Moto X Android Smartphone

Moto X was the first phone released by Google, in August 2013. Google started with releasing a budget mid-range device and then went down to release more budget phones since then. The next was Moto G and Moto E. The series X, G and E falls in the price of Rs.7000 to Rs.24000. No doubt these are one of the best models in the market. They provide you a composite feature of quality and performance. Other brands are struggling to make their way out by releasing high end phones that falls at an extreme price range of Rs.30,000 and up, Google somehow smartly played it very well. This devices are not only strong but also gives you the latest android operating system, good camera and almost all those features that you can easily find in a costly phone. It looks Google finally understands India's price conscious market. These devices were exclusively sold on Flipkart which went viral on the date of release. This shows how successful the series is. Today we will checkout Moto X in detail. This model is the top of Moto series and comes for Rs.24000. The competitive price range makes Moto X a close competitor of Note 2, Xperia Z, Gionee Elife E7, etc. All this Smartphone's come under Rs.25000. Even after being a phablet and powered by good hardware, somehow Moto X gets more impressive in features. The only thing it lacks is a memory card slot. It comes in 16GB and 32GB storage solution with 2 Year 50GB Cloud Storage Subscription on Google Drive. Still expandable slot is helpful to extend the storage and this limits the device usage.

Specification:

• OS - Android v4.4 (KitKat) OS
• Display - 4.7-inch AMOLED Touch screen with Active Display (Water-repellent Coating & Corning Gorilla Glass)
• Resolution - 1280 x 720 Pixels HD Resolution
• Processor - 1.7 GHz Dual Core Krait CPU
• GPU - Quad-Core Adreno 320 GPU
• RAM - 2GB
• Sim - Single Nano GSM SIM
• Camera - 2 MP Front and 10 MP Quick Capture Gesture Primary Camera with flash.
• Storage - 16GB with 2 Years 50 GB Free Storage Google Drive
• Connectivity - Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, NFC, GPS, 3.5mm Audio jack & Miracast Wireless Display
• Features - Touchless control & Active display
• Weight - 130g
• Battery - 2200 mAh locked

Package:

Moto X comes packed in a small box with limited accessories only. There are no headphones provided.

• Moto X
• USB Composite Charger
• Manuals
• Nano Sim Remover

DESIGN:

Moto X has a premium curved shape design. The device fits really well in hand and is easy to operate. It comes with a complete lock body. There is a single nano sim slot on the side and that's it. You cannot open the back cover or remove the battery. It is not very large or very small. 4.7inch display is enough for surfing, for playing games, for chatting and the touch interface is very smooth. Google has added a few extra features in Moto X like Active Display and Motorola Connect, through which you can increase your device productivity. We will check that later on. The device is not very thick to hold and has a 130g weight overall. It fits well in pocket. Adding an extra case can make it thicker to hold but will also protect your device from damage.

Front:

The front part is covered with 4.7inch display. It is a very smooth Amoled touch screen with vibrant picture quality. The screen is protected by a water repellent coating. It does not collect water marks on the screen and remains clean after rubbed with soft cloth. It also has a Corning Gorilla Glass protection to avoid scratch marks. Moto X has a great screen quality. You can get 1280 x 720 HD Resolution on it. The touch responsive is very smooth and fast. At the bottom there are tree capacitive keys. They are return, Home and Menu key. To checkout recent apps you have to hold the return key for few seconds.

At the top side lays the light sensors, led and a 2 MP front camera. Microphone is at the bottom.

Left:

On the left side you can find a Nano Sim Slot. It is removable through Sim Remover provided in the package. Do not use any regular pin for that. Use the remover and it comes out easily. If you have a Micro Sim you have to cut it more to fit it in the slot. It is a bit complicated because you cannot use Nano sim commonly in different devices. Micro Sim is the most common size today. There is a single sim slot which is less helpful. Almost all Smartphone brings you dual sim connection. It is helpful to have dual sim compared to a single one.

Right:

Volume keys and Power button is placed on the right side. They are easily accessible. These are sharp edge metal keys that are easy to locate without looking at them.

Top/Bottom:

3.5mm headphone jack is placed on the top side and a Micro USB port at the bottom.

Back:

The backside of Moto X is quite impressive. It has a nice premium finish and not like regular plastic. At the top side lies 10MP camera with flash and just below that speaker on the right side. The speaker audio gets obstructed when you place it on the desk. There are separate editions available which come at the same price. You can go for White, Red, Black, Bamboo, Teak, Turquoise & Walnut edition. The wood edition is quite impressive where you get Bamboo, Teak, etc; type of back cover. Below you can see images of all variants.

Moto X Wood Editions:

Moto X Color Variants:

Features:

Moto X is powered by the latest Android 4.4.2 Kitkat operating system. And Google has also promised to deliver the new updates on this device. Due to latest android support, the device is great to use. You have lots of new features. Most of the things are based on stock UI. Google does not use any optimized UI like other brands. The most impressive UI this time is MIUI that comes in Xiaomi Mi series. But Moto X has some additional things worth to look for. Like Active Display. This one makes your lock screen more helpful. You have your notification on the same. When it is on you can see the lock screen turns on silently giving you activity information. Like miss call or sms notification, etc. You can use the swipe gesture to check that instantly. Like if you swipe up you can check out the display notification and swipe down to unlock. The second is Motorola Connect through which you can access your phone notification on your desktop pc using Google Chrome browser. You have to add Motorola Connect extension on the same. You can also send and receive messages through that.

A few more impressive things are added here, like you can use Motorola Migrate to move your old phone content in Moto X. You can use Moto Care service to locate your lost phone and remote wipe it. These are all integrated things that are helpful and you don't have to rely on third party apps. One more impressive thing that comes in Moto X is, Google Spotlight. An interactive way to see animation stories. This only works in Moto X. I had tried testing it in Xperia Z2, but it fails due to compatibility problem. Another useful application is Motorola Assist. You can set a mode here like when you are driving, turn on the driving mode. When someone makes a call the device will tell the person's name or if there is a sms it will read it. This will help you to get information without picking up the device and you can focus on your driving.

Camera:

Moto X holds a 10MP primary camera which is bit lower compared to other devices in the same price range. If we talk about all high end Smartphone's then we get 13MP camera with dual led in few models. Moto X is seriously not a camera phone. Its camera is enough for day to day usage, like taking impressive photos and sharing them on your favorite social networking website. You can capture HD videos through it. Flash helps to keep the image brighter. While the front 2MP camera gives dark output in low light. The stock camera is different. You can access all the settings by swiping from left and a wheel appears that has different settings. The camera app brings HDR, touch focus, slow motion video capture, panorama, etc. And there is one additional setting that is based on gesture control. You have to twist your phone to turn on the camera. Gallery can be accessed by swiping from the right side.

Performance:

Moto X is a performance device. It is powered by 1.7 GHz Dual Core Krait processor and 2GB of RAM. It has a Quad-Core Adreno 320 GPU. This makes the overall device amazing for day to day usage. It is ideal for multimedia due to great screen quality and you can also enjoy gaming on it. At first when I saw the specification I thought this phone would be a mid-range device due to its dual core processor. But Quad Core gpu and 2GB of RAM still gives the best performance similar to those devices that has Quad core processor. You can play HD videos or listen to your favorite audio. Loud speaker quality is good. The placement sometime causes issue with the audio quality. It is not very loud when you keep it on desk. I had tested few videos which worked really well and does not lag when I skipped it ahead. Network streaming is also fast here. For gaming you can enjoy various games on the same. You can play HD games or regular ones, both work fine.

Battery:

Moto X runs on 2200 mAh battery that is sealed in the device body. It is not replaceable. This device carries a good amount of battery for an entire day usage. If you are using it much for gaming or video stuff it can work for entire day. Still the device has a good battery life compared to few phablets in the same range. If we talk about a mixed heavy usage then around 7 to 8 hrs can be expected. This includes playing lots of games, watching movies, songs, net surfing, etc. And if you use it wisely by turning on the power saver option then I am quite sure it can work for more than 12 hrs. It looks like Kitkat is much more optimized to use low power and that is why the battery life is amazing here.

Conclusion:

No doubt Moto X is a good mid range phone which offers you a mixed output of gaming and multimedia. And above all the battery life is great. It has a good build quality with smooth responsive touch screen. Camera quality is good but not great. 16GB or 32GB internal storage might not be enough if you have too many videos to copy. There is no MicroSD card support due to which you cannot extend the storage. But you can use the free 2 years subscription of Google Drive where you will get a 50GB online storage. That might work in some cases only. Moto X is an ideal device for everyone. It has the latest hardware that can run various apps and you can play all latest games on it. Multi-tasking is smooth. The cost of this device is around Rs.24000. Do checkout different colors and back cover variations before buying. Wood edition is more impressive.

Pros:

• Great Display
• Impressive Wood Edition
• Good Performance
• Latest Android OS

Cons:

• Average Camera
• No Dual Sim