Motorola is on a some roll. Since relaunching under
Google’s tutelage last year, the company has produced four superb
handsets: the original Moto G and Moto X and following them in 2014 with budget champion the Moto E and the superb new Moto G. Now Motorola is refreshing the Moto X and after critical, but not commercial, acclaim it really means business.
How good is the new Moto X? In short it is the best smartphone I’ve used this year. Yes that means better than the LG G3, Nokia Lumia 930, HTC One M8, Samsung Galaxy S5, Sony Xperia Z3 and iPhone 6 (though your choice of ecosystem will determine this). Yes the much anticipated Nexus 6 is still to be released this year, but that’s a phablet.
There is no denying large screens are in,
but they aren’t to everyone’s taste so when Motorola announced the
4.7-inch screen on the original Moto X would be bumped to a massive
5.2-inches many sighed – myself included.
So here comes the good news: Motorola has pulled it off.
The 2014 Moto X measures 140.8 x 72.4 x 10 mm (5.54 x 2.85 x
0.39-inches) and weighs 144 g (5.08 oz). To put this in context, that’s
shorter and narrower than the 5.1-inch Galaxy S5 and dramatically
shorter and lighter than the 5-inch HTC One M8 (146.4mm and 160g).
The trick lies in the bezels.
The 2014 Moto X has dramatically thinner
bezels than its predecessor and only LG’s G3 can come close – but that’s
another 5.5-inch phablet. The fact the Moto X has roughly the same
footprint as the LG made 5-inch Nexus 5
(you can just about see its metal edging sneaking out when they are
placed one atop of the other) is a testament to Motorola’s design team.The next upgrade is the camera. Motorola has increased the resolution
from 10 to 13 megapixels, added a dual LED flash and offered 4k video
recording. The front camera remains 2 megapixels, but still supports
1080p video recording.Another welcome (and surprising) move is the shift to a front facing
external speaker which produces loud, clear and surprisingly rich (for a
phone speaker) audio that is great for listening to the talk radio or
podcasts. Only the HTC One range with its dual front facing speakers can
beat it and the fact Motorola has slightly raised it and the earpiece
at the top mean they protect the screen during falls.
The trick lies in the bezels.
The 2014 Moto X has dramatically thinner
bezels than its predecessor and only LG’s G3 can come close – but that’s
another 5.5-inch phablet. The fact the Moto X has roughly the same
footprint as the LG made 5-inch Nexus 5
(you can just about see its metal edging sneaking out when they are
placed one atop of the other) is a testament to Motorola’s design team.The next upgrade is the camera. Motorola has increased the resolution
from 10 to 13 megapixels, added a dual LED flash and offered 4k video
recording. The front camera remains 2 megapixels, but still supports
1080p video recording.Another welcome (and surprising) move is the shift to a front facing
external speaker which produces loud, clear and surprisingly rich (for a
phone speaker) audio that is great for listening to the talk radio or
podcasts. Only the HTC One range with its dual front facing speakers can
beat it and the fact Motorola has slightly raised it and the earpiece
at the top mean they protect the screen during falls.
No comments:
Post a Comment