriers, but I also haven't looked into it at all so I'm not the right person to be answering that question.

Anyone got a link for a Verizon Moto X off-contract for $450?

It's back up to $499, but it was at $450 a week or two ago.

 

[snookasnoo]

Re: QUESTION : Moto X or Nexus 5???

I'd say coverage is a pretty important thing in a smartphone. Verizon has dramatically more LTE and much faster as well. I have a love/hate relationship with Verizon but saying their only advantage over T-Mobile is coverage, as if that isn't important, doesn't make much sense. Especially since coverage also equals signal quality and constancy.

1)Except for coverage, T-Mobile is better in every way. Especially cost. If you decide to stay with verizon, well, they have made the decision easy for you. No

 

[snookasnoo]

Quality went dramatically downhill at Motorola when they switched manufacturing to China and poor quality with attendant returns, warranty repairs, and loss of sales is one of the reason they have been losing millions for years. It's also why until recently only Verizon carried Motorola phones.

Motorola has ALWAYS offered exceedingly high quality products, even when they were just making "beepers". Why should their flagship smartphone be any different? Quality is something I take for granted when I hear the name Motorola. In fact, it may even be listed as a synonym.

G Pad 8.3

 

[JeffDenver]

Re: QUESTION : Moto X or Nexus 5???

I'd say coverage is a pretty important thing in a smartphone.

The difference is not big enough to matter much IMO. I say that as a former Verizon customer and current T-Mobile customer.

It is noticeable, but not significant.

Verizon has dramatically more LTE and much faster as well.

And how is the speed benefitting you? Are you REALLY seeing any difference between 12mb/sec and 25mb /sec? For me the difference is virtually nonexistent.

Most files on the smartphone are going to be far smaller than on your PC. So download speeds do not matter as much beyond a certain point. Ping times are the same for me on both services. The only difference is download speed, which you will not notice at all on a 5MB app or streaming an MP3 or video. There are very few situations where I would miss the higher speeds.

Hell, even the difference between Verizon LTE and HSPA+ was not all that big IMO.