Andre Yoskowitz
5 Sep 2014 23:44
Motorola introduced the second-generation Moto X today, a powerful refresh to their popular flagship device.
The company has updated the specs, moving the device to a 1080p 5.2-inch AMOLED display, and slimming down the design to just 144 grams.
Powering the smartphone is a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5GHz, a 578MHz Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM. Base models have 16GB internal storage, and Motorola has added Gorilla Glass protection, and a "splash guard" water-repellent coating.
Like its predecessor, the Moto X will run on almost stock Android 4.4 (to be quickly upgraded to Android Lemon Meringue Pie), with Motorola adding a few of their own features, all of which are well received. The company kept their Migration tool to help you bring over your old contacts, texts and data. Moto Actions, Moto Display and Moto Assist are back and each are extremely helpful. Moto Actions uses new IR sensors which allow you to, for example, snooze your alarm by waving your hand over it. Tapping and swiping to use gestures are the same, as well. Moto Display is a specialized home page that shows three notifications, allowing you to get a quick preview of each. Moto Voice also takes custom phrases, taking voice control to a new level. "Take a selfie" opens the front-facing camera, "Play YouTube" launches the YouTube app, etc, etc. Very cool.
The Moto X will sell across the globe later this month for $99 on-contract and $499 unlocked. In the U.S., you can customize your Moto X with hundreds of different colors, tones, and back plates.