Google and Moto almost made a truly standout Android phone
"With its swoopy, curvy looks, the Moto X has a thoughtful design both inside and out that is full of charm and power, backed up by great software that is let down only by its endurance and camera."
For
Great design and feel
Excellent performance
Near stock Android
Useful software enhancements
Against
Poor battery life
Weak camera
No expandable storage
Slow charging
It was August of 2013 when Motorola released its first all-new phone under the stewardship of Google, and the Moto X caused quite a stir.
While the Nexus line of phones was always meant to be the showcase for Google's vision of the ultimate Android device, it felt like with Motorola it could show how influence rather than control would bring out the inner beauty of Android. Five months on Motorolafinally gave the first progeny of its relationship with Google a wider release, so here it is on official UK release: the Moto X. Without a doubt, one of the most widely discussed and generally lauded phones of the second half of 2013 has arrived, but how does it fare today in the ever-evolving smartphone market? When it was first announced, there was an almost audible intake of breath as it became clear that Motorola was going to try and sell a phone with apparently mid-range specs at a high-end price. However, this did something of a disservice to the overall aims Motorola had for the Moto X. It is not a device that cares about specs, it is all about the experience.
In the US, Motorola launched a novel concept called Moto Maker, which allows you to customise the look of your phone. It is quite possible to get a white fronted, pink backed Moto X with blue buttons and a custom engraving too. Unfortunately, Moto Maker hasn't found its way to the UK - although it is tipped to arrive in March 2014. This bold gamble does not appear to has paid dividends for Motorola with the Moto X, evidenced by its numerous price drops in the US. Considering the track record, it's a little bit of a surprise that Motorola is bringing the Moto X in at a relatively high recommended retail price point of £389. Considering the price of the better-specified and larger screened Nexus 5 is just £299, you have to wonder if this makes sense.
The pricing of the Moto X on contract puts it in a similar category to the HTC One Mini and Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, not quite the lofty comparisons that Motorola would want us to be making. Pricing is not the only issue for the Moto X: it simply does not have high-end specs any more. The beating heart of the phone is essentially a 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset backed by 2GB of RAM. Compared to today's quad-core 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 rival, this is a little lacking, and definitely puts it in the mid-range, at least on paper. A 2200mAh battery is sealed inside the body and there is no microSD expansion so the standard 16GB model - what you get for the £389 recommended asking price – will have to do. Motorola has not said whether it will bring the 32GB model to the UK.
The basic layout of the Moto X is highly conventional, with a microUSB port at the bottom, power and volume rocker buttons on the right and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack up top. Talking of those buttons, they are really well sited. Lots of phones have their buttons in terribly inaccessible positions or just out of natural reach. Motorola has got this right on the Moto X, and made buttons that are responsive to use. What is less usual is the SIM tray on the left side of the phone which holds the rarely used nano-sized SIM. Given that the only other mainstream phones using a nano SIM today are the iPhone 5S and 5C, that might give you a clue as to which type of user Motorola is targeting here.
That's a nano-SIM slot, that is In the UK the Motorola Moto X is currently available in the white I had to review and black. I prefer the Moto X in black though, as the white highlights the major flaw in the industrial design that Motorola has employed. There is a visible seam round the sides of the Moto X and the white plastic used to frame the screen is of a different shade to the white back. The white bezels around the screen, which sit behind glass, are of a third shade, making the front look a little messy. Overall though, this is a very well designed and constructed phone and definitely has a premium enough feel to justify its price - even if there are some concerns about what is on the inside. The Moto X blends into the background quite nicely most of the time, and the screen takes up the vast majority of the front, which is a great achievement
Google and Moto almost made a truly standout Android phone
"With its swoopy, curvy looks, the Moto X has a thoughtful design both inside and out that is full of charm and power, backed up by great software that is let down only by its endurance and camera."
For
Great design and feel
Excellent performance
Near stock Android
Useful software enhancements
Against
Poor battery life
Weak camera
No expandable storage
Slow charging
It was August of 2013 when Motorola released its first all-new phone under the stewardship of Google, and the Moto X caused quite a stir.
While the Nexus line of phones was always meant to be the showcase for Google's vision of the ultimate Android device, it felt like with Motorola it could show how influence rather than control would bring out the inner beauty of Android.
Five months on Motorolafinally gave the first progeny of its relationship with Google a wider release, so here it is on official UK release: the Moto X.
Without a doubt, one of the most widely discussed and generally lauded phones of the second half of 2013 has arrived, but how does it fare today in the ever-evolving smartphone market?
When it was first announced, there was an almost audible intake of breath as it became clear that Motorola was going to try and sell a phone with apparently mid-range specs at a high-end price.
However, this did something of a disservice to the overall aims Motorola had for the Moto X. It is not a device that cares about specs, it is all about the experience.
In the US, Motorola launched a novel concept called Moto Maker, which allows you to customise the look of your phone.
It is quite possible to get a white fronted, pink backed Moto X with blue buttons and a custom engraving too. Unfortunately, Moto Maker hasn't found its way to the UK - although it is tipped to arrive in March 2014.
This bold gamble does not appear to has paid dividends for Motorola with the Moto X, evidenced by its numerous price drops in the US.
Considering the track record, it's a little bit of a surprise that Motorola is bringing the Moto X in at a relatively high recommended retail price point of £389.
Considering the price of the better-specified and larger screened Nexus 5 is just £299, you have to wonder if this makes sense.
The pricing of the Moto X on contract puts it in a similar category to the HTC One Mini and Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, not quite the lofty comparisons that Motorola would want us to be making.
Pricing is not the only issue for the Moto X: it simply does not have high-end specs any more. The beating heart of the phone is essentially a 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset backed by 2GB of RAM.
Compared to today's quad-core 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 rival, this is a little lacking, and definitely puts it in the mid-range, at least on paper.
A 2200mAh battery is sealed inside the body and there is no microSD expansion so the standard 16GB model - what you get for the £389 recommended asking price – will have to do. Motorola has not said whether it will bring the 32GB model to the UK.
The basic layout of the Moto X is highly conventional, with a microUSB port at the bottom, power and volume rocker buttons on the right and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack up top.
Talking of those buttons, they are really well sited. Lots of phones have their buttons in terribly inaccessible positions or just out of natural reach. Motorola has got this right on the Moto X, and made buttons that are responsive to use.
What is less usual is the SIM tray on the left side of the phone which holds the rarely used nano-sized SIM.
Given that the only other mainstream phones using a nano SIM today are the iPhone 5S and 5C, that might give you a clue as to which type of user Motorola is targeting here.
That's a nano-SIM slot, that is
In the UK the Motorola Moto X is currently available in the white I had to review and black. I prefer the Moto X in black though, as the white highlights the major flaw in the industrial design that Motorola has employed.
There is a visible seam round the sides of the Moto X and the white plastic used to frame the screen is of a different shade to the white back. The white bezels around the screen, which sit behind glass, are of a third shade, making the front look a little messy.
Overall though, this is a very well designed and constructed phone and definitely has a premium enough feel to justify its price - even if there are some concerns about what is on the inside.
The Moto X blends into the background quite nicely most of the time, and the screen takes up the vast majority of the front, which is a great achievement
Whether you want to erase bloatware, install a custom ROM or run apps that require administrative access such as a video screen capture or remote control app, you’ll need to root your Moto X. Rooting is the process of gaining root (aka administrative) access on a device, which will allow you to access the entire file system and alter the device as you see fit. Fortunately, it’s easy easy to root the Moto X, no matter what carrier you’re using. Just follow these simple steps.
As a warning, please make sure not to update your device with any software updates after doing this procedure as it will cause you to lose root and may even cause the device to crash.
1. Head to the original post here and download the apk file for your version of the Moto X and save it to your desktop.
2. Plug in the device and copy the apk file over to its internal storage.
3. Toggle Unknown sources to on under the security section of the settings menu.
4. Install ES File Explorer from the Play Store.
5. Open the file explorer app and tap the rooting apk file we downloaded earlier.
6. Click Install when prompted.
After clicking Install, the device will reboot a few times, just wait for it to finish.
7. Once that is installed, install SuperSU from the Play Store.
Whether you want to erase bloatware, install a custom ROM or run apps that require administrative access such as a video screen capture or remote control app, you’ll need to root your Moto X. Rooting is the process of gaining root (aka administrative) access on a device, which will allow you to access the entire file system and alter the device as you see fit. Fortunately, it’s easy easy to root the Moto X, no matter what carrier you’re using. Just follow these simple steps.
As a warning, please make sure not to update your device with any software updates after doing this procedure as it will cause you to lose root and may even cause the device to crash.
1. Head to the original post here and download the apk file for your version of the Moto X and save it to your desktop.
2. Plug in the device and copy the apk file over to its internal storage.
3. Toggle Unknown sources to on under the security section of the settings menu.
4. Install ES File Explorer from the Play Store.
5. Open the file explorer app and tap the rooting apk file we downloaded earlier.
6. Click Install when prompted.
After clicking Install, the device will reboot a few times, just wait for it to finish.
7. Once that is installed, install SuperSU from the Play Store.
Motorola Moto 360 smartwatch coming this summer with amazing design
Assuming you saw the news that came out a little bit ago with Google's announcement of the Android Wearplatform, you may have noticed that the promo videos featured some round smartwatches, which is somewhat odd because almost all smartwatches to date have been square or rectangular. The LG G Watchmay be the first Android smartwatch due out, but the Motorola Moto 360 already looks to be the most beautiful.
Motorola has taken the path of little-to-no software enhancements to its Android devices while it is under the umbrella of Google, so it is no surprise to see that the majority of the work with the Moto 360 has gone into the hardware design, which looks absolutely beautiful. From the promo images, the device looks more like a designer wristwatch that happens to have a touchscreen, rather than the majority of smartwatches which tend to be quite obviously smart devices on your wrist.
The Moto 360 is round and made of what looks to be metal though Motorola just says it uses "premium materials". It will feature swappable wristbands, and could offer metal and leather options for those bands. The Moto 360 is planned for release this summer, and there will be a Google+ Hangout session with the lead designer Jim Wicks tomorrow at 2PM EST (11AM PST). Wicks will go through the design of the device, but it is unlikely that we'll get much in terms of specs or pricing.
Motorola Moto 360 smartwatch coming this summer with amazing design
Assuming you saw the news that came out a little bit ago with Google's announcement of the Android Wearplatform, you may have noticed that the promo videos featured some round smartwatches, which is somewhat odd because almost all smartwatches to date have been square or rectangular. The LG G Watchmay be the first Android smartwatch due out, but the Motorola Moto 360 already looks to be the most beautiful.
Motorola has taken the path of little-to-no software enhancements to its Android devices while it is under the umbrella of Google, so it is no surprise to see that the majority of the work with the Moto 360 has gone into the hardware design, which looks absolutely beautiful. From the promo images, the device looks more like a designer wristwatch that happens to have a touchscreen, rather than the majority of smartwatches which tend to be quite obviously smart devices on your wrist.
The Moto 360 is round and made of what looks to be metal though Motorola just says it uses "premium materials". It will feature swappable wristbands, and could offer metal and leather options for those bands. The Moto 360 is planned for release this summer, and there will be a Google+ Hangout session with the lead designer Jim Wicks tomorrow at 2PM EST (11AM PST). Wicks will go through the design of the device, but it is unlikely that we'll get much in terms of specs or pricing.
Google announces Android Wear with hardware coming from HTC, Samsung, Motorola, LG, and Asus
We knew this was coming, and somehow Google still found a way to surprise us. Today, Google has announced that it is "extending" Android to wearables with Android Wear. That word "extend" will be very important in this, because Android Wear is neither an update to the Android system, nor is it a new operating system. But, as you'll see, it does rely heavily on Google Now (as we thought it would).
In the preview videos released for Android Wear, you'll see quite a lot that you've seen before from products like Google Now and Google Glass, just translated to a smartwatch. The focus of Android Wear is in relevant contextual data, much of which you already get from Google Now like location-based weather, traffic data, reminders, travel info (airplane boarding passes, etc), and app notifications. There are the usual fitness tracking options that are already relatively standard on wearables, and interesting notifications like jellyfish warnings when you're at the beach. The interface is gesture-based, but quite a lot of the functionality seems to come from the voice command system, which does include the song recognition feature in Google Now.
Google has also started the rollout of the Android Wear SDK Developer Preview. Again, Google has been very careful to say that the SDK will allow developers to "extend" app functionality to wearables, meaning this is not a platform which will have standalone apps on it to start. Google has also announced partnerships with a number of manufacturers to bring wearable products to market, including LG, Samsung, Motorola, HTC, and Asus.
The info page also shows support from Intel, MediaTek, Broadcomm, and Qualcomm, which indicates that there should be quite a few different devices at different price points on the way. Even more interestingly, Fossil is listed as a partner, which could mean there will be some more stylish watches on the way as well.
Google announces Android Wear with hardware coming from HTC, Samsung, Motorola, LG, and Asus
We knew this was coming, and somehow Google still found a way to surprise us. Today, Google has announced that it is "extending" Android to wearables with Android Wear. That word "extend" will be very important in this, because Android Wear is neither an update to the Android system, nor is it a new operating system. But, as you'll see, it does rely heavily on Google Now (as we thought it would).
In the preview videos released for Android Wear, you'll see quite a lot that you've seen before from products like Google Now and Google Glass, just translated to a smartwatch. The focus of Android Wear is in relevant contextual data, much of which you already get from Google Now like location-based weather, traffic data, reminders, travel info (airplane boarding passes, etc), and app notifications. There are the usual fitness tracking options that are already relatively standard on wearables, and interesting notifications like jellyfish warnings when you're at the beach. The interface is gesture-based, but quite a lot of the functionality seems to come from the voice command system, which does include the song recognition feature in Google Now.
Google has also started the rollout of the Android Wear SDK Developer Preview. Again, Google has been very careful to say that the SDK will allow developers to "extend" app functionality to wearables, meaning this is not a platform which will have standalone apps on it to start. Google has also announced partnerships with a number of manufacturers to bring wearable products to market, including LG, Samsung, Motorola, HTC, and Asus.
The info page also shows support from Intel, MediaTek, Broadcomm, and Qualcomm, which indicates that there should be quite a few different devices at different price points on the way. Even more interestingly, Fossil is listed as a partner, which could mean there will be some more stylish watches on the way as well.
