Introduction

About six months ago, formerly Google-owned Motorola released their flagship phone of 2013, dubbed Moto X. It is advertised as a mid-range device meant for first-time Android users and tech geeks alike, chock-full of handy features. I was a little late to the party and picked up my Moto X in December, five months after release. Now, let’s get straight into the review, starting with the basics of the device and why I chose the Moto X as my new daily driver.

First impressions

Upon unboxing, the first thing I was greeted with was the device itself. I got the Woven Black color scheme but color customization is also available via MotoMaker. With the plain black scheme nothing really stands out on this device. It’s subtle and sleek, which is nice. The back of the phone has a nice rubberized texture to it, so it’s grippable and there’s a sense of confidence that you won’t worry about losing grip of it.

Screenshot of motomaker.com

If you decide on another color by ordering through MotoMaker, be aware different “back” colors can have different textures. Power and volume buttons rest on the right side of the phone, and are relatively easy to push. With some of Motorola’s built-in features, however, you may find yourself pushing no buttons at all. The phone’s screen hits a nice sweet spot at 4.7" so it’s not super small, but not Galaxy Note 3 huge. The screen size just feels right, much better than trying to carry around a phablet everywhere. Now let’s get into the specs of this device and see how it stands in the world of affordable mid-range phones.

OS and memory

This phone is rocking Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean out of the box but it is now upgradable to 4.4 KitKat on most US carriers. Updates to 4.4.2, which has several small fixes, are slowly rolling out to Moto X devices right now.

The Moto X has two available memory options: 16 and 32GB. 16GB and 32GB models are on sale right now for $399 and $449 off-contract, respectively. On-contract models are also available for as low as $99.

If you’re a heavy phone user, the 32GB model is your best bet - especially for productivity apps, gaming, and music/file storage. I use the 16GB model myself since I use my Nexus 7 for more heavy work and holding files. Both offer room to spare for the average user, but I recommend more memory for any device. It doesn’t hurt if you’re willing to pay a little more.

X8 Computing System/Chipset

What really puts the Moto X aside from comparable devices is its chipset, the X8 Mobile Computing System. This includes the Snapdragon S4 Pro (1.7GHz Dual-Core Krait CPU and a quad-core Adreno 320 GPU), natural language processor, and the contextual computing processor. This gives a total of 8 cores dedicated to several functions and helps to perform multiple functions at once so the phone’s work load is spread more evenly. Two are dedicated solely for speech recognition. This keeps the phone speedy and powerful and doesn’t draw too much power from any one chip in particular.

Camera

The camera is, in a word, underwhelming. It’s a 10 megapixel unit with HDR and a 4x zoom, decent for a mid-range phone, but most pictures end up grainy and just unsatisfying. I get a few good shots but most end up needing Snapseed or Instagram to smooth out rough spots. For people who are more into photography, a Nokia Lumia 1020 or an iPhone 5s is what to shop for.

Accessibility-wise, this camera excels. Opening the camera app can be done by voice, swiping to the left on the lock screen, or of course from the app drawer or home screen. Additionally this can be done by twisting the phone in a motion similar to turning a key on a car; two twists of the wrist. Great for getting a quick pic. But with all the other options, people with varying mobility have a way of finding a sure way to start snapping. Better yet, there is no dedicated on-screen button for taking a picture within the Camera app. Just tap anywhere on the display to capture.

Weaker pictures aside, the app is one of the simplest I’ve tested out and is actually very pleasant to use. For someone not interested in professional grade pics or that doesn’t care about getting the perfect pic every time, this camera at least gets the job done. Not stellar but not terrible.

Motorola features/UI

One unique feature is the near-stock Android UI, which can offer an experience like the Nexus 5 has, but with a few tweaks from Motorola. These include Moto’s own Active Display and Touchless Control, plus some added security features and Motorola Connect. This nice, clean interface is great for those who like a simple mobile experience and dislike annoying bloatware that comes with TouchWiz on Samsung devices or on other manufacturer Android overlays. For first time Android users, the Moto X is one of the greats, being quick and snappy with little to no lag.

Now, getting into the features, we see how Motorola adds to the already sweet experience of the Moto X. Firstly is Active Display, a very, very useful feature. For those who have a hard time with physical buttons, this will seldom go unused. Need to know the time and don’t want to turn on the whole screen? No problem. Just tilt the phone a little to one side, or if the phone is lying face down, just give it a flip and the time will show along with unread notifications from select apps. From this screen you can get right to apps to view outstanding notifications or simply unlock the device. The nice thing is that since the Moto X is packing an AMOLED display, the battery won’t take much of a hit. Once I activated this feature I have never once thought about disabling it.

The same goes for the real game changer: Touchless Control. Now, this feature exists on some Droid devices for Verizon, but this is really the only mid-range device to offer this, and to be acquirable from all major carriers and unlocked directly from Motorola. I will say with my disability preventing me from using much of my arms, this feature has really changed how I go through my day to day life. Touchless Control enables you to use your voice and nothing else to prompt Google Voice Search with the phrase ‘Ok Google Now’ and tell it what to search for, which app to open, or even tell it your passcode to unlock it if you’re feeling secure. And of course, like Siri, you can send out texts or make a call with only your voice. This is also super useful if the phone is out of arms’ reach. It can be a little bit harder for it to recognize you further away, but if you figure out how loud to be at what distance it really stops feeling tricky.

All things considered, this feature blows tons of devices out of the water, hands down. If you’re familiar with Dragon speech recognition you’ll be happy to know this technology is partly thanks to Nuance and their speech recognition engine. Because of the partnership between Moto and Nuance for this feature, it will take some time for other manufacturers to develop speech tech such as this (Samsung’s S-voice is starting to catch up though). This again is a handy tool that you won’t want to give up.

Closing thoughts

Overall, the Moto X is packing quite a punch for a mid-range device. The add-ons Motorola’s put in the phone make it more useful than many devices. This phone’s got a lot of goodies for the price, and is really one of the best Android devices out there. From the display to the nice battery, there are few to no complaints here. The Moto X has a good balance of everything for the average user and is the holy grail of devices for users with physical limits. So, to conclude, this phone has lots to offer and few, few downsides. The Moto X brings a lot to the table for a mid-range without any big deal-breakers in the hardware or software.

What do you think of this device? Leave a comment below and follow this blog for future reviews and opinions on mobile devices and assistive technology. Thanks for reading! I’m out!