5 ms·

I hoped it is based on the X8 architecture, but is just "normal". So it makes not sense to compare it with Moto X, is a different phone, different target, is no

by ccozan 13y ago

I hoped it is based on the X8 architecture, but is just "normal". So it makes not sense to compare it with Moto X, is a different phone, different target, is no "little brother", more like a distant "poor cousin".

melling 13y ago
I don't follow Android that closely. How is the performance of this phone? Cheap phones like this will help get Android into the hands of another billion people. It's probably more important to have a more recent version of Android than the fastest CPU.
- Touche 13y ago
  It's quad core. Looks like an excellent phone for the price. Interesting that Motorola is one-uping the Nexus to some degree here (the Nexus is closer to being a flagship, but this is significantly cheaper). This might be my next. What's for sure is I'm never buying another $600 phone again.
  - a3n 13y ago
    I'll never buy one of those again either, subsidized or not. One reason beyond the cost is being at the mercy of the telco for upgrades. So, unlocked, is this thing jail-breakable/cyanogenmodable or similar? What's a reasonable expectation for how many years I could keep it security upgraded?
    - soperj 13y ago
      You don't need to be unlocked any more to install CyanogenMod, for most popular phones. http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/CyanogenMod_Installer#Supported_Devices http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/CyanogenMod_Installer#Supporte...
    - just_bytecode 13y ago
      The Motorola blog says that the phone will have an unlockable bootloader (in the U.S) which means you should be able to install custom ROMs.
    - evilmushroom 13y ago
      I really enjoy my $399 32gb Nexus 5. I couldn't be happier. But yeah, $600-900... never again.
  - Negativemeat 13y ago
    It's quad core cortex A7 @1.2 Ghz, that's not even in the same league as the 2 year old Galaxy Nexus (dual cortex A9 @ 1.2). This is in no way comparable to any modern flagship smartphone performance wise.
- pwnna 13y ago
  This is similarly spec'ed to a Nexus 4. A little bit worse, actually, but not by much. This is probably still too expensive for another billion people. I think the most recent version of android is the most important part. really.
  - noir_lord 13y ago
    It's considerably worse than an N4, N4 has 2Gb RAM, Quad Core 1.5Ghz. It's closer to the 2012 N7 Quad 1.3/1Gb RAM. Still a hell of a lot of phone/screen for the money.
- noir_lord 13y ago
  This in the same league as the first generation N7 (very roughly) which is a hell of a lot of hardware for 200 bucks. If this had been around when I bought my N4 I would have been very tempted (as I just want something that is a decent mobile web browser, I don't really use Apps at all).
  - bsimpson 13y ago
    Chrome runs like crap in 1GB RAM. The keyboard frequently gets garbage collected while I'm typing on it, and the whole thing can crash if I rotate the screen. That's running on a stock Galaxy Nexus.
    - CrazedGeek 13y ago
      That might just be a GNex issue. I don't have any issues with Chrome on my phone (which is slightly faster than the GNex but has the same amount of RAM).
    - blinkingled 13y ago
      You might want to factory reset - after all those incremental upgrades it can be worthwhile. My wife's GNex is on 4.3 stock and it had some lag before I reset it via a fresh burn of 4.3 factory image. Chrome runs better than acceptably on it. (Or are you on < 4.3 - in that case root and download/run LagFix free app to force TRIM. Pre 4.3 it makes a difference.)
- ccozan 13y ago
  It is not about a faster processor, but the architecture, X8 in this case. This is what makes the Moto X very interesting, like the always on and some other quirks. I agree that a cheap performant phone is what is quite revolutionary. Google/Motorola does it right.
- MetaCosm 13y ago
  Not sure how the new OS performance is -- but all the requirements were significantly lowered as they push for cheaper & faster phones.
Zigurd 13y ago
I would claim that "flagship" Android smartphones are an unsustainable business model. At first, Android needed faster phones that it was getting from OEMs, but they went way overboard. Samsung soaks up a lot of that excess horsepower with bloatware. Here is a $200 phone with 4(!!!) cores and a very robust GPU. Even that is probably a bit more than neccessary. Android 4.4 got some performance tuning. Once ART is the default VM for typical OEM builds, it should be even less apparent why you need a monster CPU chip. The only thing a thumping CPU gives you is the ability to ignore what your bad apps and OEM bloatware are doing to performance longer than otherwise. Disable the boatware and clear out the sketchy apps you don't use and that Tegra 3 is just fine.
- VladRussian2 13y ago
  >The only thing a thumping CPU gives you is the ability to ignore what your bad apps and OEM bloatware are doing to performance longer than otherwise. Disable the boatware and clear out the sketchy apps you don't use and that Tegra 3 is just fine. didn't work during previous 20+ years of PC era.

by ccozan 13y ago

melling 13y ago

I don't follow Android that closely. How is the performance of this phone? Cheap phones like this will help get Android into the hands of another billion people. It's probably more important to have a more recent version of Android than the fastest CPU.

Touche 13y ago
It's quad core. Looks like an excellent phone for the price. Interesting that Motorola is one-uping the Nexus to some degree here (the Nexus is closer to being a flagship, but this is significantly cheaper). This might be my next. What's for sure is I'm never buying another $600 phone again.
- a3n 13y ago
  I'll never buy one of those again either, subsidized or not. One reason beyond the cost is being at the mercy of the telco for upgrades. So, unlocked, is this thing jail-breakable/cyanogenmodable or similar? What's a reasonable expectation for how many years I could keep it security upgraded?
  - soperj 13y ago
    You don't need to be unlocked any more to install CyanogenMod, for most popular phones. http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/CyanogenMod_Installer#Supported_Devices http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/CyanogenMod_Installer#Supporte...
  - just_bytecode 13y ago
    The Motorola blog says that the phone will have an unlockable bootloader (in the U.S) which means you should be able to install custom ROMs.
  - evilmushroom 13y ago
    I really enjoy my $399 32gb Nexus 5. I couldn't be happier. But yeah, $600-900... never again.
- Negativemeat 13y ago
  It's quad core cortex A7 @1.2 Ghz, that's not even in the same league as the 2 year old Galaxy Nexus (dual cortex A9 @ 1.2). This is in no way comparable to any modern flagship smartphone performance wise.
pwnna 13y ago
This is similarly spec'ed to a Nexus 4. A little bit worse, actually, but not by much. This is probably still too expensive for another billion people. I think the most recent version of android is the most important part. really.
- noir_lord 13y ago
  It's considerably worse than an N4, N4 has 2Gb RAM, Quad Core 1.5Ghz. It's closer to the 2012 N7 Quad 1.3/1Gb RAM. Still a hell of a lot of phone/screen for the money.
noir_lord 13y ago
This in the same league as the first generation N7 (very roughly) which is a hell of a lot of hardware for 200 bucks. If this had been around when I bought my N4 I would have been very tempted (as I just want something that is a decent mobile web browser, I don't really use Apps at all).
- bsimpson 13y ago
  Chrome runs like crap in 1GB RAM. The keyboard frequently gets garbage collected while I'm typing on it, and the whole thing can crash if I rotate the screen. That's running on a stock Galaxy Nexus.
  - CrazedGeek 13y ago
    That might just be a GNex issue. I don't have any issues with Chrome on my phone (which is slightly faster than the GNex but has the same amount of RAM).
  - blinkingled 13y ago
    You might want to factory reset - after all those incremental upgrades it can be worthwhile. My wife's GNex is on 4.3 stock and it had some lag before I reset it via a fresh burn of 4.3 factory image. Chrome runs better than acceptably on it. (Or are you on < 4.3 - in that case root and download/run LagFix free app to force TRIM. Pre 4.3 it makes a difference.)
ccozan 13y ago
It is not about a faster processor, but the architecture, X8 in this case. This is what makes the Moto X very interesting, like the always on and some other quirks. I agree that a cheap performant phone is what is quite revolutionary. Google/Motorola does it right.
MetaCosm 13y ago
Not sure how the new OS performance is -- but all the requirements were significantly lowered as they push for cheaper & faster phones.

Zigurd 13y ago

I would claim that "flagship" Android smartphones are an unsustainable business model. At first, Android needed faster phones that it was getting from OEMs, but they went way overboard. Samsung soaks up a lot of that excess horsepower with bloatware. Here is a $200 phone with 4(!!!) cores and a very robust GPU. Even that is probably a bit more than neccessary. Android 4.4 got some performance tuning. Once ART is the default VM for typical OEM builds, it should be even less apparent why you need a monster CPU chip. The only thing a thumping CPU gives you is the ability to ignore what your bad apps and OEM bloatware are doing to performance longer than otherwise. Disable the boatware and clear out the sketchy apps you don't use and that Tegra 3 is just fine.

VladRussian2 13y ago
>The only thing a thumping CPU gives you is the ability to ignore what your bad apps and OEM bloatware are doing to performance longer than otherwise. Disable the boatware and clear out the sketchy apps you don't use and that Tegra 3 is just fine. didn't work during previous 20+ years of PC era.