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Last year Motorola released the Moto X to much fanfare. It was the perfect size, ran an almost stock version of Android, and could be customized with a plethora of colors and materials. People who own the original Moto X really love it, so creating a successful sequel is important for Motorola. Enter the new Moto X. Same name, but new in almost every way. This is everything you need to know about it.
What’s New?
Motorola decided to keep the same name for their new flagship, but this Moto X is completely different from last year’s. The screen has been bumped up to 5.2-inches and 1080p resolution. The camera improved to 13MP. A more powerful processor has been thrown in. The battery is slightly bigger. Motorola even added more materials to Moto Maker.
Another thing that has changed is the price, but for the better. The new Moto X only costs $99 with a new contract, compared to the $199 price tag on the original. One reason for this price cut may be the closing of Motorola’s Texas factory. “Made in America” is a great tagline, but it makes things more expensive. So while the name may be the same, you can see why this is an all-new Moto X. A flagship that can compete with Samsung, HTC, and LG’s big dogs.
Moto X Specs
We’ve discussed what makes the new Moto X different from last years model, but here are the nitty-gritty details.
- 5.2-inch AMOLED display
- 1920×1080 resolution
- 13MP camera with LED ring flash
- 2MP front-camera
- Dual front-facing speakers
- 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 processor
- 2GB of RAM
- 16/32GB of storage
- 2300mAh battery
- 5.54 x 2.85 x 0.39 inches
- New Moto Maker materials: 4 colors of leather, more wood
Here are the specs put up against the best from Samsung, HTC, and LG:
Moto Maker
One of the big selling points of the original Moto X was Moto Maker. This handy online interface allowed users to choose colors, materials, and engravings for their device. This year, Moto Maker has been updated with a refreshed color palette and features new natural materials. Wood materials were added in 2013 and include Bamboo, Teak, Walnut and Ebony. The leather, a brand new material in 2014, comes in four colors: Natural, Cognac, Black, and Navy. There are thousands of combinations.
Moto X hands-on, unboxing, first impressions
On paper everything looks great so far, but what about the Moto X in real life. We were at Motorola’s private event in Chicago last week to get a bunch of one-on-one time with the new phone. Check out our hands-on, unboxing, and first impressions videos below to get a taste of what this phone looks and feels like.
Moto X Pricing & Availability
Now that we’ve got you salivating over this device you are probably wondering when you can get it. The new Moto X will be coming to countries in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia starting later this month. Moto X will be available for as low as $99.99 with a new two-year customer agreement on select carriers in the US. It will be available off-contract and unlocked in the US from $499.99 on Motorola.com.
Will you buy the Moto X 2014?
Now that you know everything about the new Moto X it’s time to decide if you will be getting one. Are you impressed with the changes Motorola made? Do you wish they would have kept the size of the original? What is holding you back from buying it? Let us know in the comments and vote in the poll below!
[polldaddy poll=8298611]
The only complaint is the smallish battery. Wish they’d have gone bigger.
yeah that’s the dealbreaker for me, unless they somehow magically reduced battery usage by 50%
It’s odd, but I’ve seen this a few times with current users. It doesn’t seem to start off well, then begins averaging ~19 hours.
https://plus.google.com/communities/116517178872973348174/stream/bb2bc1fe-c6b8-4e56-98e3-95def06a04f4
oh dear lord only 19 hours?sleep much??
I used to assume tech site visitors were more concerned with real world performance over meaningless numbers.
Seems all these companies prefer to get slimmer with smaller battery vs adding an little extra thickness. I would prefer they put in a 2600 mAh battery and increased the thickness a little.
I think companies don’t understand that we want thin bezels, not thinner phones. I mean once you get thinner than 10 mm or so, a mm doesn’t make much difference. Now a thin bezel, thats a different story.
I don’t want a thinner bezel. I don’t like my phone becoming unresponsive because I’m accidentally touching the screen edge just by holding it normally. I’ve been waiting years to hear a decent, realistic reason for thinner bezels.
Understood, but that’s easily corrected with a few mm dead zone around the edges. However not being able to reach the corners of yours phone with your thumb one handed is not so easy to correct.
At least it’s a touch more powerful than the Nexus counterpart this time. It ought to be…
Yes I will my fiancé seen one vids of it and action and could see her l herself with it
I’m hoping for a 64 gb variant. Otherwise, I’ll pass if it doesn’t come out in 64 gb version.
Is it really that hard to include a 64 GB option? 32 GB doesnt do it for me with podcasts and other media
Yeah, you’d think they’d give more storage if it’s not expandable. Do they really expect me to toss my 64GB card into the trash or something? I was really looking forward to wood back and the voice functions, but between lack of storage and no T-Mobile jump, it’ll be the S5, M8, or Note Edge for me.
Waiting to see how the new Nexus looks, but it will definitely be between that and the Moto X.
No thanks. It is a weaker SGS5. Late to the game moto.
I will wait and see what the newer Moto is about talked about yesterday on that resurrected Twit account AND wait and see if VZW is going to get he Z3 – which 1 online source said it is.
From a computational standpoint it’s identical to the S5, and thanks to stock android it’ll be a lot smoother.
The Moto is in no way weaker than the GS5, if anything the X will be faster due to Touchlag on the GS5.
Go for the new Droids if you’re on Verizon.
no wireless charging? boo.
Note 4 or iPhone 6+. Leaning iPhone at the moment.
If you don’t mind me asking, what functionality does the bigger iPhone provide that would make you make that choice?
Not so much functionality. I need the following: runs on VZW and software updates are more supported. What I want is: not having to download something to fix something that should work out of the box. Finally, I’m kind of tired of Android. Need to try something different.
Apple does the same exact thing….. Don’t understand that rationale.
I’m on an iPhone 5S now, but bought a Tab S a month ago and prefer it. Android is far less limiting, and having an SD card slot is huge. I have a high bit-rate music collection that I can throw on, and lots of HD movies. I can take it all with me for the $30 I paid for the micro SD card.
The screen is noticeably worse on the iphone than most android phones these days… much higher DPI – which is one of the, if not most important aspect of screen quality.
Notifications in iOS are terrible compared to android, Battery life is terrible, and honestly…. i LOVE the IR sensor for turning on all my gadgets. I have an app that lets me program just about anything that runs off a remote, including my AC, sound system, TV, Blue Ray.
I’m due for an upgrade in March and will certainly be ditching my iPhone for whatever is king of android (i have a strong feeling Samsung is going all in on the S6)
If the battery life is at least on par with the original moto x, I may give it a shot. Either way I’ll at least wait until the nexus announcement. 99 bucks right out of the gate is a great start for this phone versus the other flagships.
So which is…one or two speakers on the front of the phone?! I still keep seeing conflicting reports about this. Are they both loudspeakers or is one just an ear piece?!
From the Moto X site specs page:
Audio
Front facing speaker <<<<< so singular, :(
http://www.motorola.com/us/consumers/shop-all-mobile-phones/Moto-X/FLEXR2.html#moto-x+1-story-specs
I don't understand why they would put dual on the G, but not their flagship.
Yeah I saw that and have seen so many people say it only has one speaker but several other bloggers saying that it has dual speakers.
I dont understand their rational behind it either…tho the only thing that makes me reconsider buying it is no Qi wireless charging. After switching from the Nexus 4 and 5 with Qi charging and the original X not having it, that is the one feature I really miss.
Does this have the other 4 cores (total 8 cores) like the last moto x did?
nope
I think those features are built into the 801…
Waiting on the new Nexus….
Is it almost Nexus rumor season yet?
Sigh… If only it wasn’t so big… I was hoping that it would stay just about the same size as the original, maybe a bit larger for front facing speakers, but no, it’s bigger than the Nexus 5, which I already think is a little too big…
Welp, guess it wasn’t my perfect phone after all. Wonder what the Z3 Compact is like?
I am the opposite. I didn’t buy the first one because it was too small and only 720P. If it had been this phone I would have bought it before the Nexus 5.
Likewise.
I just don’t have very large hands, and I also want to be able to use the whole phone one handed with minimal hand gymnastics. The original had that for me, at what I’ve been saying since for a LONG time is the perfect size screen.
Now I understand that it’s not the perfect size for everyone, as some people are even disappointed that the Note 4 didn’t get bigger so it’s not big enough for them, still though, it’s just saddening that those who want the flagship experience in a smaller form factor have one singular option, especially when other than the size, the Moto X is almost the exact phone I want.
I picture you as this guy
Lmaoo the OG X feels almost the same as an Iphone 5 honestly.
I miss the old size.
Yes, miss the old size and who made the decision for no sd card! Come on. I’m now thinking about the htc one m8. With an sd card, no thought process, get the moto x. Now, not sure.
I’m a Nexus guy but if I had the money, I would buy one of these for each of my family members and a few friends.
No removable battery or expandable storage and $500? Why would I not want one, totally worth it to be price gouged.
ive really given this some thought as I totally agree with your comment. My current phone is the sgs4 and i currently no longer have sd card or spare battery for it. I thought i might be in trouble, but utilizing the cloud for photos/docs/video, i have not ran out of storage (even with half my internal storage gobbled up by samsung). The battery? oh, it drains fast at work and i wish it didnt, but another fact is that i sit right next to an outlet. I charge this phone half way through the day and im back to 100% by the time i leave work.
I would love a bigger battery and sd slot just to have the option of swapping/storing, but truth is, i dont need one for it to function in my daily life…and im a HEAVY user!!
Dont get me wrong, i really do agree with your complaints, but i am more comfortable with this phone looking at how i use my current one.
im hoping that this phone can be rooted. also i dont think this phone has dual front facing speakers according to the moto x q&a
The developer edition will work with root pretty easily due to the unlocked bootloader. That said, root is about to change in a drastic way with Android L. You’ll have to run a custom kernel with SELinux disabled just to use root.
I like the black and orange one they got sitting there….Go Bears!!!
I know Apple let you pre-order already, but has a 45 day delay on getting them out to everyone….but maybe this is why no one is buying Motorola’s. They announce the phone, but then keeps everyone in the dark one when we can order it. End of the month is all I read….but who knows what hiccups they will/might have. I’m itchy to get off my LG G2 and upgrade, but dont want to wait another month or even longer. I might as well get the G3 at this point.
:-( bad battery life.. not getting it….. (dont understand it — moto released the moto maxxx yet the latest products all come with either poor batteries or poor chips (moto 360)….
fail hard moto…