The Moto X May Be the Best Phone Out There (For Now...)
Early this week, I wrote about what I wanted in the phone. Earlier this morning (2AM EST, which was quite annoying after thinking it would be announced yesterday but no big deal), Motorola announced their newest flagship phone, the Moto X (2nd Gen). Once again, Motorola hasn't put an emphasis on hardware specifications; unlike their competitors (cough, Samsung, cough). It's remarkably refreshing to see a company go beyond hardware specifications (especially screensize).
While other companies seem to compete with pure specification numbers and novelty features good for entertaining a child for a few minutes, Motorola has created a series of functionality that will enhance your life. I can't tell you how it feels in hand but it looks good in terms of size and the slim bezels.
Motorola re-thought all of mobile with the innovative Moto X (1st gen, 2013) and continues that trend with the newer model. It continues with the always-listening feature but improves upon with with the ability to customize your activation phrase (e.g. "Hey Jarvis"). In addition, now there are certain commands that are application dependent like "Take a selfie" in which the camera app will open with the front-facing camera.
The Moto X also brought back Active Notifications which allowed users to view the time/notifications without having to turn on the entire screen. Motorola added four IR sensors in the front of the phone to allow swiping over the phone to activate the screen to display the time/notifications. I'm not sure why 4 sensors are needed since I've seen other phones (namely Windows phones) that have this feature using just one sensor; maybe so it can be directional? Think right to accept call and left to reject call. But, the Moto X add more functionality to swiping over the phone like reject calls or snooze alarm.
Another feature back, is Moto Assist. This provides appropriate settings for the appropriate time (e.g. driving or sleeping).
Other improvements:
Front-Facing Speaker! (Though only the bottom is a speaker)
Camera! This was probably the reason I didn't get the 1st Gen Moto X. It was awful. The new generation has a 13MP and a 2 LED flash with improved software; only time and use will determine if it is high quality. The camera is one of the top priorities in a phone for me.
Screen Resolution: 1080p from 720p
Customization
Motorola Turbo Charger: 8 Hours of usage in a 15 minute charge
At $499 off contract ($99 on), the Moto X is going to offer one of the best experiences you will be able to get anywhere (especially when you buy directly from Motorola with stock Android with no bloatware).
We will have to see what Apple has to offer on Tuesday. Though, I don't expect too much functionality on the iPhone that hasn't been already announced for iOS8 besides mobile payments and such with the integration of NFC.
But rumors have it that the Nexus X will be similar to the Moto X with better specifications (processor/camera/screen resolution and maybe even a fingerprint reader) to released in late October...
As expected, no smartwatch was announced that would appeal to the general public. Maybe Apple will change that.