Motorola Moto X

I have had this phone for eight to nine months, bought it after a nightmarish software experience with Galaxy S4 I9500. Initially I loved the phone, even with mediocre hardware it was clear than stock Android is so much lightweight and smooth than any skinned Android. Every day tasks were smooth and fluid, the software was stable as hell, very minimal lags for day to day tasks. Call quality was simple excellent. But then I started to get annoyed by its below average and very inconsistent camera performance, especially under daylight. The colours were just way too over-saturated, unreal! Anyway, I knew that the camera would be not good, so that's no biggie. But the biggest disappointment for me was its display. No, it was not the over blown colours of the first gen Samsung AMOLED panel, but it was the quality of the panel itself. I could, even with my naked eyes, clearly spot vertical/horizontal (don't remember!) lines on the display, I thought at first that I was seeing it wrong, some kind of placebo, but no, those lines were very real, I was shocked, stunned, that a phone in 2014 could have that much of a poor display. That thing was the main reason for me to ultimately sell it. It was no way for me an adjustment I could simply make. And finally, there was this yellowish tint on the white back cover too, it just appeared from nowhere, no, my hands are not oily, nor it was dust, but it must had something to do with the back material's connection with the humidity of air, don't know, whatever it was it was bad.

All in all, a phone which really impressed me software wise, but its hardware, especially the display, and the below average material and camera was just too much and definitely not a phone for me. In fact now when I see the new Moto X phones it still scares me to think whether these new phones have same kind of display or not, I am sure they don't, but the nightmare I had, well only I could feel it.

Got mine on November 2014, a year after its debut. Almost another year is passed and the phone is still nowhere near 'outdated'. Android 5.1.1 officially released by Motorola, that shows respect to the costumer.

Here is my overview:
- Poor camera, as in EVERY Motorola so far;
- Excellent call quality (but could be louder);
- Exceptional speed and responsiveness;
- Excellent experience on gaming;
- Excellent build, size and format;
- Acceptable speakers quality;
- Good (but not exceptional) battery;
- Amazing AMOLED screen with saturated, vibrant colors and the deepest black you can get;
- Active display, wrist twist and voice commands are more useful than it looks. Definitely a nice touch.

I highly recommend it, for any kind of user.
Only annoying issue to me is the storage capacity, once I have the 16gb model (32gb wasn't available I'm my country)

Let me get this out of the way at the very start, my review is based off my honest experience with the phone after a year and a half experience, I expect that it will be read by people who want to reference the long term user experience of Motorola devices to determine whether or not to purchase a newer model, and not so much by people who want to buy the 2013 model I've reviewing.

Let me start by saying that this is not a perfect phone, it falls short in some areas like the photo quality of the camera, and some aspects of the phone have begun to become less impressive over time, but this is the very first phone I've ever owned that has convinced me to stay with the brand and buy the updated model. The device is incredibly well balanced from a hardware perspective. It was criticized when it was initially released for having less than impressive specs, but the phone stood its own and performed on par with higher end, more expensive models released by the competition. This is due in part by highly customized chip-set and a near stock Android experience.

The customized software developed by Motorola is what really made the Moto X stand out and made it a more attractive alternative than even the Nexus line. Using the "OK Google" command, you could activate the phone's microphone without any physical interaction, even if the device's display is powered off, then give commands like call or text a specific contact, set reminders, perform a google search, I've found this feature fun to show off, but it really became relevant in the car as a way to interact with my phone without breaking laws or risking a crash. The device also has settings to silence itself when your Google calendar says you're busy, incredibly useful when you have your work schedule listed. It will announce incoming calls or texts and will answer/read/reply for you. You can also silence itself between specified hours so when a drunk co-worker calls you at 2:00 AM to ask your opinion on a model TV, it'll make sure you're not disturbed unless it's a contact you've authorized to call after the specified hours. (True story by the way) Then there's the gesture you can make with the twisting of your wrist that'll launch your camera no matter if you have your device locked or unlocked. It's a very simple and intuitive way to quickly access the camera feature on your device that doesn't actually require any additional steps. Lastly there's Moto display, which lights up icons on your sleeping AMOLED display to show notifications of missed calls, new texts, emails, or other app notifications and using only the pixels needed to display the icon providing a more informative notification than the standard LED light while preserving the battery.

It's these features that really make for a stellar user experience. They're implemented in a fashion that feels like it's part of the OS and it actually improves the way people interact with their smartphone, making it smarter phone than most.