Moto X review

One year ago, Motorola, fat and fed by its Google acquisition, inched quietly into a silicon-spun cocoon to gestate. The subsequent passage of time allowed it to transmogrify and re-emerge a thing of red, yellow, blue and sometimes green beauty; a Google thing made by a Google company. The Moto X, its newborn monarch, arrives in an array of different colors, made possible by the NikeID-likeMoto Maker site. It also comes with a homespun narrative: it's assembled here in the USA. Time to empty your wallets, patriots. This is America's smartphone and it costs $199 on a two-year contract.

If I'm right in reading between the lines of Google's marketing speak, the Moto X was made in the image of the everyman. It's the product of a democratic process -- you can take that future design poll on Facebook as proof of this point. The 4.7-inch screen size, the curvature of its back, the composite materials, its weight and front-face look were focus-tested for maximum inoffensiveness. The Moto X exudes no tech halo like the Galaxy S 4 or the HTC One because it is the sum of averages. Here's how I see it: You know those people who own iPhones, but don't know which model number they own and also refer to all Android phones as Droids? This phone is for them.

I've had the Moto X for five days now and the bond I've formed with it has nothing to do with its body. In the sea of tech products that litter my home, the Moto X is the least conspicuous -- my eyes are never drawn to it. The woven white unit, a Verizon variant, is too plain-Jane for my tastes. It's unspectacular, but that superficial fail can be easily overturned by a visit to Moto Maker. Having seen the litany of custom hues possible at the product's unveiling, I can assure you, the Moto X's beauty is truly in the eye of the prospective owner -- a luxury sadly reserved for AT&T at launch. And just wait until you can get a wooden Moto X. As soon as Motorola's wood-backed prototypes pass testing and hit the market in Q4, I'm confident the Moto X'll become the "it" phone to have, the new black... the new-iPhone-that-isn't.

Motorola never specified just what materials make up the 130 grams that is the Moto X's composite shell, but you can safely eliminate Kevlar and metal (Droid staples) from that list. The backs of the woven white and black models have a trippy, Magic Eye-like effect, with a 10.4mm thickness that tapers to 5.6mm at the edges. Centered on the uppermost part of this backplate is the 10-megapixel ClearPixel rear camera with an LED flash below and speaker grille to its right. Motorola's "M" logo lies just beneath in a circular depression that's acutely placed; here is where your pointer finger will naturally rest when holding the phone. From what I've seen of carrier-locked models, branding for each operator will appear towards the backplate's bottom end and nowhere else. Remarkably, it's even somewhat demure, as Verizon's silvery logo, and that of the AT&T models we've seen, have a way of fading into the background.

Quality craftsmanship isn't the first association that springs to mind when looking at the Moto X. The glossy white plastic that frames the device looks chintzy. I use theHTC Droid DNA on a daily basis -- a phone that also retailed for the same $199 contracted price -- and despite the obvious design similarities (curved back, blunt edges), the Moto X ends up looking like a Fisher-Price toy in comparison. But much like those toys made for toddlers, the Moto X also looks like it's prepped to endure hard knocks and drops. That precious woven white backplate, however, will get messy. I know because within one hour of owning the device, an innocuous rubber stand we'd used as a photo prop managed to scuff the backplate. No amount of soap, water or Clorox wipes were able to completely eradicate these dark black scars. Keep that in mind when you're making your purchase. Like the bellies of swans, the white Moto X's backplate can get ugly pretty quickly.

The volume rocker and power button, both slivers of painted plastic on the device's right edge, are loosely secured and flimsy. They actually make a slight noise when you jiggle them in their sockets. I don't know about you, but when I plunk down $199 and sign away two years of my life to a carrier, I want to know that the two buttons used most on a phone will be sturdy and everlasting. Which doesn't appear to be the case here. Moving on, smack dab atop the Moto X's sloping top edge, you'll find the 3.5mm headphone jack, while the nano-SIM tray, which requires a pack-in key (or paper clip) to open, occupies the left edge and, finally, the micro-USB port lies at the base.

Remember the "edge-to-edge" claims Motorola made with the Droid RAZR M? The Moto X is launching with nary a mention of that jargon. But Motorola's Rick Osterloh, SVP of Product Management, did tell us that 70 percent of the device's front face is all screen. And with the Moto X's reliance on Android soft keys for navigation, that particular boast is unsurprising. Head-on, the Moto X is anonymous -- save for a 2-megapixel camera, earpiece and ambient sensors up top, all branding has been stripped from it, thankfully. Neither you, nor I need to be constantly reminded of the manufacturer and carrier when staring at our phones. Buying the phone, using it on a daily basis and paying the monthly wireless bill are reminders enough. So kudos to Motorola for avoiding that stamp of corporate insecurity.

DISPLAY

Yes, 1080p panels make for great bullet points in device announcement posts and headlines -- even as talking points in podcasts. But let's be real, for those folks that don't pretend to know the difference between AMOLED and Super LCD 3, 720p is good enough and especially on a 4.7-inch screen. The Moto X's AMOLED display packs a pixel density of 316 ppi, looks great from most any angle and has that signature vibrant pop of saturated color associated with this panel type. In short, I like it and you will, too. That said, it's not the brightest display I've ever seen on a smartphone and the glaring light of a bright summer sun does make it difficult to discern onscreen content.

SOFTWARE

When you first power on the Moto X, you'll be treated to the new Motorola boot animation; one where the "M" logo is its own world, literally. A couple of things are presented to the user before delving into the typical Android sign-in procedure. First, users will be allowed to opt-out of data collection and then they're prompted to take advantage of Moto Migrate, a new tool that requires the installation of a similarly named app on your soon-to-be-former smartphone for data migration. I've yet to test this tool because I prefer a virgin experience with any new smartphone and an unfettered view of any existing app bloat.

Despite being the product of a Google company, the Moto X does not ship withAndroid 4.3 out of the box, nor is it immediately receiving that over-the-air update like its Nexus brethren -- perhaps the confirmed Google Play edition will. Instead, it comes with an almost pure version of Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. It's not lightly skinned in the way last year's Droids were, what with their use of different icons throughout. Jelly Bean on the Moto X looks near identical to stock Android. It's the minor customizations Motorola's made to the camera UI, notifications and always-on voice commands that separate this from the Nexus line; tweaks you'll wish Google would carry over to stock.

Among these tweaks, my favorite, and what should be considered Motorola's new killer Android feature, is Active Display. This is, in a sense, what makes the Moto Xsmarter than your average smartphone and one of the reasons Motorola developed that specialized contextual computing core. Pull the phone out of your pocket and a portion of the display immediately illuminates with the time, any new notifications and an unlock icon. You can even preview those lingering notifications by tapping the blinking icon onscreen and then fully access them by sliding your finger upwards. Not to worry, you can manage which notifications show up, when they do or even prevent them from displaying altogether when using password protection in this sleep mode -- called a "breathing cycle," since it fades on and off once triggered. Active Display can also be initiated by flipping the phone over, specifically if it's been face-down on a table while you're at a meeting or eating out with friends.

I haven't really found much use for Touchless Control, the always-on voice recognition feature launched by saying, "Okay, Google Now." I'm sure there will be instances where I'm otherwise occupied and will need to shout at my phone for assistance, but it still seems to me a gimmick. One thing's for sure, you won't ever have to worry about friends, family or pesky strangers accidentally launching the feature. There's a three-step personalization process when you first start it up to prevent that and it's kind of foolproof. Trust me, I've tried to trick it with the voices of various friends to no avail. So, what can it do? You can instruct it to place calls, get directions, launch apps, send texts, set alarms and reminders, ask questions and even play music (through Google Play Music). I've gotten particular amusement out of asking it, "Who is Jennifer Aniston?" and then listening to the robo-voiced reply.

I'll circle back to Quick Capture, the last of Motorola's custom tweaks, in the camera section. For now though, let's explore the other aspects of Android 4.2.2 on the Moto X, like bloat. Because, yes, it's on there and, yes, it's Verizon's fault. Apps like NFL Mobile, VZ Navigator, Voicemail, Verizon Tones, Quickoffice, My Verizon Mobile, Mobile Hotspot and Caller Name ID all live on the Moto X. (Ugh is right.) What's more, none of it can be uninstalled, only disabled. (Ugh, ugh.) These are in addition to Migrate and Assist, Motorola's duo of actually useful pre-installed software. I've already detailed the purpose of Migrate, so let's talk about Assist. Assist backs up Osterloh's promise of a "smarter phone" that's contextually aware. Case in point, if you want to enable driving mode, which uses the accelerometer and GPS to detect when you're behind the wheel and then reads your texts and phone calls out loud, you'll need to set up Assist. The same goes for silencing notifications during meetings or keeping the phone quiet at designated times while you sleep. Buried in display settings, advanced users will also find an option for Wireless Display. This function uses Miracast to mirror the phone's content on compatible displays and can be toggled on or off.