Moto X Style overseas
abdor other year, another Moto X. For 2015 things get really exciting with the Moto X Pure Edition
(Moto X Style overseas); it's a much more powerful phone than anything we've seen under the Moto X, G and E labels, and it's much bigger. The Moto X Pure Edition has a 5.7" QHD display, putting it squarely in phablet territory with the likes of the more expensive Samsung Galaxy Note 5, iPhone 6 Plus and theLG G4. Last year's X wasn't a high end phone in terms of processing power, but this time we get the 1.86 GHz Snapdragon 808 CPU with 3 gigs of RAM. While that might not be the very fastest CPU available, it's pretty darned quick and it's the same as in the LG G4. The price is still relatively tame, coming in much cheaper than the iPhone 6 Plus, Galaxy S6 Edge+ and Galaxy Note 5, but it's still considerably more than the run of well-made, inexpensive phones that have hit the market this year like the Asus ZenFone 2, OnePlus 2 and Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3. Still, you get a lot for your money and at $399 for the base model, you're spending several hundred dollars less than on a flagship.
Ah, but that $399 price tag probably isn't for the phone you want. Moto still tempts us with Moto Maker and the array of back materials, colors, accents and storage capacities that will raise the price tag. Our unit has a walnut wood back, champagne accents (you must buy the 32 or 64 gig to even qualify to buy champagne) and 32 gigs of storage for $475. Honestly, that's still much more affordable than several of the flagships, and you get a unique and pretty phone for the price. The base model has 16 gigs of storage and each storage increment adds another $50. Wood or metal backs add a reasonable $25 to the price. Other than the champagne sides + accents, other trim colors and front face colors (black or white) won't cost you more.
This Android smartphone has dual band WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.1 LE, NFC and a GPS. It has a 5MP front camera, rear 21MP camera and a microSD card slot. It's sold unlocked for use with any carrier (yes, one model works on all major US carriers).
Calling Big-Handed Folks
The Moto X first gen (we're on the 3rd gen now) won over a lot of people because it was manageable and comfortable in the hand. Each generation grew larger however thanks to the big phone craze and the second gen Moto X was 5.2", while today's model is 5.7". It's not particularly thin or light either, so you'll need a tight waistband, big pockets and sizeable hands to handle the Pure. I do have large hands and prefer large phones, so I'm fine with it, though I do find it a bit heavy banging against my thigh in a roomy front pocket. The phone is about the same size as the LG G4, Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and iPhone 6 Plus, though it's thicker than Apple and Samsung's offerings by a noticeable margin. The tapered sides do make it comfortable in hand and easier to hold onto compared to the wafer-like iPhone and slippery glass Galaxy phones.
New for the 2015 Moto X is a microSD card slot-- awesome! In fact, the phone will offer to move your media files to a card if you have one inserted. The card lives in a slide-in plastic carrier that also holds the nano SIM card at the top of the phone. This requires a particularly thin poke tool (included). Even a paperclip is too thick to eject the card holder. Why Moto, why? Many of us will misplace the tool, but paperclips are readily available.
The battery is sealed inside as with previous generations, and the front is covered in Gorilla Glass 3 with lovely side tapers. It looks and feels like a classy phone, at least with a wood or leather back. The plastic backs aren't too shabby either but they definitely aren't as chic despite the seemingly timeless Moto design and aluminum sides that have a little plastic too, which detracts and distracts from the design.
Unlocked Phone FTW!
The Moto X Pure Edition is one of the few phones that's unlocked and supports all four major carriers (and several smaller and regional carriers). Not many phones do both GSM as well as Sprint and Verizon's flavors of CDMA, and that puts the Moto X Pure in small but good company. Just pop in your AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint or Verizon SIM card and you're ready to go, with LTE 4G too. Of course you won't get some carrier specific features like WiFi calling or VoLTE, but you will be able to use the phone when travelling overseas with any SIM you like. You can switch carriers with no need to buy a new phone.
Motorola has always excelled at voice quality and reception, and the Moto X Pure Edition is no exception. Calls were clear and full on both ends with average call volume. Reception was a tiny bit better (-2 to -4 db) than several other current carrier phones. Data speeds were par for the course on the carriers we tested (the same as other high end phones).
IPS Display
Motorola, now owned by Lenovo and previously owned by Google, has entered the specs war full force when it comes to display size and resolution. This time we get a QHD 2560 x 1440 LCD. It has pleasing warm colors, better than average brightness and mediocre viewing angles. To bring the phone's price down, obviously Moto couldn't give us the best of everything. It's not as color saturated and contrasty as Samsung's Super AMOLED displays since it's not AMOLED (I know, duh), but some folks prefer more realistic like colors. It's not quite as vibrant and colorful as the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus either, but it looks very good compared to the LG G4 and HTC One M9. The M9 has a lower resolution display with distinctly average colors and the G4's display isn't as bright.
As with other Moto phones, we have Moto Display, a feature I really like. Just move the phone and the sleep screen wakes to show you notifications without having to unlock and turn on the phone. You can also use Motorola's voice command, or stick with Google Now.
Performance and Horsepower
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 with Adreno 418 graphics is no slouch. Yes, there's the Snapdragon 810, the latest generation Samsung Exynos CPUs and the Apple A9 that can beat it in benchmarks, but realistically, do you really need a super computer in your pocket? The nearly pure Android 5.1 OS and native speed of the 808 make for a very fast phone that handles multitasking nicely. It has 3 gigs of RAM and is available with 16, 32 or 64 gigs of storage. If you were to hesitate about buying a Moto X Pure Edition rather than a more expensive flagship, CPU concerns shouldn't be the reason.