Moto X will sell in the Google Play Store, but won’t be a “Google Play edition” phone
When Motorola originally announced that the Moto X would be sold on Google Play as well as at major carriers, folks assumed this meant that the Moto X would be a “Google Play edition” device. That is, it would be a device with completely stock Android that would get updates almost as soon as Nexus devices. That doesn’t seem to be the case according to Leo Laporte from TWIT.
According to him, Guy Kawasaki had no problems confirming that the Moto X that would be sold in the Google Play Store would not be the typical “Google Play edition” phones we’ve seen to date. Those phones include the HTC One and Samsung’s Galaxy S4. Instead, it will be the same device that all carriers are getting when it’s slated to launch later this summer.
This might ordinarily be a deal-breaker for some of you, but let’s not forget two things:
- Motorola’s new UI customizations are quite light compared to other phones. If you didn’t know any better you might mistake it for completely stock Android at first glance. And since Motorola is now “a Google company” we imagine they won’t want to drag their feet on any updates for the device in the future.
- Motorola is still rumored to be coming out with a Nexus device of their own at some point down the line. This would seem to negate the need for a Google Play edition of the Moto X, if true.
We can’t say we’re entirely heartbroken to hear that the Moto X won’t be considered a GPe device when considering the factors listed above. It’ll still be a great device, and from what we’ve seen with our time with it (be on the lookout for our review soon) it’ll be every bit as good as the GPe devices already sitting in the Play Store.