
The New Motorola Moto X (2nd Gen) Review - amardeep
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8523/the-new-motorola-moto-x-2014-review
======
jonathansizz
This is by far the most critical review I've read. Several others (e.g. The
Verge, CNN, ZDNet, BGR) have said the new Moto X is the best Android phone
ever.

Ars Technica did a wifi battery rundown test, and the 2014 Moto X lasted 18%
longer than last year's model. And the other reviews have said the screen was
excellent. So this review seems like an outlier, but I'll find out for myself
soon as I ordered mine yesterday.

Everything seems to have improved with this year's X, but the killer features
for me are Motomaker and the extra software (the active display, voice control
and assistant), and the leather back will I'm sure feel great when reading on
the larger screen.

~~~
thrownaway2424
Anandtech has always given us much better and more quantitative information
than Ars. Just to give my pet example, Anandtech sets displays to 200 nits for
battery tests. Ars sets them to "50%" which is meaningless. According to
Anandtech's measurement the 2014 Moto X has the same peak luminance as the old
Nexus One that everybody hated, making it the dimmest phone you can buy today.
The new Moto X at half brightness would be like an iPhone at minimum
brightness.

~~~
jonathansizz
Ars Technica: wifi browsing test, 200 nits, 526 minutes.
[http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/09/review-in-its-
second-...](http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/09/review-in-its-second-
generation-the-moto-x-becomes-a-true-flagship/3/)

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legohead
I've stuck with Samsung, but my wife decided to get the Moto X, and I have to
say, I'm impressed. And it's not the hardware, but the Moto software that is
cool. Which is funny to me, because I've always been a giant hater of brand
software (Dell,HP,Sprint).

It's little things like if you bump the phone, it displays the time. On my
Samsung, I have to press the power button, and it takes a second or two before
I can see the date/time, and then I have to remember to press power button
again or risk butt-operating the phone as I put it back in my pocket. With
MotoX it's basically as good as a watch.

It detects when you are driving in the car and it does a few really cool
things. If you get a text message, it reads it out loud to you, and you can
verbally respond back. If you get a call, you can verbally respond to take it
or not. And it has an option in the drag down menu to turn it off in the case
you are riding passenger, but my wife still uses the voice commands when she
is riding passenger because it's so convenient/nice.

~~~
drzaiusapelord
I'm glad you're enjoying your phone, but stuff like this sounds extremely
gimmicky and just leads to phones being abandoned because there's such a great
cost for the OEM to provide updated ROMs, support, etc for these custom OEM-
only features. Many android users get maybe one update and, in a lot of cases
for lower-tier phones, none. Buying a non-flagship phone more or less
guarantees a dead end pretty quickly.

What android needs is an iOS-like system where everyone runs "stock" Android
and these features are released as apps that are installed by default, instead
of cooked into the ROM. Then OEM's should relinquish updates to Google, just
like Google does with the Nexus line, its Play Store versions of certain
phones, and now - all Android Wear devices. Funny how the "my god we need to
differentiate our OEM devices" argument doesn't work for Android Wear devices.
They all run the same software and everyone is happy. Now OEMs need to focus
on looks, battery life, display, etc instead of putting in gimmicks and gaudy
themes that are UI nightmares.

Meanwhile, you're suffering through Touchwiz on your Samsung, your wife's
phone will never get another update after x date (especially with the recent
Lenovo purchase), etc while iOS and Windows Phone keeps chugging along.

I switched from the Galaxy series to the Nexus series and am very happy. Its a
totally different experience. Google has its "stock" Android product which
reflects only a small bit of the Android market, but is vastly superior to the
custom ROMs by the OEMs. Its a shame that Android has become such a fragmented
mess of abandonware, especially with recent revelations about the AOSP
browser's massive privacy bug which will literally never be patched. Even if
google did a backport fix, no OEM or carrier is pushing it out to phones
manufactured years ago or sold recently with a 3+ year old ROM.

edit: -4 downvotes? Reply to my comment if you disagree instead of abusing the
downvote system.

~~~
danieldk
_I 'm glad you're enjoying your phone, but stuff like this sounds extremely
gimmicky and just leads to phones being abandoned because there's such a great
cost for the OEM to provide updated ROMs, support, etc_

FYI: nearly all of Motorola's extensions are apps that are pushed through the
Play store and thus separated from Android OTA updates. Besides that, they
seem to have a good reputation for updates. The X is a year old now and will
get Android L, which gives at least another year of mileage. That's at least
two years. Isn't Google's guaranteed update window 18 months? (Although Nexus
4 seems to get Android L.)

~~~
tcoppi
There is no guaranteed upgrade window for Nexus phones/tablets.

~~~
danieldk
_Devices may not receive the latest version of Android if they fall outside of
the update window, traditionally around 18 months after a device release._

[https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/4457705?hl=en](https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/4457705?hl=en)

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danieldk
I _really_ like my 1st gen Moto X. It really feels good. Active notifications
are a big time saver and allow me to unlock my phone buttonless. Touchless
control is just great, when we are having breakfast, I'll just ask the phone
for weather or ask some fun factoid we were discussing. Updates are quickly
released (I have an international edition).

The second gen looks great, but two things prevent making it an instant-buy
for me: (1) the size, I like 4.7" and (2) the fact that the new generation
Moto G has dual SIM and the Moto X doesn't (I am a Dutch person living in
Germany, so I'd love dual SIM).

I'll wait a while to see if they are releasing an updated 4.7" at some point.
If not, I might buy it at a lower price point (and after enough testing to see
if I can live with the size) or look to alternatives (Z3 Compact etc.).

Of course, the 1st gen is still very snappy and will get Android L. So I am
not in a rush ;).

~~~
1971genocide
really ? you talk to your phone during breakfast! I have siri and its not good
enough to replace my cat as a breakfast companion.

Amazing, I need to check it out. Cannot believe we are discussing machine
companionships in 2014.

~~~
danieldk
I also talk to my wife and our baby :).

I am not sure if you have or had a baby, but sometimes you need to know what
the weather will be that day, or how long it will take to get to XYZ. And with
a baby, you always have too few hands, especially when they are having
breakfast as well ;). So, yeah, it's handy if your phone can answer questions
like 'what's the weather gonna be today' or 'how long will it take me to get
to XYZ' without having to unlock it or pressing the power button...

I'll begin to worry if it starts talking by itself.

~~~
1971genocide
Fair enough. I was caught by the "fun factoid I was discussing" bit. Since it
seemed you were talking to your phone before and was continuing some
conversation you had with it prior.

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sirkneeland
The Moto X has been the best Android I've ever used.

I'm tempted to order the new Moto X right now now but I find it absurd that in
a late 2014 flagship the only storage options are 16 and 32 gigs. I'll have to
wait for a 64 gig one to be announced.

~~~
rwong48
"Android phone", please :(

or "Android device". technically speaking, "Android" should be "Android-based"
for all devices that aren't pure Android, which may or may not be the case for
the Moto X, depending on which Moto X you get.

I also think that /slightly/ adulterated stock Android might be "close enough"
to count as "Android" instead of "Android-based", but I'm not sure.

~~~
rwong48
Nice downvotes. You guys might as well say "the iPhone 6 is the best iOS I've
owned", "the Surface Pro is the best Windows I've owned", etc.

The level of shitty grammar/general incorrectness on tech sites for "savvy"
individuals is quite embarrassing, IMO.

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Someone1234
The battery life is a little disappointing but not as disappointing as some
early commentators made it out to be. It might also get better over time with
updates (the Nexus 5 and LG G2 certainly did in my experience).

I love my LG G2's battery life. After some updates fixed AT&T specific
software problems (wakelock issues) it is by far the best mobile device I've
ever owned in terms of endurance, I can easily charge it just once over the
weekend.

10 hrs of WiFi browsing (7 hrs of 4G) do, for many people, translate into
easily two or even three days of average usage. Too bad the 2nd Gen Moto X
only manages 7 hrs of WiFi browsing and 30 minutes less of 4G.

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whizzkid
This second gen is just an awesome phone but there are 2 things that really
pushes me away from it.

It is sad because that is the only phone that I really like the design of.

\- It is just big, It really is. (for me)

\- Camera quality is nowhere near iPhone

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spindritf
I'm mostly curious about the wooden and leather backs. Does it make a
difference? Does it make sense?

~~~
jnevill
I have a wooden back on my 1st gen Moto X. It's the "Teak" back. I also have
the clear case over the whole thing, which adds some extra weight and bulk. I
love the look of it and when I order the next gen Moto X I will probably get
the same back. No real differences, it's really just a feel and aesthetic
choice.

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skizm
Damn it, I got the Moto X because it was the last of the sub 5.0 inch screen
phones. Looks like it is time to switch to the samsung alpha.

~~~
dagw
Don't forget the Sony Z3 compact.

