Why the Moto X is the Best Smartphone
As my few readers know, I used a Moto X for while - twice. The first time was the 1st gen Moto X which ended up going back to Motorola because AT&T was dumb. I then waited until the next release round as I discovered that they would be releasing a new Moto X sometime in the fall. It was released around the same time as the iPhone 6 and 6+.
I got the 2nd Gen Moto X and I loved it, yet I still returned it and replaced it with the massive iPhone 6+, which is certainly no slouch.
If you were just to compare the internals of the two devices you would think that the iPhone 6 and 6+ has quite an advantage over the Moto X - but as Apple liked to advertise with the release of the original iMac, specs aren't everything. It's what you do with the specs you have.
So, if I'm using an iPhone 6+ why would I be saying that the Moto X is the best smartphone on the market currently? Why would I have sent that beautiful piece of technology back to Motorola instead of simply continuing to use it?
I have answered in this in some form or another in a past entry, so I'm going to give you the short version here: nearly the entire rest of my family uses iPhones and I have a two year old that everybody loves to see. It's the easiest thing in the world to simply dump a photograph of her into a family shared album and then everybody in the family gets an alert and mass commenting ensues.
There are options for that sort of thing with apps like "Instagram" that will work cross platform, and that's fantastic, but trying to teach all the factions of my family a new application, especially when some of them are thousands of miles away, just seemed a little daunting.
This also became a bit of an issue with relatives who like to FaceTime with my daughter. Trying to tell them to use "Hangouts" or "Skype" just seemed to confuse them.
Ultimately, it was family that brought me back to the iPhone, but that doesn't mean that it's better than the Moto X.
When I think about a smartphone these days, it's thinking beyond the original grid-like layout on the original iPhone. Really, Apple can dress it up any way they like, but the interface really hasn't changed any since the release of the original iPhone 7 years ago. App icons are forced into a grid that moves left to right, top to bottom. There is no freedom of movement on the home screens, apps must adhere to that layout. Period. The only difference since iPhoneOS 1 is really folders, but that doesn't help the big issue, which is App overload.
The Moto X allows for Apps to be taken off the home screen, but not removed from the system. That way, if you have an app that you use only on occasion, it doesn't have to be shoved over to the far right home screen just to be out of the way the rest of the time. Of course, this is a feature of Android, in general, so I'm not about to point that out as the ultimate reason that the Moto X is a superior device - though I will say that at this time, having Android as the primary OS is certainly a leg up over the iPhone.
Another Android feature is the use of widgets on the home screens. Why Apple doesn't allow this now does nothing but confound me. Home screen widgets are useful. Notification center in iOS is useless.
On the Moto X I can easily put a widget of my various email boxes onto the home screens so I have a quick overview of any new mail that's delivered. Instead of having to either pull down a clumsy notification center (note that the Android notification center is lightyears ahead of Apple) or wonder if it's worth my time to click on the Mail app with the badge telling me I have four messages, I can simply glance at my home screen and decide to read or ignore in that instant.
The same goes for my calendar. I can also get the weather and a million other little widgets that can be useful or just plain fun.
So all of that is found in every flavor of Android, what makes the Moto X so special?
While other companies, like Samsung, are trying to strip Android down and cover it in different skins, add functionality, and complicate an already well done OS, the Moto X take a simplistic approach to all of it, keeping most of Android "pure" and adding only thoughtful extras that enhance and add to an already wonderful experience.
You can name your Moto X. While perhaps a little on the corny side, it is possible to give your Moto X a name that it will respond to, even if it's not plugged into a charger at the time (take that, Siri). You can name it Julie, or Jarvis, or whatever you want to name it and it will respond. No longer do you have to say "Hey Google" to get it's attention, now it's "Hey, Julie - remind me to take the trash out when I get home."
And the reminders work in a way that takes Apple to task. Whether it's Google Maps being more accurate or or something else entirely, Apple still can't remind me of anything when I get home because it thinks my address is half a mile away from where it actually is.
On top of the naming, it has infrared cameras on the front of the device that allow you to simply wave at it to ignore a call or put the alarm to sleep in the morning. No need to fumble for the phone to shut it up, just wave your hand over it.
It's also smart enough to know when you're driving and can automatically drop into a handsfree mode. If you get a text or a phone call, it will announce the name of the caller and ask if you would like to answer or ignore. If it's a text, it will ask if you'd like to have the text read to you. Siri waits for you to ask her to do something while the Moto X will ask what you want to do.
Of course the integration with Google services is stellar and provides and exceptional user experience over all.
I could literally go on, but it's late and the aforementioned two year old that everybody wants pictures of is needs to be up and ready for the nanny in the morning - which means I need to be up to get her ready.
In closing, I will say that the worst thing about the iPhone are the vast oceans of untapped potential. They could still be leading the pack, but they choose to stick with a dated form factor and are quickly losing ground on the innovation side of things.
Update:
While I mentioned at the beginning of this post the difference in hardware between the two, I didn't go into much detail on that or its effect on the user experience. For starters, the iPhone has a 64bit multi-core processor, a motion co-processor and a graphics chip. The Moto X has a quad-core 32bit processor with an Adrino graphics processor, natural language processor, and contextual computing processor.
How much of a difference does the 64bit processor, motion co-processor, and Apple designed GPU make in the user experience? None that I could tell at this point.
Both phones were lightning quick and provided an exceptional user experience that was smooth with no jerkiness or hangs. Both systems easily handled the use of Microsoft Office for Mobile and played the same game with the same quality (Asphalt 8 Airborn) and responsiveness.
Having a 64bit processor should provide all kinds of improvements and abilities that other phones just don't have at this time, but Apple again chooses to stay on the same path they've been on since 2007, by not adjusting the actual functionality of iOS and instead giving it a semi-new appearance. There is no reason that Apple couldn't turn iOS into a powerhouse of an Operating System that allowed for all kinds of user tweaks (again, like widgets) instead of the stagnating grid that it currently is.
The biggest leg up that Apple has over the Moto X in terms of performance at this time is the battery. The iPhone 6+ battery life is flat out insane. The Moto X lasted me a full day, but would require a charge at the end of the day, or sometimes sooner if I was making heavy use of it. The iPhone 6+ generally has more than 50% of a charge left after a day of heavy productivity use. On both systems, playing games or watching video would greatly diminish their battery life.
To help alleviate the battery life issue, Motorola offers some accessories that can help. Their AMOLED display also helps to curb battery usage by being able to light up pixels one at a time if necessary - making the notification screen on the Moto X far more battery efficient than the the iPhone's outdated IPS display. They also have a quick charger that will, according to their website, charge your phone up for an additional 8 hours of use in 15 minutes. Motorola also offers power packs that you can plug into your phone in a pinch and add some additional juice when necessary. While neither of these options would be considered ideal, it's more than Apple offers for their phones if you do happen to drain your battery quickly.
The other big advantage that Apple has is the current state of the Apple App store. While most of the big name apps and games are cross platform, there is far more innovation happening with smaller app builders in the Apple App Store than Google Play. This has been an issue for a while, and one that I hope Google will step in and help to fix. They have great potential, but I feel they should stop relying on outdated languages (Java, for example) for Android programming.
While the Apple App store suffers from too much scrutiny, Google Play suffers from not enough. If Google did more app testing and provided a more rigorous submission policy, Google Play would be a new kind of heaven for app hound. My sense of how app approval should work is simple: Does the app work? Does it do anything malicious? Does it cause the system to crash? If the answers are right (Yes, No, No) then it's approved. Why is it a bad thing to allow developers access to some of the system settings within the phone, Apple? I've never understood that - you limit innovation by limiting your developers.
Google opens its doors to malicious software by not having a rigorous approval process.
That said, I still find the Moto X to be a more useful and over all enjoyable experience. In terms of the apps I use constantly (Office for Mobile, Acompli for email, Google Drive, OneDrive, and light gaming), any phone would probably meet my needs - but the Moto X meets those needs and then exceeds expectations with useful additional features.
One last note is that the integration of Google Services into Android is actually far more streamlined than the inclusion of Apple services into iOS (read, iCloud). This is important if you're a google user for keeping all your Google stuff organized and ready to go.
I got the 2nd Gen Moto X and I loved it, yet I still returned it and replaced it with the massive iPhone 6+, which is certainly no slouch.
If you were just to compare the internals of the two devices you would think that the iPhone 6 and 6+ has quite an advantage over the Moto X - but as Apple liked to advertise with the release of the original iMac, specs aren't everything. It's what you do with the specs you have.
So, if I'm using an iPhone 6+ why would I be saying that the Moto X is the best smartphone on the market currently? Why would I have sent that beautiful piece of technology back to Motorola instead of simply continuing to use it?
I have answered in this in some form or another in a past entry, so I'm going to give you the short version here: nearly the entire rest of my family uses iPhones and I have a two year old that everybody loves to see. It's the easiest thing in the world to simply dump a photograph of her into a family shared album and then everybody in the family gets an alert and mass commenting ensues.
There are options for that sort of thing with apps like "Instagram" that will work cross platform, and that's fantastic, but trying to teach all the factions of my family a new application, especially when some of them are thousands of miles away, just seemed a little daunting.
This also became a bit of an issue with relatives who like to FaceTime with my daughter. Trying to tell them to use "Hangouts" or "Skype" just seemed to confuse them.
Ultimately, it was family that brought me back to the iPhone, but that doesn't mean that it's better than the Moto X.
When I think about a smartphone these days, it's thinking beyond the original grid-like layout on the original iPhone. Really, Apple can dress it up any way they like, but the interface really hasn't changed any since the release of the original iPhone 7 years ago. App icons are forced into a grid that moves left to right, top to bottom. There is no freedom of movement on the home screens, apps must adhere to that layout. Period. The only difference since iPhoneOS 1 is really folders, but that doesn't help the big issue, which is App overload.
The Moto X allows for Apps to be taken off the home screen, but not removed from the system. That way, if you have an app that you use only on occasion, it doesn't have to be shoved over to the far right home screen just to be out of the way the rest of the time. Of course, this is a feature of Android, in general, so I'm not about to point that out as the ultimate reason that the Moto X is a superior device - though I will say that at this time, having Android as the primary OS is certainly a leg up over the iPhone.
Another Android feature is the use of widgets on the home screens. Why Apple doesn't allow this now does nothing but confound me. Home screen widgets are useful. Notification center in iOS is useless.
On the Moto X I can easily put a widget of my various email boxes onto the home screens so I have a quick overview of any new mail that's delivered. Instead of having to either pull down a clumsy notification center (note that the Android notification center is lightyears ahead of Apple) or wonder if it's worth my time to click on the Mail app with the badge telling me I have four messages, I can simply glance at my home screen and decide to read or ignore in that instant.
The same goes for my calendar. I can also get the weather and a million other little widgets that can be useful or just plain fun.
So all of that is found in every flavor of Android, what makes the Moto X so special?
While other companies, like Samsung, are trying to strip Android down and cover it in different skins, add functionality, and complicate an already well done OS, the Moto X take a simplistic approach to all of it, keeping most of Android "pure" and adding only thoughtful extras that enhance and add to an already wonderful experience.
You can name your Moto X. While perhaps a little on the corny side, it is possible to give your Moto X a name that it will respond to, even if it's not plugged into a charger at the time (take that, Siri). You can name it Julie, or Jarvis, or whatever you want to name it and it will respond. No longer do you have to say "Hey Google" to get it's attention, now it's "Hey, Julie - remind me to take the trash out when I get home."
And the reminders work in a way that takes Apple to task. Whether it's Google Maps being more accurate or or something else entirely, Apple still can't remind me of anything when I get home because it thinks my address is half a mile away from where it actually is.
On top of the naming, it has infrared cameras on the front of the device that allow you to simply wave at it to ignore a call or put the alarm to sleep in the morning. No need to fumble for the phone to shut it up, just wave your hand over it.
It's also smart enough to know when you're driving and can automatically drop into a handsfree mode. If you get a text or a phone call, it will announce the name of the caller and ask if you would like to answer or ignore. If it's a text, it will ask if you'd like to have the text read to you. Siri waits for you to ask her to do something while the Moto X will ask what you want to do.
Of course the integration with Google services is stellar and provides and exceptional user experience over all.
I could literally go on, but it's late and the aforementioned two year old that everybody wants pictures of is needs to be up and ready for the nanny in the morning - which means I need to be up to get her ready.
In closing, I will say that the worst thing about the iPhone are the vast oceans of untapped potential. They could still be leading the pack, but they choose to stick with a dated form factor and are quickly losing ground on the innovation side of things.
Update:
While I mentioned at the beginning of this post the difference in hardware between the two, I didn't go into much detail on that or its effect on the user experience. For starters, the iPhone has a 64bit multi-core processor, a motion co-processor and a graphics chip. The Moto X has a quad-core 32bit processor with an Adrino graphics processor, natural language processor, and contextual computing processor.
How much of a difference does the 64bit processor, motion co-processor, and Apple designed GPU make in the user experience? None that I could tell at this point.
Both phones were lightning quick and provided an exceptional user experience that was smooth with no jerkiness or hangs. Both systems easily handled the use of Microsoft Office for Mobile and played the same game with the same quality (Asphalt 8 Airborn) and responsiveness.
Having a 64bit processor should provide all kinds of improvements and abilities that other phones just don't have at this time, but Apple again chooses to stay on the same path they've been on since 2007, by not adjusting the actual functionality of iOS and instead giving it a semi-new appearance. There is no reason that Apple couldn't turn iOS into a powerhouse of an Operating System that allowed for all kinds of user tweaks (again, like widgets) instead of the stagnating grid that it currently is.
The biggest leg up that Apple has over the Moto X in terms of performance at this time is the battery. The iPhone 6+ battery life is flat out insane. The Moto X lasted me a full day, but would require a charge at the end of the day, or sometimes sooner if I was making heavy use of it. The iPhone 6+ generally has more than 50% of a charge left after a day of heavy productivity use. On both systems, playing games or watching video would greatly diminish their battery life.
To help alleviate the battery life issue, Motorola offers some accessories that can help. Their AMOLED display also helps to curb battery usage by being able to light up pixels one at a time if necessary - making the notification screen on the Moto X far more battery efficient than the the iPhone's outdated IPS display. They also have a quick charger that will, according to their website, charge your phone up for an additional 8 hours of use in 15 minutes. Motorola also offers power packs that you can plug into your phone in a pinch and add some additional juice when necessary. While neither of these options would be considered ideal, it's more than Apple offers for their phones if you do happen to drain your battery quickly.
The other big advantage that Apple has is the current state of the Apple App store. While most of the big name apps and games are cross platform, there is far more innovation happening with smaller app builders in the Apple App Store than Google Play. This has been an issue for a while, and one that I hope Google will step in and help to fix. They have great potential, but I feel they should stop relying on outdated languages (Java, for example) for Android programming.
While the Apple App store suffers from too much scrutiny, Google Play suffers from not enough. If Google did more app testing and provided a more rigorous submission policy, Google Play would be a new kind of heaven for app hound. My sense of how app approval should work is simple: Does the app work? Does it do anything malicious? Does it cause the system to crash? If the answers are right (Yes, No, No) then it's approved. Why is it a bad thing to allow developers access to some of the system settings within the phone, Apple? I've never understood that - you limit innovation by limiting your developers.
Google opens its doors to malicious software by not having a rigorous approval process.
That said, I still find the Moto X to be a more useful and over all enjoyable experience. In terms of the apps I use constantly (Office for Mobile, Acompli for email, Google Drive, OneDrive, and light gaming), any phone would probably meet my needs - but the Moto X meets those needs and then exceeds expectations with useful additional features.
One last note is that the integration of Google Services into Android is actually far more streamlined than the inclusion of Apple services into iOS (read, iCloud). This is important if you're a google user for keeping all your Google stuff organized and ready to go.
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