[vi-android] Re: Motorola X Review
- From: Aaron Linson <blindgeek1989@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: vi-android@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 21:40:29 -0500
hey guys,
I'm looking at either a moto x or a nexus 5. What are peoples experiences
with each and which would you recommend. I'm looking to replace my S4 with
either phone.
Aaron Linson
Podcaster Studios
Once an Eagle Always an Eagle
On Fri, Jan 24, 2014 at 9:34 PM, Christopher gilland <
chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I never had an issue with earphones on the Nexus 7 2013 tablet, as I
> have one of those too, however on its internal speaker, it was a bit quiet
> for my, and a lot of other's likings. I'm not saying it's inaudible, it
> definitely is, it's just way quieter than I would have expected it to be.
>
> Chris.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> *From:* michael's mail boxl <michaelandjeanie@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> *To:* vi-android@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> *Sent:* Friday, January 24, 2014 6:58 PM
> *Subject:* [vi-android] Re: Motorola X Review
>
> Actually Chris the problem with the Nexus 7 tablets has been fixed I
> could not use mine on ear plugs.
> But now its nice and loud.
> I like the sound of your phone.
> Cheers Michael.
>
> *From:* Christopher gilland <chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> *Sent:* Saturday, January 25, 2014 6:38 AM
> *To:* vi-android@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> *Subject:* [vi-android] Motorola X Review
>
> First of all, if you are on a screen reader that will let you do it, you
> can navigate this e-mail message heading by heading to jump to the
> different sections that I cover.
>
> Introduction
>
> Though I won't bore you all with the details specifically, I just recently
> received a white 16GB Motorola X Android handset through AT&T wireless.
> I've only had the phone now for about 24 hours, so keep in mind, this
> review is quite fresh. By that I just mean, I'm basing all these things
> only on a day's worth of use, so if something appears inaccurate, give me a
> break, I'm just starting to use the phone, so things could change as I make
> more discoveries along the way. Disclaimer out of the way, let's get
> started. And oh, by the way, if anyone wants to put this review on their
> blog, go for it! Just be sure you credit me as the author.
>
> Look and Feel
>
> Once I received the phone, I noticed that the box appeared to be taped
> shut. Not that this really is an issue, but when I say taped shut, I mean
> this sucker was taped! I don't feel I have the motor skills in my hands to
> be able to slit the tape with a knife or scissors. Thus, I just kind a
> went at it little by little with my fingernails. It took quite some
> effort, but eventually, I managed to get it opened. It may not actually
> have been taped shut as I suspect, but boy did it feel like it was!
>
> Once I got the box opened, I noticed that on the front of the phone, not
> just on the screen, but on about 95% of the front of the phone, there was a
> plastic cellophane covering that I had to break and tear off the screen to
> expose it. This could of just been due to me hardly having any nails, but
> I couldn't for the life of me get the thing off. Finally when I did, it
> was all bubbled up, and wrinkled. It looked absolutely disgusting! Not
> that it was a big deal, seeing it was coming off anyway, but had that been
> an actual screen protector, I would a been screwed.
>
> Once I held the actual pone in my hand completely opened and ready to go,
> I noticed something right up front. The phone is slightly wider than an
> IPhone going horizontally from the left side to the right side of the
> phone. It's not enough to be a problem though. the IPhone has a 4 inch
> screen. This handset is a 4.7 inch screen, so it's just barely below an
> inch bigger. So, we're not talking a 7 inch Note here. This thing's
> definitely! not a phablet!
>
> I also noticed that the volume and power/lock keys were over on the right
> side of the device. I sort of like this, but it can ge a bit annoying if
> the phone is in my pocket, and I'm trying to dig my hand in my pants to
> lock the screen or to reject a phone call etc. What tends to happen is,
> I'll go to reach for the lock button, and in the process I'll bump the
> screen with my finger, and sometimes do really undesired things. No, I've
> not managed yet to call 9 1 1, god forbid. LOL! Just kidding. I'm sure
> my day's a cummin though. LOL! The other reason I don't like it is, I
> tend to have a very heavy, and believe me, I do mean heavy! touch/grip.
> With this said, sometimes when I'm holding the phone, I'll grip it a little
> two high up on the side edges, and thus will wind up mashing the volume
> buttons without meaning to. I don't normally do it to the point where it
> gets turned down all the way, as usually I realize I'm doing it, then
> lighten up on my grip before it's too late. This problem is rare, and for
> most people, I don't perceive it as being much of an issue, so don't let
> that turn you off. My guess is, it's probably just the nature of how I
> hold the phone in my left hand in combination with how I grip the thing
> with my fingers.
>
> Unlike the IPhone, this phone isn't made out of metal/glass. I mean, ok,
> yeah, the screen obviously is glass, duh, but, I'm saying, the rest of the
> phone is not. Actually, now that I feel it as I'm writing, the edges might
> be metal, but I don't think so. I don't have quite enough vision to really
> fully tell. Sorry about that. What I, can! tell you though is, the back
> of the phone is a real hard very nice, and very heavy duty polly-carbon
> plastic. If you ever have seen the older white mac books, not the aluminum
> pro's, but I'm talking about just the plain standard mac books, then you'll
> know exactly what I'm talking about. It's basically the same type glossy
> material as those units. Granted, you'd think the smooth glossiness would
> make the phone harder to grip, but I'm actually very impressed. It really
> doesn't, believe it or not. The other real nice thing is, the back of the
> IPhone is totally flat. There's no angle in the thing. this kind a makes
> the IPhone feel very deck of cardish. I dono... some may like that, but me
> personally, I found it a bit annoying. the Moto X on the other hand is
> ever? ever! so slightly convexed. by this, more directly put, what I mean
> is, it's kind of jutted out a little ways. It's very suttle, but it's just
> enough to tactally be able to tell. I! love this, as it makes it way way
> easier for me to hold up to my ear. Normally, the way I hold a phone of
> any kind is I wrap my thumb on thn one side of the phone and let my middle
> and ring finger gently grasp the other side of the phone. Then I let my
> pinky do nothing. It's totally out of the way, not even in contact at all
> with the phone. then my index finger is raised and in the dead back center
> of the handset acting as a rest/anker to kind of guide the phone to say up
> to my ear. With this said, that convexed curve in the back of the phone
> feels really really nice against my index finger. It kind of gives me a
> little resistance on that finger. That probably doesn't make sense, but I
> don't know how to explain it. Trust me though, it really does feel very
> very hnice.
>
> When I tried pluggin earphones into the phone, they made a very definite
> snap/click which was both felt and heard very very easily. The USB cord
> was even cooler! One side of the end of the cord that goes into the phone
> is a little bit lipped. It's a little bit concaved, whereas the other side
> is completely flat. the side that is a little concaved needs to be faced
> up toward the ceiling when you plug the cord in. Again, it's suttle, but
> it's definitely also very noticeable. I also really like the fact that it
> takes quite an intentional pull in order to remove the cord from the
> phone. It's pretty snugged, so you don't really have to worry about it
> falling out.
>
> The sound quality and volume of this phone when turned up all the way is
> amazing! Even with my hearing loss, which is quite profound in some ways,
> this phone is incredible! Even all the way up, it doesn't distort in the
> least! That was impressive! I could a sworn it would clip really really
> badly all the way up, but unlike the IPhone, especially the 5S, and the 5C,
> it doesn't distort at all. I even put a TTS engine which has a really
> really loud voice, naturally, on the device, and though it was so loud that
> it was almost earsplitting, it wasn't distorted at all. Don't get me
> wrong, all the way up isn't deafening, nor earshatterring, but it is
> extremely loud. believe you me, you'll hear it! for those with the Nexus
> 7 tablets, either the 2012, or the 2013 models who've complained that the
> volume was really soft even all the way up, you won't have this issue with
> the Moto X, I promise! The Moto X goes about 3 and a half to 4 times
> louder than the Nexus 7 tablets. It is amazing! that's no exageration
> either on the amount calculation! I'm being dead seriously literal! You
> gotta hear it for yourself to appreciate it, but it's really good! And,
> not only this, but it's in full stereo! It's not even mono! In fact, I
> can't prove this, but somewhere, I read, though don't quote me on this,
> it's actually quadrophonic! I hear there are speakers in all 4 quadrant
> corners of the device. Again, that may not be true. I'm not totally
> sure. I'm only going there by what I've read online.
>
> Vibration Motor
>
> One thing I also noticed was that the vibration motor in the Moto X is
> wonderful! I'm not much of a fan of vibration, as I feel it normally feels
> too mooshy and just over all, kind of, ehh, to me. I dono, I can't explain
> it. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but something about vibration
> normally just gets on my nerves. I just don't like the buzzing effect in
> my hand. But then, I've never liked things buzzing in my hand. Creepy?
> Crawly? Firry? scratchy? LOL! Just kidding. No seriously, I just don't
> really care for it. This said, I found the vibration on the moto X is
> actually, somewhat tolerable! I dono, it just seems to feel more
> definite. I know, I'm just weird like that.
>
> The back facing camera
>
> You know... I've not had a chance yet to play any with the camera, front,
> or! back facing, so I really can't vouch for the quality quite yet, but I
> know the rear camera is 10 meggapixils, which should mean that it would be
> very very good. It would be interesting with something like Google
> Goggles, or the like, to see what it does, if anything. I've never had
> much luck with those apps on any Android device, so I can't really say. My
> milage may vary, and so may your's.
>
> The screen digitizer
>
> Unlike my Nexus 7 tablet, where sometimes gestures don't quite work, I've
> found that the digitizer in the Moto X doesn't seem to have this issue at
> all. All my gestures are seeming to register just fine. Now, this said, I
> did remap the up then right gesture for the local context menu, as for some
> weird reason, not only did this gesture not work out of the box on my Nexus
> 7, it's not working either on my Moto X. This may be a Talkback bug, as
> I've heard of some who can consistently get it to work without changing it,
> but I've heard of others like myself who try as they may, can't get it to
> work either. So, yeah, YMMV. Aside this though, it seems to work
> perfectly.
>
> Talkback's Two Circular context Menus
>
> I have found that the context menus in Talkback work a little bit better
> on my Nexus tab than on my Moto X. I don't think this is an issue of the
> phone or of Talkback though. It's probably just that on the phone, you
> have less screen real estate to work with than on the tablet, thus, the
> options going around the circle are smaller, and are a bit more smished
> closer together, thus, making it slightly harder to slide around and find
> the option you need. Being they're smaller, it also thus means that the
> circle is a bit more sensitive. The slightest little movement, and you'll
> move from one option to another. I'm finding that I gotta be really
> careful when I lift my finger, as if I'm not, I'll wind up lifting up on
> the wrong option.I kind a wish they'd make that screen where you gotta
> double tap to activate the option. I see their logic though of why they
> didn't do that. Why add more unnecessary gestures?
>
> The phone dialer
>
> I like the phone dialer a lot, however, one thing that is really taking me
> some getting used to is, on the keypad screen before you're in an active
> call, the numbers like, 1, 2, 3, are horizontally fine, however, going 1,
> 4, 7, star, or 2, 5, 8, 0: in other words, going virtically, are very very
> close together. They're smished really tightly on the screen. And, the
> fact that to dial, you basically do just like you do with your keyboard.
> You touch type the numbers. So in other words, you slide your finger to
> the number of your choice, then you lift your finger, and the number is
> pressed. I've found myself fat fingerring and dialing incorrectly quite
> often. Yeah, there's google Now, where I could voice dial, and I do use
> that sometimes, but I don't necessarily wanna use that as a crutch. You
> know what I mean? It's a tool/aide, not a servant, if you will. LOL! OK
> phone, go dial for me, bee och? LOL! Just kidding! I do! like that
> under settings>accessibility, I have the ability of making the lock/power
> side button be my hang up key. That is awesome!
>
> Typing on the beast
>
> Watch it! this is the only negative thing I'm probably gonna say. Typing
> on this thing is absolutely disgusting! I don't just dislike it, I flat
> out hate it! Even with the Nuance Google Swipe keyboard, it's terrible in
> my opinion! I find that the placement of the keys, regardless the keyboard
> of choice, makes it extremely! difficult to type. Now, I have fairly big
> hands, and decently big fingers, plus remember, in all fairness, I have
> mild cerebral pausy in both my hands, which causes my hands both to trimmer
> a bit. for this reason, it makes it more so difficult, as the ever ever!
> ever! so slightest bit of movement will result in either me sliding off the
> key I need, or will make me type the wrong character, or sometimes, at
> worst, both. I also don't like where they put the delete key. Both on the
> default google keyboard as well as on the Swype keyboard, it's near the
> bottom right side of the keyboard, instead of like on my tablet, where it's
> on the top most row of keys, on the far far righthand side. I know why
> they didn't put it there though. There would have been no room for it.
> the p, l, and delete keys on the far right side, as well as the q, a, and
> shift keys are so damn flushed, (parden my language,) with the edge rims of
> the phone that you literally almost have to use the sides of your finger
> tips to hit the letters. I mean, when I say they are flushed with the
> edge, I mean they are fee lushed! Frankly, it's enough to almost make me
> scream! I want to think positive, that I'll eventually get used to typing
> on this thing, but it's not looking very promising at the moment, I'll
> confess. I hope that I wind up eating crow, and am wrong in the long run.
>
> Proximity sinsor
>
> What can I say about this thing... Simply, put, amazing! Oh my god! This
> thing is simply gorgeous! the fact that I can wave my hand in front of the
> thing to silence speech? Oh man! that is nice! Keep in mind, for a lot of
> you, you're probably looking at me going, well, yeah? what's so cool about
> that! You've been able to do that since ancient of days! No? Not
> really! Keep in mind, I have a tablet. Tablets don't have proximity
> sinsors, so, I was left out in the cold as far as that went. Back in the
> days, I had an Android 2.2 phone, but that thing wouldn't do that natively
> with the sensor, and with the app to make it do it, it wasn't always very
> consistently reliable, so for most, this is old news, but for me, this is
> absolutely wonderful!
>
> Touchless Gestures
>
> You know... I see everyone's argument that you never know what audio is
> being transmitted and to where with this feature enabled. I have this
> concern too, bigtime. this is why I normally don't have it turned on.
> However, that being said, there is something nice about being able to wake
> up in the morning, not even yet roll out of bed, and just say: OK google
> now! Do I have voicemail? OK google Now! What time is it? OK google
> now! Do I have any missed calls? OK google now: turn on my ringer. OK
> google Now! turn off my alarm. OK google now: Text mom: Let me get
> dressed, and I'll be downstairs for breakfast in just a few minutes. Etc.
> All of this, not even once touching my phone physically. I also like that
> google has this feature disabled by default, and you always can opt out of
> using it at any time if you so choose, and doing so will not cause you down
> the road to have to retrain it, if you change your mind.
>
> Data usage
>
> This phone not only can do 3G/4G, but if you have coverage for it, it'll
> also do LTE, which is excellent!
>
> Conclusion
>
> I think that just about covers it. So over all, would I recommend this
> phone? Heck yeah! Darn straight I would! This phone is absolutely
> awesome! It comes with KitKat out of the box, no modding or rooting
> needed. If, you happen to get an older Moto X handset that has Jellybean
> on it after unboxing, though that now adays is unlikely, don't worry.
> There is indeed an over the air update, regardless your carrier in most
> cases, which will let you push it to KitKat 4.4.
>
> Chris.
>
>
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