At an event held in New York Motorola has officially announced the new Moto X smartphone. The company’s flagship device comes with several new and unique features, mid-range specifications, customization options and Android Jelly. In this post we will take a close look at Motorola’s latest offering.
Design
The new Moto X smartphone features a unique design that is quiet similar to the Droid smartphones Motorola announced last week however the device has its unique design characteristics as well that make it stand out from company’s other offerings and its competition. Moto X’s design is part Motorola and part Google as it has design characteristics inspired from both companies. The design of the Moto X smartphone, which is highly customizable features a curvy back whose design can be chosen by the user based on personal choice. On the back the device features Camera, Flash and the Motorola logo all in one straight line. On right side of the camera is its speaker.
The headphone jack is located on top of the smartphone and that too in the middle, which is a non-traditional yet not so strange choice. The SIM tray is located on left side of the phone while the other side features ‘+’, ‘-’ volume buttons and the power button.
Overall the design feels comfortable in hand and thanks to Moto X smartphone’s ‘not-so-large’ 4.7-inch display many people won’t find using it that problematic.
Customization options
One of the most important features of Moto X smartphone is its customizability options that allow buyers to create a personalized smartphone and having control over how it looks and feels. Users will be able to order their own Moto X smartphone with unique look by creating their own phone using the dedicated website. Users can customize the backplate and choose from a variety of designs available through Motorola’s website. Initially Motorola is offering 18 designs for backplates ranging from different colors and textures.
Users can also choose whether they want the black or white front panel on their device. They can also choose the color of side buttons and the color of the ring surrounding the back camera. There are seven options available for buttons and ring. Another customization option – which is available on all smartphone is that users can choose whether they want the 16GB or the 32GB version. Another option that Motorola is giving to Moto X users is that it is allowing them to engrave their smartphone with words of their choice – much like Apple does for its iPod product.
Motorola is giving an option to users that will enable to return their device to have it redesigned with differently color parts within two weeks of shipping date. Users will able to ‘create’ their Moto X smartphone using the dedicated Moto Maker tool that will be available online.
Software
Motorola’s new Moto X smartphone runs stock Android 4.2 at launch, which is odd since Android 4.3 is already available and being the phone made under Google’s influence and control one would expect that it will ship with latest version of Android before others.
While the Moto X smartphone features the Android version as other smartphones there are some unique features Motorola has added to it. The phone features always on voice recognition that recognizes the voice of its owner. To make the phone know your voice you have to say “Okay Google Now” three times in voice training app after which the phone can recognize your voice only. As the voice recognition is always on the phone won’t answer to anyone other than its owner.
The smartphone is also capable of detecting whether you are driving or not using igts sensors. Once it detects you are driving a car it automatically enables the ‘Driving Mode’. Expectedly the phone is not capable of recognizing whether you are sitting in the car as a passenger or as a driver, so you have to turn the driving mode off manually once its activated – everytime.
Specifications
When it comes to specs Moto X smartphone isn’t as ground breaking as you might have expected it to be and features decent specifications. It has a 4.7-inch 720p display, which according to Motorola looks no different than the 1080p one found on other high-end smartphones. It is powered by 1.7GHz dual-core Krait CPU and quad-core Adreno 320 GPU. The phone has 2GB of RAM, comes in 16 and 32GB storage options, features 10-megapixel rear that records 1080p video and 2-megapixel front camera.
It features a 2,200mAh battery that according to Motorola can run up to 24 hours with mixed usage. Other features include 4G, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, GPS, USB 2.0, NFC, Nano SIM and 3.5mm headphone jack..
Pricing and availability
Moto X smartphone will start shipping at the end of August. The phone will be available on all four major US carriers including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. The 16GB model will be available for $199 and 32GB model will be available for $249. The 32GB model will only be offered on AT&T only and the customization option through Moto Maker tool will also be available to customers of this carrier only at the beginning.