[vi-android] Re: Motorola X Review
- From: David Mehler <dave.mehler@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: vi-android@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 15:14:54 -0500
hello,
I'm also looking at a phone replacement. I'm also thinking of the two
phones mentioned previously, the Moto X or the Nexus 5. To those I'll
add the Lg G2 and I'd also appreciate any experiences with any of
these phones.
Thanks.
Dave.
On 1/24/14, michael's mail boxl <michaelandjeanie@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I only had mine nexus 7 for aboutt 4 months and the sound out speeker is
> good but head phones to soft to hear if a TV is going in the room.And I got
>
> the 2012 model cheap from Harvynormand.
> Cheers.
>
> From: Christopher gilland
> Sent: Saturday, January 25, 2014 1:34 PM
> To: vi-android@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [vi-android] Re: Motorola X Review
>
> 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
> 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
> 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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