Motorola Moto X review: Demolishing the competition despite the odds

Google's Motorola has unveiled Moto X the first smartphone that's been developed with close collaboration with the Internet giant. While it doesn't really boast of high-end specifications, the much-hyped smartphone offers a few of differentiating features. Here's a look at 5 of the major ones.

1. Touch-less control
First seen in Google Glass and then in voice search on Chrome, the feature lets users control the phone with simple voice commands prefixed with "Okay, Google Now." This also lets users access Google Now, Google's voice-based assistant that fetches information and performs tasks like fixing appointments, setting up alarms, and doing currency conversions. The interesting bit is that you don't need to touch the phone or take it out of your pocket. If enabled, it always actively listens to the user and follows commands.



2. Active Display
Motorola has put an AMOLED screen on the Moto X, and these displays can be used to selectively display information without affecting the device's battery life. First seen in some Nokia phones, the display offers notifications for messages, calls and other events and the current time, without having to unlock the phone.

 
3. Quick Capture
The Moto X phone features a shake gesture that directly opens the phone's camera app. You need to shake the phone twice to turn on the camera to capture something spontaneously. You can then simply touch the screen to take a photo, similar to the Windows Phone camera app. One can also touch and hold to take multiple pictures quickly.

4. Authentication through wireless devices
You can also set the phone to authenticate when a trusted Bluetooth device is connected or if the phone is near a paired device such as a computer or a Bluetooth headset. This eliminates the need to unlock the phone every time. For example, if your Bluetooth-enabled laptop or speaker is around, your phone will know it's in a 'trusted' environment, and eliminate the need to manually unlock the phone.

5. Customisability
You can customise the body of the phone and choose from 18 back covers, different colour accents for the ring around the camera lens, accents around the volume and on-off buttons and get a personal message etched at the back of the phone. However, the customisation feature is limited to US carrier AT&T.

One note for our readers outside US, Canada and Latin America - if you are waiting to get your hands on the Moto X, you'll be disappointed as Motorola has decided to sell the phone in only the aforementioned regions.

Key Features of Moto X (16 GB) (Black)

• 10 MP Quick Capture Gesture Primary Camera
• 1.7 GHz Dual Core Krait CPU
• Water-repellent Coating
• 2 Years 50 GB Free Storage Google Drive
• Moto X Respond to Voice
• Miracast Wireless Display
• NFC Support
• Touchless Control: OK Google Now
• 16 GB Internal Memory
• Android v4.4 (KitKat) OS
• 4.7-inch AMOLED Touchscreen with Active Display

Motorola Launches Two Xoom 2 Tablets

 
 



Motorola has announced two new tablets, the Motorola Xoom 2 and the Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition, are available in the UK and Ireland.

The two devices are similar in specifications: Both come with Android 3.2 and have a 1.2 GHz dual-core CPU, 1 GB of RAM, 16 GB of storage memory and a 5-megapixel camera on the back as well as a 1.3-megapixel one on the front for video chats.

There are three major differences, though: The Xoom 2 has a 10.1-inch screen and a better battery, allowing for 10 hours of “web usage,” which it pays for with its heavy weight of 599 grams.

Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition, on the other hand, has a 8.2-inch screen and a battery that allows for 6 hours of web usage, and only weighs 386 grams. Motorola also mentions its graphics performance will be 20% better than the original Xoom tablet.

The Wi-Fi variants of Motorola Xoom 2 and Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition will be available in the UK and Ireland in mid-November; the price and availability in other parts of the world is yet to be announced.

The Motorola Droid RAZR: OMAP 4, 7.1mm Thick, 4G LTE

We're live at Motorola's NYC launch event featuring the return of a long fabled brand, the RAZR. This time paired with a more recent brand, Droid. The phone itself was teased with the line 'Faster, Thinner, Smarter, Stronger' and tries to bear those superlatives out with a 1.2 GHz Ti OMAP 4430 SoC, super thin form factor (7.1mm), Android 2.3 (the latest edition as of press time) and a frame made from steel and a case made partially of Kevlar. In addition the display is a 4.3" Super AMOLED Advanced qHD display, which they peg as having more contrast and more rich colors than a certain 3.5" display. Motorola's not pulling any punches, they want you to know that this is faster and with a better display than the iPhone 4S. 

Update: Motorola tells us the RAZR uses the same 8MP rear camera sensor as the Bionic (check out our review for our analysis). The front facing camera gets an upgrade to 720p. The battery capacity is 1800mAh, which should put it right around what we saw in the Bionic. 

Update 2: Hands on videos below!

In addition to the hardware, Motorola wanted to show off a few software innovations, no doubt wanting to hedge against the Ice Cream Sandwich announcement later this evening. The first, is what they're calling evolved Webtop, it's unclear how different this is than the Webtop we know and . . . well . . . like, but we'll be sure to investigate further. Next was Smart Actions, a battery sparing system that automatically adjusts device settings for optimum battery life based on conditions including location and battery life. For instance, if you're home, you probably don't need your BT and GPS to run, so it shuts those off. MotoCast is their push to cover the 'personal cloud' market. As they describe it, only 15% of smart phone users devote all their files to the 'cloud,' with the vast majority saving their files in a laptop or desktop that sits at home. This software tunnels your phone to your computer and allows you to retrieve and send files from your phone. The notion of the personal cloud will be big in the future so this may be a real boon if it works as flawlessly as they hope. Lastly, they discussed their Enterprise software, this is an ongoing theme for all new product announcements of late, and no doubt a reaction to the number of iPhone's being tied into business networks. 

All of this will be running on Verizon's 4G LTE network and the speed benefits of this network were showed off prominently. If the weight, thinness and battery life claims pan out then this could be the first LTE phone to not be bulky and aching for a spare battery. We are skeptical about any incredible battery life claims given that we're likely looking at the same underlying hardware that has powered previous 4G LTE phones. We'll have more coverage shortly after we get some up close time with the device, but in the interim enjoy some shots from the event. 

Preorders start on October 27th, and the Droid RAZR will be available in store and on-line in November for $299 on-contract, par for the course for halo phones of late. 

CTIA: AT&T Outs 5 New Android Phones, Atrix 2 for $99 on-contract

The Fall hits just keep coming. Today AT&T joined partners Motorola, Samsung, Pantech and newcomer ZTE to announce 5 new Android handsets due out this Fall. The line-up includes big announcements, like the Atrix 2 we saw hints of previously, and some bargain phones including just their second Android GoPhone, the ZTE built AT&T Avail. Lots to cover so let's get right to it.

The Motorola Atrix 2

We first got a peak at this device when a Chinese leaker nabbed some hands-on time with a device whose model number (MB865) mirrored that of the Droid Bionic's original model number (XT865). This lead to the hopeful assumption that the device would be among AT&T's first LTE devices. Sadly, LTE has been left on the table, and though the Bionic's model number is no longer quite so similar (XT875) there's still much in common between these devices. The Atrix 2 is powered by TI's OMAP 4430, as in the Bionic, and backed by 1 GB of RAM. The PowerVR SGX 540 is clocked at 304 MHz, higher than in last generation's phones, and pushes a 4.3" qHD display that based on reports from This is my next lacks any sort of PenTile matrix.
The Atrix 2 will be a WebTop enabled phone, and though it will sport HSPA+, LTE is nowhere to be found. With 8GB of on-board storage and a 2GB microSD card in place, there's plenty of room for apps and images or videos from the 8 MP shooter on the back and the VGA front-facing camera, likely the same pair as found on the Bionic.
What really sets the Atrix 2 apart, is the price, which is reported to be $99 on-contract and available on October 16th. That's plenty of bargain for a modern dual-core chipset and what is surely going to be an impressive screen, even if real 4G isn't in the cards.

Samsung Captivate Glide and DoubleTime

The Samsung Captivate Glide could be categorized as a Galaxy R phone as it uses a Tegra 2 SoC and not one from Samsung's stable and joins the ranks of recent QWERTY devices from Samsung. The 4" devices uses a WVGA SuperAMOLED display and, as expected from a Tegra 2 device, is running its cores at 1 GHz and is backed by 1 GB of RAM. The phone sports 8 MP rear-facing and VGA front-facing cameras and is laden with the enterprise software that has become de rigueur from Samsung of late. Given the aggressive pricing on the Atrix 2, I'd be surprised if this phone was priced higher, but availability and pricing are TBA.

The Samsung DoubleTime is almost sure to be among AT&T's cheapest smartphones, though it has its market, to be sure. The colorful body (available in pink and white) and flip keyboard harkens back to the LG Envy series making this a push towards the text heavy youth market. Like the Envy of old, the DoubleTime features two screens, one touchscreen, and another non-touchscreen only visible when the clamshell is opened to reveal the ful QWERTY keyboard. Each screen is just 3.2" HVGA (320x480) and the rest of the specs won't impress anyone with just 600 MHz on tap from a Qualcomm chipset. Froyo is the Android flavor of choice, and the 3.2 MP shooter isn't likely to impress camera snobs. But if you've got a few tweens looking to stay in touch with friends, this could be the right phone at the right price. We just don't know what that price is yet, nor when you'll have it in hand.

Pantech Pocket

The Pantech Pocket is another value play from AT&T, this time in a slim, device whose ergonomics target one handed operation. What's most immediately striking about the device is its screen, a 4" SVGA vanilla LCD with a 4:3 aspect ratio. For those born after 1990, SVGA is 800x600 resolution and was last seen in the CRT era of PC displays. The extra horizontal pixels (when held in portrait) provide more browsing room, while the small form factor makes the device easy to handle with one hand. There's not much else to say, the phone looks like a grown up Tomagotchi, and I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. Pricing and availability are TBA.

AT&T Avail

The last entrant is AT&T's second Android prepaid handset, and their first ZTE handset. China's ZTE is set to grow its presence in the States but, like the Pocket and the DoubleTime, this is a bargain bin device that's not likely to wow anyone. No details on chipset or performance were given, simply that the phone has a 3.5" capacitive touch screen, a 5 MP shooter, 512 MB of onboard storage and a 2 GB microSD card preinstalled, and would be running Gingerbread. If you're looking to try out Android without a 2-year commitment, we can think of better ways, but travelers looking for a cheap back-up phone might just appreciate the Avail.
AT&T's Android line-up seems to have something for everone, though things seem a little iffy at the bottom end. On top you'll have devices like the Galaxy S II, the Atrix 2 and the Captivate Glide. On the lower end we'll now be seeing more Gingerbread devices with the Pocket and the Avail. CTIA's just getting started so we can expect more announcements in the coming days. Stay tuned.