Motorola Unveils 4.7-Inch Moto X Smartphone with 24-Hour Battery and Touchless Controls

[nviz22]

Yes, yes and all yu english are belong to us...

This also shows how far away the normal Android user is on all this for Motorola - the community, for the most part, measures value on phones like people measured PC's years ago (screen size, number of cores, memory, price the carrier's (not Motorola) set). To these folks the X looks like a total failure.

Stepping over to the iPhone/Windows phone world - if an iPhone/Windows phone came out that gave you - notifications while the phone is asleep that you could get to & address (I know Nokia is going to deliver something close), phone could be woken up and told do something verbally while asleep, serious color customization on purchase and extra long battery life on top of it all - it would be the iPhone / Windows phone to get - those would be valuable things.

But over in Android world (for the most part) the fact they've made a phone far more convenient and usable is of little to no value.

Android devs can just port over those features since it is running software closer to pure Android. Motorola doesn't have anything it is offering to convince people. My cousin is in the market for a new Android device (he also has an iPhone 4, but that's a 2nd phone) and he was looking forward to this phone. His only hope is the Play Store selling it at $400 or less. He might get the Xperia ZL brand new for $380 or the HTC One for $450-$500. He was not impressed. Before I got my Note 2 nearly one and a half weeks ago, I was in the market for a phone since I was not impressed with the Nexus 4 after a month of use. The Moto X was considered an alternative for me because I was looking to flip the Nexus 4 for a small profit or negligble loss and buy a Moto X with spending no less than $50 extra. That wouldn't be the case if I waited. I got a Note II for $410 and it is a good deal. The funny thing is that I have the satisfaction that my phone will be better than the iPhone 5S. And if you bring up hardware and software optimization,a simple root and overclock gives me better benchmarks. All the other stuff like 5 extra MP on camera is absolutely unnecessary.

 

[Iphonenomo]

I've had every model iPhone since the first one. Apple computer, Apple iPad. Never thought I would buy anything else. After I bought iPhone 5 and saw the new iOS 7 I was pretty underwhelmed. Or maybe I was just bored. So I bought the HTC One mainly because of the screen size but I wasn't sold on Android. After a month of using the phone its freaking awesome. Unless Apple revolutionizes the iPhone like they did in the beginning, there are finally some real rivals. This post doesn't have anything to do with Moto X but if you are at all considering a jump from iPhone you probably won't regret it. I know I didn't.

** Only thing is the camera. IPhone has a much better camera. This UltraPixel takes great low light but the resolution just isn't there. Still I feel it was worth the tradeoff

 

[Todd B.]

Yes. Siri is nowhere near google now- unfortunately.

I hope you're being sarcastic because how in the world would you call Google Now good?

Ooooh, you can check the weather and see what time you'll get somewhere? Oh, wait, I could do all that before.

I fail to see how it's some great invention.

 

[nviz22]

I hope you're being sarcastic because how in the world would you call Google Now good?

Ooooh, you can check the weather and see what time you'll get somewhere? Oh, wait, I could do all that before.

I fail to see how it's some great invention.

Google Now is more dynamic. It also adapts to people faster than Siri. If you cannot see the differences, you should research it and see why Google's product is superior. It is on iOS anyways, so it doesn't matter if you use an Android device or not.

 

[tigres]

I hope you're being sarcastic because how in the world would you call Google Now good?

Ooooh, you can check the weather and see what time you'll get somewhere? Oh, wait, I could do all that before.

I fail to see how it's some great invention.

I was not being sarcastic. The speed of which google now recognizes to near perfection every time the spoken words is not even comparable to Sirius lack of accuracy, or functionality.

Siri is not e even close to googles now product. It's just a shame that googles product is not allowed in the primary system of iOS. If you are arguing that Siri is as good as google now- you have most definitely never used google now for yourself.

The difference is night and day.

 

[Todd B.]

Google Now is more dynamic. It also adapts to people faster than Siri. If you cannot see the differences, you should research it and see why Google's product is superior. It is on iOS anyways, so it doesn't matter if you use an Android device or not.

More dynamic? Seriously?

What it "adapts" faster so you can get the weather quicker? Wow, I can do all that with about 50 weather apps that don't suck up battery life like Google Now does.

Not once has anyone actually said a compelling reason why Google Now is "so superior".

I was not being sarcastic. The speed of which google now recognizes to near perfection every time the spoken words is not even comparable to Sirius lack of accuracy, or functionality.

Really? Cause the times I tried it, I had to say a simple query near ten times and Google still didn't figure it out.

 

[Wiesenlooser]

Man, Google Now really crushes Siri in comparison. It's much faster and more accurate. I am an iPhone User myself but I've tried Google Now and it's just night and day.

 

[dvoros]

Moto X

Wow, Wow, Wow. This is the phone Apple couldn't find a way to make. Perhaps they will catch up in the Fall of 2014 with the iPhone 6 but then, who knows how far advanced Google, HTC and Samsung will be.

 

[Fairthrope]

Motorolla throws the gauntlet, will iPhone 6 pick it up?

By the way, would 5S be the last iPhone with a physical Home button?

 

[nviz22]

More dynamic? Seriously?

What it "adapts" faster so you can get the weather quicker? Wow, I can do all that with about 50 weather apps that don't suck up battery life like Google Now does.

Not once has anyone actually said a compelling reason why Google Now is "so superior".



Really? Cause the times I tried it, I had to say a simple query near ten times and Google still didn't figure it out.

Yes, it is more dynamic because it adapts to what people search, how they want info, etc. Siri doesn't collect sports info for me on a daily basis. Google Now shows me the scores of all of my teams' games. Why would you want to use Weather Apps over a simple app that is versatile? It outperforms Siri in many tests. You are just simply ignoring its features. Most people would be able to spot the difference. Siri is terrible at times. I honestly don't care if I don't compel you or not because you can remain ignorant for all I care or not. Google Now is meant for Android, but it is available on iOS.

 

[alent1234]

Yes, it is more dynamic because it adapts to what people search, how they want info, etc. Siri doesn't collect sports info for me on a daily basis. Google Now shows me the scores of all of my teams' games. Why would you want to use Weather Apps over a simple app that is versatile? It outperforms Siri in many tests. You are just simply ignoring its features. Most people would be able to spot the difference. Siri is terrible at times. I honestly don't care if I don't compel you or not because you can remain ignorant for all I care or not. Google Now is meant for Android, but it is available on iOS.

Used google now for a week on my s3
Useless turd. It would tell me the traffic going home as soon as I got to work

 

[rushbc]

24 hour battery life??

Maybe it's just me, but I can get over 24 hours of battery life (sometimes) with my iPhone 5 with light-to-medium usage.

Caveats: I sit in front of a Mac all day at work (so I don't need iPhone for most tasks), I have super strong/super fast wifi at work, so I only use the iPhone to send some text messages, make a few calls, send a few tweets, check a few apps, and stream a couple of hours of Pandora.

 

[otismotive77]

this has got to be the best designed phone, the most customizable phone, the most user-friendly phone, etc. i cant wait for it to hit my carrier, google has surely redefined customization, i dont want all those extra good specs, these specs are fine with me, i just cant wait for this!

 

[captain kaos]

Summary

• Meh looks
• Crap screen
• High Price - Same as iP5 or SGS4
• Features that might be neat but that actually probably won't be all that useful - not enough to make up for the screen quality.

Battery life, even if it's better than others won't save this phone from becoming a flop.

The SGS4 might be ugly but turn it on and you will be wowed by the screen. And it has all the high end features in the world on it.

This is the same price but makes a lot of trade-offs, sacrificing screen quality for some features that sound at best gimmicky and at worst annoying.

I am disappointed - I expected a Nexus 4, only better. Turns out, not really. Google opted to "innovate" with some features that are reminiscent of Samsung in their uselessness.

I disagree. I tried the S3 and its "features", such as the screen not dimming if you looked at it, never worked for me. It was touch and go at best. The thing had awful battery life. I think the google now is definitely interesting, something i would use and a useful feature.

----------

Motorolla throws the gauntlet, will iPhone 6 pick it up?

By the way, would 5S be the last iPhone with a physical Home button?

I really wish apple didn't have the physical home button.......but thats another forum page.

 

[GoldenJoe]

Please. Lets not bring up generalizations that are simple not true anymore. Try any of the Nexus devices or current top end smartphones, and you will not experience these things. Second, more often then not, this "lag" people talk about is because most people are idiotic when they use their phone. They have installed Malware from stupid applications and always have a thousand processes running in the background. Just because you used some crap Android phone on Metro PCS, doesn't mean its true for everything. Do your research before you buy a phone.

As a developer, I assure you that I am keenly aware of the capabilities of each platform. Comparing the S4 to the i5 is much like comparing the original Droid to the i4. All the arguments were the same as they are now, and I really don't have time to get into them here. If you're offended by criticism of a platform, then I suggest checking your passion. It's really not that big a deal.

 

[captain kaos]

I think i would be tempted with this. I tried the S3, but poor battery life and size of screen were the main issues i had with it. iOS7 looks nice, but theres still nice aspects of Android. I think again im at the point where im looking to see what a new iphone will be, but im probably going to be disappointed again, same as when the 5 came out.

This phone looks the right size, and if the battery life is good i'd be tempted, as there are apps to help out with wifi itunes syncing and photo sharing with friends.

Its a bit annoying this is a "US only phone", with motorola saying "lower price point" international Moto x's will be out in a few months. The thing is is that specs wise, it isn't busting the doors down of other Android phones, which is fine, as it sounds like the perfect balance of performance, so i don't want to be forced to go for something thats cheaper, with probably less performance!

 

[MrXiro]

I've had every model iPhone since the first one. Apple computer, Apple iPad. Never thought I would buy anything else. After I bought iPhone 5 and saw the new iOS 7 I was pretty underwhelmed. Or maybe I was just bored. So I bought the HTC One mainly because of the screen size but I wasn't sold on Android. After a month of using the phone its freaking awesome. Unless Apple revolutionizes the iPhone like they did in the beginning, there are finally some real rivals. This post doesn't have anything to do with Moto X but if you are at all considering a jump from iPhone you probably won't regret it. I know I didn't.

** Only thing is the camera. IPhone has a much better camera. This UltraPixel takes great low light but the resolution just isn't there. Still I feel it was worth the tradeoff

I'm in the same boat, bored of iPhone and wanting to jump back to Android for a bit... only I'm kind of wary of the camera on the HTC One...

Getting a new phone near the end of the year. Let's see what they have for me then, I'm kind of curious about this Moto X, but 199 seems a bit steep considering the HTC One is the same price.

 

[captain kaos]

I'm in the same boat, bored of iPhone and wanting to jump back to Android for a bit... only I'm kind of wary of the camera on the HTC One...

Getting a new phone near the end of the year. Let's see what they have for me then, I'm kind of curious about this Moto X, but 199 seems a bit steep considering the HTC One is the same price.

I've had every model iPhone since the first one. Apple computer, Apple iPad. Never thought I would buy anything else. After I bought iPhone 5 and saw the new iOS 7 I was pretty underwhelmed. Or maybe I was just bored. So I bought the HTC One mainly because of the screen size but I wasn't sold on Android. After a month of using the phone its freaking awesome. Unless Apple revolutionizes the iPhone like they did in the beginning, there are finally some real rivals. This post doesn't have anything to do with Moto X but if you are at all considering a jump from iPhone you probably won't regret it. I know I didn't.

** Only thing is the camera. IPhone has a much better camera. This UltraPixel takes great low light but the resolution just isn't there. Still I feel it was worth the tradeoff

I has the SGS3. It was awful. While fixing that i used my iphone 4, liked it again so went to an ebay'd 5. Sort of interested in the new iOS, but i think the new iphone this year might be a bit underwhelming, and iOS7 still misses some nice touches that Android has. I'd like to try the Moto x, if this battery life is what they say it is, but to get it over here isn't going to happen. I read they're going to make a cheaper one, which i really hope means its the same spec, but built where the parts are, ie Asia so it becomes cheaper.

 

[weespeed]

Here you go..
http://www.engadget.com/2013/08/05/motorola-moto-x-review/
Bunch of reviews out for it now.
According to engadget:

As I write this, my Moto X is still carrying a 28 percent charge after one day, two hours, 12 minutes and three seconds. And I'm a heavy user. To give you a better idea of how I arrived at this number, allow me to explain my personal usage habits. Spotify is nearly always running on my phone when I'm in transit, which, here in New York City, means almost any time I'm not sitting. When I'm idling, I usually launch Pocket to catch up on news, voraciously refresh and scan Twitter (set to sync every 15 minutes), have constant emails pouring in and out that I read and respond to, Hangouts that I periodically indulge in, Maps for rushing off to various meetings around town and Chrome for the 20-plus links I have open at any given time.

It's sad, but I am that person at dinner or drinks who's always staring at his phone. And that sort of behavior nets you a 28 percent charge on the Moto X after one day, two hours, 12 minutes and three seconds without battery saver enabled. That result bests even Motorola's own conservative claim of 24-hour battery life. Under the strain of Engadget's formal battery rundown protocol, in which an HD video plays on a loop, the Moto X's 2,200mAh cell lasted 11 hours and 15 minutes. Clap your hands, people. This is the battery life you didn't know you were missing.

lol. Manufacturer's battery life spec is objective ? Don't make me laugh so hard.
Ideal usage scenarios ? From whose perspective ? Many manufacturers' goal is to artificially boost battery life as long as possible.

The 24 hour battery life paper spec is from Google's biased measurement. The long life is achieved via a small core listening for instructions. But if you use it normally, it will drain battery like everyone else.

I'll believe it when I see it. I get wildly different battery life depending on use. The iPhone 5 can certainly last "up to" 24 hours as long as you don't use it much.

Although overall I have to agree that the iPhone 5's battery life is crap. I can't forgive that it's worse than the iPhone 4 - that just doesn't make sense to me. The iPhone 4 was fine. It would last 24 hours under hard usage, and easily 2 days with medium to light usage. Battery was never an issue.

The iPhone 5 does not last through the day if used hard, and just barely makes it to midnight with medium to light usage. Not good enough. (if you only use it for calls it still can get 24 hours though so an advertising slogan like "up to 24 hours would not be an outright lie)

 

[DeathChill]

The problem with that review is that the other two reviews I've read say the battery life is good, not amazing like Engadget is claiming.

The Verge:

Mid-range is also supposed to help with battery life. Motorola could have built a monster of longevity like the RAZR Maxx — and it should have — but it didn’t. It definitely gets a full day of use: I used it heavily for 15 hours before it died, and if you use it like most people use their phones, you won’t need to charge it during the day. It lasted for 7 hours, 14 minutes on the Verge Battery Test, which loads popular websites and high-res images with brightness at 65 percent; that’s a very good score, far better than the HTC One and the GS4, but well below class leaders like the Maxx or the Galaxy Note II.

Phone Arena:

With its 2200 mAh battery, the Moto X pushed out a full day of battery with our normal usage. For power users, though, just expect to charge it once you’re done with your 8 hour work shift. It’s not one of the handset’s strongest aspects, but we’re still nonetheless pleased by what it’s able to churn out.

 

[weespeed]

The problem with that review is that the other two reviews I've read say the battery life is good, not amazing like Engadget is claiming.

The verge is comparing it to the Maxx which is rated at 32hr. So yeah it'll be less than that.
Just have to wait until they run their battery test on it.

Each person uses their phone differently. A power user to me maybe different to you, here is one where a user went 18hrs with 70% left.
http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/02/a-day-with-moto-x-the-anti-droid-made-for-everyone-not-just-geeks/

I have no doubt it'll last a long time. A 24hr claim is just that. Take it with a grain of salt. But it seems like iPhone users are only bashing it on that, while the iPhone 5 has crap battery life. I had one and returned it.
Android users are bashing it on specs, yet some test show that it is actually faster than some high end Android devices.

 

[TheKrs1]

Sounds like a paid comment.

I can assure you that this wasn't a paid comment. I'm very much a fan of Apple, and have, likely an irrational, cringe when I see people with their samsung devices. I've been in line for every Canadian iPhone since the 3G, and am very happy with Apple. I just have been wanting my device to keep up with the market.

How well do you think voice command will work in a coffee shop or when out to eat. Then there is of course other people that you have convinced to buy this thing yelling Google Now into their phones.

Sure, but are you also claiming that Siri is a null feature too? I never use Siri in public, as it's straight up annoying. I do use siri to set my alarm at night, to check my calendar in the morning and to occasionally reply to a few iMessages... until i get too frustrated correcting her. I would love to be able to set my alarm (and then check when I have a paranoid - half asleep - panic attack that I didn't set it), without picking up my phone and holding the home button. Is this a case of pure, unadulterated laziness? Yes. But I'm in bed and comfy, so I wouldn't try and change me now.

The camera thing is not a good idea. I thought the shake was neat on the iPhone but soon turned it off because it would activate when ever the motion was done unintentionally as well. Frustrating! You will have lots of pictures from purses and pockets and of things you might not want someone who you are sharing picks with to see. Worse would be them getting posted to Facebook by accident.
Almost all of the features the most vocal members of this site, who are always ready to jump ship, fawns over on their beloved Google phones are completely useless and do not get used at all by regular people.

Question: What "shake" feature are you referring to on iOS? I never use shake to shuffle, as I rarely listen to music on the go... so I can't comment on that, but shake to undo works 100% for me.

What did interest me, was that the shake had to be a specfic gesture to launch the Moto X camera. I believe it would need to be something that normal use/transport of the phone wouldn't fool it into launching the camera. Have you used this technology before you can blindly bash it?

I really love the closed architecture of iOS and I truly trust Apple to secure my data more than Google. (No, I don't think Google will distrubute it... But Google makes money off of information and advertising. Apple makes their money off of providing a good and service. .:. I trust Apple to not attempt to profiteer off of my personal data).

I likely will be in line for the 5S. I was merely postulating that there are more and more features that having me looking at the other side of the fence than previous launches.

----------

Used google now for a week on my s3
Useless turd. It would tell me the traffic going home as soon as I got to work

iOS 7 (atleast the beta's) are no better for this.

 

[skratch77]

More dynamic? Seriously?

What it "adapts" faster so you can get the weather quicker? Wow, I can do all that with about 50 weather apps that don't suck up battery life like Google Now does.

Not once has anyone actually said a compelling reason why Google Now is "so superior".



Really? Cause the times I tried it, I had to say a simple query near ten times and Google still didn't figure it out.

google now is very adaptive and can work with hardware and software to work as one.

watch this video to see how far ahead google now is over siri

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjTj0ymhbBw

 

[heutusops]

moto didnt go high-end because they said that "it's about the experience" then why not put a great UI on that device.
other than the customization this device has nothing, and the price is just too high for this MID-RANGER, they need to put a great UI on this device if they want it to be successful.

 

[The Robot Cow]

Here's is an interview that was done with a Motorola Engineer and Cnet




One of Moto’s top engineers, Iqbal Arshad, sat down for a Q&A with CNET today to discuss his thoughts on the Moto X, why he thinks it has “world’s first” type of features, and why the technology used in the GS4 or One are inferior to what they have accomplished. This is certainly worth a read. If anything, at least jump to the last question where he talks about future customizable features through MotoMaker.

Arshad on why you don’t need a quad-core CPU, and why their dual-core CPU is not “last year’s”:

For one, we are not using last year’s Qualcomm processor. It’s this year’s processor. It is a dual-core processor, but the thing people have to understand is that in mobile devices, more CPUs don’t necessarily mean better or faster devices. In fact, in most instances no more than two CPUs are being used at any given time. In order to save power, the algorithms controlling the device are often trying to turn off CPUs.

In the stress tests we have conducted on competing devices, we launched 24 websites at once on the device, and none of the devices used more than two CPUs at once to do this.

On changing how smartphones work, and the first dig at Samsung:

If you think about it, the market has been relatively stagnant. Everything is built on these standard chips and displays. And we are all trained to respond to those small incremental changes in these components. But Motorola’s vision is to really change how smartphones work. The small computers we carry around in our pockets aren’t really “smart.” I mean what can you do with the Samsung Galaxy S3 that you can’t do with the Galaxy S4? The answer is nothing.

We aren’t developing technology for technology’s sake. But we are trying to make mobile computing more intelligent.

On how innovative X8 architecture is and why no one else is doing it (Samsung and HTC):

We have come up with a new processing architecture that allows us to do things like touchless control without sacrificing battery power. For a Samsung or HTC device to offer the same kind of functionality would require three batteries. And that is the reason why no one else has done touchless control. Nobody has done it because it kills the device’s battery life.

None of those other processors could do all the noise cancellation and offer the same level of intelligence and still be low power. What we have done with the Moto X has not been done before. It’s the world’s first.

On defeating the spec war that chip and display manufacturers have created:

It’s hard because people are programmed by the industry to look at things like how many cores a chip has or whether the display is 1080p. That’s how chip and display manufacturers differentiate their products. But we’ve spent thousands of engineering hours building a new kind of processing architecture that will really change how people use their phones.

On the Galaxy S4 “beating” the Moto X’s display in terms of pixels per inch:

First of all, what Samsung has done with the GS4 screen is not true 1080p. Instead, Samsung is using a PenTile display. Each pixel is made up of three color sub pixels. It’s missing one of the pixels. We are using a true RGB pattern custom display that gives true color reproduction without wasting battery life.

Samsung is using a graphics processor, but they’re using it the wrong way and their performance is actually worse than ours. They are burning more battery life. In the case of HTC, they’re using an LCD screen, which is simply an inferior technology.

Also, the human eye cannot discern resolution beyond 300 pixels per inch. And we exceed that. So the eye can’t even see the difference. But the human eye can see big differences in color saturation and reproduction. In fact, I’d say that is even more important than resolution. So we decided to focus on that aspect instead.

On adding future customizable features to Moto X (like RAM, screen size, processor, etc.):

We do have a road map for extending the capabilities of the device and customization in the future, but I’ll talk about that in the future.