Handsets

Spoiler: Moto X specs aren’t that impressive (but you already knew that) [UPDATE]

132

Moto X leaked video Rogers

According to a Verge tipster who’s reportedly been handling the CDMA version of the upcoming Moto X, the device features some rather “average” specs for a next-gen flagship. It’s probably not what you many of you wanted to hear (but you should have known by now). Here is what you can most likely expect when the Moto X is formally announced on August 1st:

  • 4.5-inch display
  • 1.7GHz Snapdragon MSM8960T processor
  • 2GB RAM
  • 1,500 mAh battery [Update: battery size is still unconfirmed]
  • Removable “Kevlar” shell
  • Near-stock Android 4.2.2

Many of these specs were confirmed by our friend @evleaks many weeks ago, so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. While the Moto X’s “killer feature” will undoubtedly be its Google Glass-like always voice actions, the tipster also mentions this isn’t enabled by default (most likely in an effort to address privacy concerns).

With a return to smaller displays and the tiny bezels on this device, expect it to feel much smaller in the hand than current handsets. I still have faith in this device and will reserve final judgment until I can get some intimate time with it. As it stand, how are you guys feeling about the Motorola Moto X?

Chris Chavez
I've been obsessed with consumer technology for about as long as I can remember, be it video games, photography, or mobile devices. If you can plug it in, I have to own it. Preparing for the day when Android finally becomes self-aware and I get to welcome our new robot overlords.

Canonical’s Ubuntu Edge smartphone leaked, to be announced in the coming days

Previous article

Hyped for The Walking Dead Season 4? The Walking Dead: Assault is now finally available on Google Play

Next article

You may also like

132 Comments

  1. I won’t buy one….

    1. ok

  2. This has to be the most over hyped Android phone ever.

    1. Yes, but we have no one else to blame but us and and all those ridiculous rumors.

      1. To be fair, all the rumors pointed to a device matching the specs of the current Nexus. People were just hoping for more.

        1. Not really, the specs have been ridiculously blown up all over the place. I think we’ll be in for a surprise from Motorola.

        2. Except not, at least not in the beginning. Early on the rumours were pointing to a monster device that could be ordered to spec, the same way one can order a laptop.

          So yes, in many ways it was incredibly over hyped.

          1. At least the hype has shifted in recent weeks to be a long series of posts declaring that this is decidedly mid range and not aimed at competing with high end flagships from any other manufacturer.

        3. Also, people confused the X with ULTRA and MAXX in the rumor process.

        4. lol, remember the rumors of the sapphire screen?

    2. It’s really not though. We’ve known the alleged specs for many months now.

      The phone to wait for will be the bigger brother to this phone, the X-phone which will come in the fall.

      1. Its a good thing that I set my goal to upgrade my vze G-Nexus at the end of the year after all the dust has settled. It should be fun deciding which device to get, just like winter of 2011.

        1. Ooo!! You will die from the choices. Your brain won’t be able to handle all the awesomeness. LoL!! I hate that feeling, but love it at the same time.

      2. Source?

      3. Where did you hear about a “big brother” to this phone??

        1. It’s been circulating for quite a while now. The Moto X is just the beginning of the new Google inspired Moto. The “X Phone” is the hero device everyone will want in the fall with the specs everyone expects in a high end device. The Motorola “Nova” is also on the horizon, after the first of the year. This will be next year’s contender with Sammy and HTC.

          1. any links / source for this?

      4. Can’t wait for the Moto X Prime.

      5. Yeah, I also heard that NASA will be landing people on the sun in 2015. I know i know, it’s hot but NASA is not dumb – they will fly at night.

        I’m not knocking your rumor sir, but without any solid source or concrete proof, that’s all it is…A RUMOR. There are a million of rumors that are just vapors to one that has some truth to it.

    3. You haven’t heard of a DROID Bionic then

    4. The rumors where true, to an extent, Moto X is the “hero phone”, the hero phone of Moto, they were going down and down, even with Google, but Googles first moto phone, and it has saved them. Plus some stuff shown is pretty impressive (dual core phone that benches as a s600 Quad!)

  3. Boo!

  4. I will respond with an overwhelming “Meh.”

  5. Epic failure

    1. Causes confusion between nexus line and this one

      1. Maybe that’d be true IF the Nexus-line was sold in stores. But it’s only online where nobody knows about it.

        1. It’s in tmobile stores and I think walmart too

  6. 1500mAh? I expected more, much more… as for the rest – no issues, as expected.

    1. Even worse, 1500mah + always listening mode

      Battery life, a couple of hours?

      1. You guys are blowing this out of proportion. If Motorola truly released specs like this I’m sure they’d have the device well optimized so that it’d last a long enough time for the user.

        1. Yes. Especially since Larry has been harping on battery times so many times, If not nothing, it will atleast have a lasting battery.

        2. Oh yeah, like a long lasting battery life of 1 hour and 30 minutes tops?

        3. This isn’t Apple. Motorola knows power management like nobody else. Whatever size battery thins thing has will be adequate to the needs of the target market.

          If you really need a super battery, you get a MAXX or maybe the upcoming Ultra. This isn’t intended to be a top of the line phone. It’s clearly a mass market device.

          1. I still hope 1500 is a typo for 2500. I still want more.

          2. Why don’t you get an S4 or a HTC One and call it a day?

          3. Simple. I can’t take a subsidy (unlimited data) and i don’t want to shell out $550-650 for a phone. If this thing is $199 then it’s a deal despite some shortcomings. At least the FCC spec shows 2200mAh battery so that’s reasonable.

        4. They can optimize it however they will, but a few 3rd party apps will kill this battery in an hour. Nothing but the MAXX type of battery would convince me to buy it. I’m saying that because I just snatched a good deal on HD LTE (XT925, intl. version of MAXX HD) and the battery life is amazing!
          This phone is definitely NOT an Ingress phone.

      2. “always listening mode” that is off by default.

    2. yes the 1500mah sized battery is definitely a wtf. 1500mah is not even considered average for this size of a phone. hopefully that’s an error. either that or moto’s going to need to implement some crazyass tech to save battery usage.

      1. maybe they’ve implemented software to turn on airplane mode every time the screen is off

        1. lol that would suck cause you would never get any notification’s and your messages will never sync until you turn it on.

        2. Maybe you mean turn off data. The HTC One does that like after some long, unknown amount of time. LoL!! It get’s weird. I’d be gaming then next thing I know I’m like “Facebook hasn’t said anything”. Come to find out my data is off.

          It turns on pretty fast. I’d assume this phone would do something similar. That HELPS a lot with saving battery.

    3. The Verge just updated their post. 1,500mAh battery is unconfirmed but according to their tipster, that’s what the “software” was reporting.

      Updated our post.

  7. I’m curious to see how the reviews come out. but what’s up with the 1500 mAh battery?

    1. At least it’s replaceable, right? :/

  8. If Apple can sell a billion iPhone 5’s with pretty much these specs, why can’t Google/Moto?Android Seems to pride itself on having the latest and greatest internals but, what if they can FINALLY (with Moto X) provide the Android experience that rivals iOS? Now understand, I’m not talking about functionality. Android has left iOS in the dust with that, but with a true amalgamation of Moto build quality and versatility/Vision of Google/Android? Not just Samsung or HTC slapping Android onto a device with specs to rival a desktop PC. Rather have the Moto X..

    1. I agree. The issue here though is the relatively small 1500 battery. I hate to say it; but Android isn’t quite as power efficient as iOS. Most phones with 2100+ mAh batteries barely keep up with the iPhone 5 with its small 1440 mAh battery. I know a lot of that is due to different hardware configurations, but software also plays a major role in it. Unless Moto has done some serious tweaking to how Android handles its background services/syncing, I’m not sure this phone will be able to compete well, at least in terms of battery life.

      I hope Google addresses this in the next iteration of Android though, because it’s one of the few areas that Android needs considerable improvement. Large batteries are only a band aid fix to a much larger issue.

      I find it kind of hard to believe that this phone would only have a 1500 mAh battery though. Given that Moto squeezed a 2500 mAh battery into the Razr HD, I would think they would put something of similar size into this phone.

      Please note: I don’t care for Apple products and don’t aspire to own any. I’m just acknowledging an issue with Android that I hope is fixed in the coming revisions. I’m a completely happy Note 2 owner, but it shouldn’t take a 3100+ mAh battery to get good battery life in a phone.

      1. мy coυѕιɴ ιѕ мαĸιɴɢ $51/нoυr oɴlιɴe. υɴeмployed ғor α coυple oғ yeαrѕ αɴd prevιoυѕ yeαr ѕнe ɢoт α $1З619cнecĸ wιтн oɴlιɴe joв ғor α coυple oғ dαyѕ. ѕee мore αт…­ ­ViewMore——————————————&#46qr&#46net/kkEj

        The screen is too small
        considering that a chunk of it is taken up with on screen buttons. It
        might still be OK if the usability of google apps was better on a small
        screen. That isn’t the case though, most google apps are terrible on a
        small screen. Especially music – I’ll never understand why they can’t
        provide an option for a simple text list view instead of wasting the
        whole screen on album art so you can only see one item at a time.

    2. And what would you get for that in return? A bunch more iDiots who only care about aluminum and/or removable shells.

      1. And the alternative, people who only care about specs, is better?

        1. just as Shirley implied I am inspired that anyone can get paid $4683 in 4 weeks on the internet. have you read this page w­w­w.K­E­P­2.c­o­m

    3. Maybe the software version is wrong, maybe Google finally did something to make Android last long on smaller batteries making battery life even more amazing on whatever hardware. Or maybe even both, the battery is wrong and they made the battery life better. Or maybe we could all be wrong and it just ends up being something more about software features rather than hardware features. I would like that, it seems like companies try to outdo their previous models so you buy it but really the software is what should make it nowadays.

      1. Changing the kernel and using that second processor could do that. Not saying that it will, but it could take basic task like monitoring sensors and reduce the amount of power generally needed for them. Also, the second processor could makes sure the phone functions more efficiently than normal(not saying that it will).

    4. I’d rather have a DROID Ultra, or MAXX.

      1. Those should be impressive devices also.

    5. If Android Google/Moto can learn anything from Apple it’s marketing. The device can be as under-powered as an iPhone and nobody will care if it’s “cool”.

      1. word, to include the phone in tv series and movies is one great way to go. Commercials is a thing of the past. People need to be shown about the phone and OS in real time.

  9. Of the rumors are true that the Moto X phone will come in at a lower price then I am all in.

  10. I really hope that 1500mAh battery is simply a test only battery. If not, it’s going the wrong way with battery size.

  11. WOW that’s a rinky-dink battery . . .

  12. Wut… 1500 mAh battery??
    That’s very disappointing… Looks like Google is taking Motorola in the wrong direction.

  13. Why is everyone so obsessed over battery size? What is this, 1960? Focus on something more important: how long a charge lasts under normal use. I don’t care what the mAh reading is, but I do care about how long I have until I need to plug it in. If the tech and the software allow a smaller battery to last the day, I’m all for it.

    1. It may be coincidental that battery life strongly correlates with battery size. But then you may say that your 500 ML fancy water bottle keeps you hydrated throughout the day while I use a 1L water bottle and say it’s not enough.

      1. This may be true, but kind of not the jist of my argument. More like I consume 4L of water a day. 1L of that is spilled and wasted. 1L is dumped out because it goes warm in my glass, and 1L is pissed out cause I drank too fast. I really only effectively use 1L but consume 4x that. A healthy concious person may consume only 1.5L with a mere .5L going to waste. So it is with battery. Over half my battery use is screen on, another 10 – 15% is cell / WiFi network searching. An improved screen technology that uses less power would mean as much – or more – than a bigger battery to me.

    2. Software is pointless when people root to stock android.

    3. But the tech and software do not allow for a smaller battery, at least not yet. And I really doubt this phone is the one to change that.

    4. Because a larger battery will require you to not basically have to live next to an outlet all day long. It’s 2013 and software and hardware requires better MAH than this. The Note 2 and RAZR Maxx HD have the largest batteries and you can go up to 2 days without charging it up!

      1. But what’s the awake time and screen time? I can go 2 days without charging my HTC One. Mainly because the standby time is amazing. This can give the illusion that the phone can go days without charging.

        1. On my Note 2 I usually get 30+ hours with around 5 hours screen on time. I can most likely get more hours out of it but I never let the battery completely drain. The lowest my batter has been was 25%.

  14. Okay so considering I’ve never been particularly fond of Motorola I didn’t get too hyped over this Moto X, but geez I was expecting…more. IMO, if you are going to hype a huge new Android phone because you are now owned by Google, shouldn’t it aim to be the BEST Android phone? Why have specs that are so close to being outdated already?

    It just doesn’t make sense to me. This phone is, I’m assuming, just a gimmick to get your standard ignorant consumer interested in an Android if they aren’t already, with the optional colors, etc. But feature wise and aesthetics-wise I couldn’t be more apathetic.

  15. This phone better be free on contract, or $249 unsubsidised.

    1. I was hoping for $199.99 before this announcement, now I’m looking at 149.99.

      They said to expect a “affordable device,” considering that the Nexus 4 blows the Moto X out of the water spec wise, “affordable” to me means less than the Nexus 4.

      They also said to expect a phone that you don’t have to worry about charging constantly, with a 1500 mAh battery, I don’t know how this will pan out.

      We’ll see in less than two weeks though.

  16. The screen is too small considering that a chunk of it is taken up with on screen buttons. It might still be OK if the usability of google apps was better on a small screen. That isn’t the case though, most google apps are terrible on a small screen. Especially music – I’ll never understand why they can’t provide an option for a simple text list view instead of wasting the whole screen on album art so you can only see one item at a time.

    1. Screen is 4.7″. I’m 100% positive. This rumor is completely wrong.

    2. If you press the little lines that resides around the top left while listening to music, it will show you your queue. Is that the “text view” you’re talking about?

      1. I’m talking about scrolling through a list of albums, although it would also be nice if opening an album would just show the list of songs instead of wasting the entire screen on useless artwork and making me push extra buttons to get to the information I actually need to see.

        1. Hmm… I opened my Yellowcard album and it shows the a picture of the group at the top and the album art in a little box on the top left. As I scroll that all fades away and it’s just song titles.

          I’m a bit confused on what you’re asking for. My E4GT (GS2) is at home. Maybe it’s because I have a 1080p screen which is why I see so much. That phone still has the 480p screen, so I’ll take a look at that. Maybe I’ll get a better understanding. LoL!!

          But then again, the Moto X is supposed to have a 720p screen. So you may not have too much to worry about. Oh well… That’s all fine, I guess.

          I found this by accident, but if you swipe from the left you pull that menu that shows Library, Playlist, ect. That may help. It does with me. Like SO much from this new UI they have going on.

  17. Looks like The Verge is back pedalling on the 1500mAh value. “Reported by software”. I don’t know how software senses current capacity…

    This tipster has lost a bit of credibility.

  18. I can’t believe Motorola is going to spend a zillion dollars advertising this POS. The marketing scheme will work… At first. Sadly, it will likely only get consumers to write-off Android once and for all.

    If they release these specs on this phone then they will do damage than good in the end.

  19. 1500mah can’t be correct. I’m fine with all the so-called “leaked” specs except that. 1500mah with all the extra sensors is going to equate to a battery life of 2 hours standby. Really don’t buy it

  20. i actually like this. i am a tru believer in Quality is better than Quantity. i have expressed this many times on Phandroid ever since i been part of the community….1.7ghz is not bad..especially with 2gb RAM…correct me if i am wrong,but the iphone 5 still uses a dual-core chip as well with only 512mb ram…proof is in the pudding

    1. The iphone has a gig of ram, but the iPhone also has less stress on their software so it fits with the phone, android not so much..unless you root it

  21. Price tag?

  22. Let’s see….the Bionic (Verizon) was a flop due to months of delay, BSOD, and overshadowing by the RAZR in less than 2 months. In my opinion, the most revolutionary Motorola smartphone was the Original Droid. They haven’t really WOWed me (other than the RAZR Maxx’s battery life with older generation processors) since late 2009. If they want to be a solid competitor with Samsung and HTC (mainly the ONE), they need more solid Specs and more of a selling point than the “Made in the USA” and customized colors. With the money and power of Google now available (including $500 million for advertising) , this seriously can’t be all Motorola can do……….

  23. FYI: The Verge just updated their post. 1,500mAh battery is still unconfirmed but according to their tipster, that’s what the “software” was reporting.

    Updated our post to reflect that.

    1. There IS still a glimmer of hope for that battery. However, with a removable battery plate, why didn’t this “tipster” simply pull the battery out? Possible that the test phone is using an unlabeled battery?

    2. Thank you for staying on top of things

    3. According to evleaks the battery is 2200mAh

  24. The phone we deserve but not the one we need right now.

  25. If the battery is really that pathetic at 1500mAh, then I can confidently say this will be the end of Motorola!

    The rest of the specs are okay if you have up to 32gb or more of internal storage but the battery has to be absolutely topnotch especially if the on always voice will be usable.

    With a useless 1500mAh (if true), then these guys must be absolutely retards who deserve to fail.

  26. Do you all think the voice thing will be exclusive to the moto x? I wonder if it’ll be part of Google Now/ KLP?

  27. I don’t understand Google’s strategy of making a great device then rendering it useless be crippling it with a useless battery and less than adequate internal storage.

    If they screw this one up and somehow manage to sell a lot with aggressive advertising, they will in the end deal serious injury not only to Motorola but also Android as a lot of people will erroneously conclude that android is a POS.

  28. I am with you. Really hoping this phone is something special regardless of specs. I doubt it will be but I am hoping and rooting for googarola with this. I am holding out on my device upgrade til after this now.

  29. >.> man this phone keeps sounding worse every week we get closer to launch day, just release it now and stop disappointing us.

  30. Hey Chris…. y u no post source links ne moar?

  31. The Verge said “in the vicinity of 4.5″, which I’m hoping to be at least 4.7”, the same size as my GNex. I don’t want to go backwards on screen size. As for the battery … I hope the tipster is wrong. Otherwise I’m good with everything else.

    1. I’m sure the blacks will find a reason to riot still.

      1. For clarification my neighbors Marshall and Kate Black, pleasant couple but huge tech nerds and Android lovers can’t live without the latest phones with bleeding edge specs.

  32. Really hope Google isn’t wasting 500 million in advertising. If they are, best of luck to their being able to recoupe money.

  33. Huh? 4.5? Every other link has stated 4.7. And there’s this… It hits 4.5 yes, until you adjust for the on screen buttons.

  34. I mean this…

    1. Clearly 4.7″ including the Nav keys. This rumor is completely wrong. Its a 4.7″ screen. I’m 100% sure.

    2. That’s exactly how the GNex looks with a tape measure. 4.7″ it is.

      Phew.

  35. I’m still feeling the “spec watchers” are missing something big.

  36. Can someone explain how these specs are average? They don’t sound groundbreaking but they do sound like a high end phone. What am I missing?

  37. i don’t know if its just because my Motorola droid 4 uses a texas instruments omap and snapdragons are that much more efficient, but i only get about 3-6 hours of actually use, and about 5-10 hours with a little bit of use and standby. and that’s with an 1800mah or so battery. my biggest question is price, if off contract price is 300 or less than this would be a very serious consideration for a lot of people. Hopefully we will come one step closer to ending the subsidy system. something like that is a bigger than a single model

  38. This phone is going to prove that phones are severely over-powered. My HTC One never really past 1.2Ghz. It spends most of it’s time in 1Ghz. It rarely goes up to 1.7Ghz. It probably just goes that high to help with preventing lagging in some places.

    1. I agree with you but…
      how can your HTC ONE NEVER pass the 1.2 GHZ and RARELY goes up 1.7 GHZ?

  39. I don’t understand the negative comments, battery size is unconfirmed, why don’t you just wait for the official unveiling on August 1st damn it!
    Google knows what they are doing, look at the bigger picture this is designed to take on the iPhone head-on, not compete with the S4 or HTC One in specs.

  40. tinyurl.com/nc6x6hg..

  41. So it’s really 4.7″ and Chris should make a correction on that. The Verge too.

    I’m thinking they will offer a Maxx-size extended battery as a customization feature. I would pay $30 for that easily. Or more. Just gimme it.

  42. I’ve been waiting for this phone as a possible replacement for my GalNex. Was expecting more. I guess I’ll wait for the Note 3 or the Razr Ultra.

  43. I like the sound of this phone. A touch smaller screen than my GS3, which I’m very ok with, plus smaller hand feel and better hardware and software. I don’t see what the uproar is about this not being bleeding edge. The tech has matured quickly, being a little back from the edge is still a damn fine phone, and significantly cheaper usually too.

  44. I’m guessing the battery is upwards of 2000 mAh. 1500 mAh is the size of battery that my 2009 HTC Hero had.

    In other words, it’s too small for today’s phones. I guess we’ll see soon.

  45. The display is 4.7 inches, not 4.5. There is a leaked photo showing the screen being measured with a ruler and it clearly shows it to be exactly 4.7 inches diagonally. This ‘Verge’ report appears to be an unsubstantiated rush job to get clicks. Check out the motoxforum at dot net for more accurate info.

  46. I think UX is the most important thing. I love doing voice searches on my phone and would love to be able to do more voice actions.

  47. 2013’s version of the Bionic. Late and dead on arrival.

  48. The one missing spec here is price. Based on Google’s strategy with the Nexus 4, this might be the killer spec we have not yet seen.

  49. @evleaks says FCC certification done with a 2200maH battery https://twitter.com/evleaks/status/358774088866607105

  50. I sold my S4 for iPhone 5. Best decision ever.

    1. Then why are you on an android site with nothing related to offer?
      Go away troll

    2. Too much phone for you eh? If you like the iPhone, I’ve got an old LG Slider I can sell you. Come to think of it, that might be too much phone for you too.

  51. its a beautiful phone just 200 off contract

    1. How do you know this?

  52. Is it going to be dirt cheap? They must have some reason for coming out with a phone with 2011 specs in 2013, the only thing I can think of is that it’s going to be really cheap, $200-$250 off contract. That’s what they did with the Nexus 4, the only thing that was appealing about that phone (aside from the fact that it’s a Nexus phone) was the price. The problem with that strategy is that most people buy their phone under contract so they don’t know it’s real price so price isn’t a primary consideration.

    1. There were no phones with specs this good in 2011. Also, when the Nexus 4 first came out, it had the best specs available (- LTE), so I don’t know what youre talking about byy saying the price was the only thing appealing about it.

  53. Those are very weak specs.

  54. i think what all the nay-sayers are missing is that this phone is suppose to be on the top 4 carriers, that means Verizon too. All the people on Verizon could not take advantage of the Nexus4, but they will with this phone. The rumors are is suppose to be around $200-$300 OFF CONTRACT. So you can buy this new interesting phone from Google/Moto, & keep your unlimited data on Verizon. Plus if you don’t like it send it back or keep it as a #2 phone, I’m very interested in this.

  55. If you’re reading this article, the phone probably wasn’t designed for you, anyway, so why all the bitching? This is about mass market. This is about people looking to play Angry Birds and do basic browsing. These are people who probably won’t even go so far as to install Chrome unless it becomes the default Android browser, just like the vast majority of PC owners use Internet Explorer.

  56. Still…No…Article…Update…

  57. I’ve had an upgrade for nearly two years , I currently have the iphone 4 , when apple failed this past few phones I made the decision to go back to android . The beginning of the summer I had my eye on two devices for VZW , htc one , galaxy s active …. VZW current phone lineup is a fail . Htc one was released at the beginning of this year and VZ still has yet to release it , even with a tweet this summer coming soon …. By the time the phone actually comes out , it will be old technology ….again .

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in Handsets