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The $179 Moto G hits the US early
- IgorPartola 13y agoNot necessarily a surprise: holiday shopping is days away, and anyone looking to upgrade ought to consider the Moto G.
- dublinben 13y agoNot too many people get pre-paid smart phones. The plan choices are pretty thin on the GSM side. You've basically got T-Mobile or Straight Talk, depending on the network coverage in your area.
- mseebach 13y agoChicken and egg problem. There are no (few) pre-paid data plans because there were no (few) contract-less phones. Now one end of the equation seems to be loosening up, the other can be expected to follow.
- bruceb 13y agoThere are actually more pre-paid plans than post paid plans. Not as well advertised of course but of the top of my head: Ptel, Straight Talk, Virgin, Boost, Revol, Metro, H20, Page Plus
- jeffasinger 13y agoAT&T also has an option, called AIO Wireless. There are many other smaller players that are either T-Mobile or ATT MVNOs.
- dublinben 13y agoThe AIO Smart plan is $10 more per month than a better plan from Straight Talk (on the same network).
- what_ever 13y ago$5 in most places as tax is included in AIO. Also, does Straight Talk offer LTE as well? I think AIO comes with LTE. I also liked AIO's $70 plan as Straight Talk is limited to 2.5GB of 4G data on the unlimited plan. (I use Straight Talk but was thinking about getting Nexus 5 which comes with LTE)
- pa5tabear 13y agoYes, people on r/nexus5 are saying they got LTE activated without much issue. I'm planning to switch to ST when my AT&T contract expires.
- pkulak 13y agoAnd GoPhone. There's plenty to choose from.
- jrockway 13y agoT-Mobile's prepaid plans are pretty wonderful, though. If you have infinite money and need 50Mbps wireless access anywhere in the US, then of course you get Verizon. But if you just want a phone that works in major cities, then T-Mobile can't be beat. (I've used both, and I did love my unlimited data on Verizon through my employer. But T-mobile is half the cost and just as good for how I use my phone.)
- shirtbot 13y agoI think they might be shooting themselves in the foot - I mean what's the consumer benefit of upgrading to Moto X?
- drzaiusapelord 13y agoLTE and better screen are two most obvious. I cant imagine buying a non-LTE phone today. I currently have the HSPA N4 and after playin with a couple LTE phones, its almost night and day. It feel more like I'm on wifi than a cellular wan. HSPA in Chicago barely gets me 5mbps with lots of latency and this weird 2-5 second lag where the request is made but no data is sent. LTE's responsiveness, even if its at the same 5mbps bandwidth, is something of game changer. With the nexus 5 at $350 right now, not sure why I would bother with either.
- w1ntermute 13y agoThis device isn't even primarily targeted at the US or other developed economies. Its intended for price-sensitive consumers in developing nations where LTE isn't even available.
- drzaiusapelord 13y agoThe GP was asking about the Moto X and why one would pick the cheaper phone. My comment is a reply to that. Yes, in a country that is a decade away from LTE its a good fit. But in the West? Might as well spring for the X or the N5.
- icebraining 13y agoWell, I live in a developed nation with LTE, yet I barely use mobile internet, since Wifi is essentially everywhere in urban zones.
- puzzlingcaptcha 13y agoIn France to take advantage of LTE I'd have to double the price of my subscription. The difference between HSPA+ and LTE is not worth that much for me.
- bruceb 13y agoGood news for all the GSM based MVNOs. Being able to offer a phone sub $200 that is not quite cutting edge but near enough for most people give even more reason to skip contracts.
- programminggeek 13y ago$179 no contract android phone that doesn't suck is going to be very tempting, especially now that Straight Talk, Net 10, Virgin Mobile, etc. are starting to gain in popularity in the US.
- wsxcde 13y agoVirgin Mobile sucks. I've been on their network for about 2.5 years now. Coverage is poor and data speed is terrible. The only good thing is that it's cheap but it seems like T-Mobile is cheaper and better. Also, one other thing - their customer service told me that I wouldn't be able to use an unlocked Nexus 4 on their network - so make sure your phone is usable with them before buying one. I myself am planning to get myself either a N5 or a MotoG and switch to T-Mobile.
- mkaziz 13y agoI'm a Virgin user, and I testify that it is cheap and has terrible 3G speed. I'm excited to upgrade to the Moto G.
- csmatt 13y agoBoth my parents were on virgin mobile and my mom couldn't stand it. Dropped calls, text messages that were never received, and there were a lot of dead zones. I switched my plan on t-mobile to a family plan and brought them on. They've been really happy with it so far.
- dopamean 13y agoI'm a long time tmobile customer currently on a prepaid plan. I love it and tell anyone who will listen to switch if they live in a good coverage area.
- gcb0 13y agoyeah, if they live in a covered area and do not have expectancy of walking around with their phones. spoken from experience... i'm still enduring it out of longer term view (hope?) but it is though.
- blisterpeanuts 13y agoFrom the article: "Neither the Moto G nor Moto X are sold in China, a result of the Chinese government's ban on Google services, which flow into its phones." I don't understand this statement. All Android phones can have Google services; just add your google account in the settings. Is this feature disabled on Chinese Android phones? It seems like China would be a natural market for such an inexpensive handset from a well known maker.
- bsimpson 13y agoI don't know the Chinese market, but I do know that there are Chinese forks of Android that swap Google search out for local competitors. A quick Google search shows Baidu, Tencent, Alibaba all have Android forks. Then again, MIUI is popular there, and I think that retains Google Search compatibility, so there Google ban seems to be more nuanced. Perhaps it's simply that Google-owned companies don't do business in China proper because they don't want to data-share with the Chinese government, so Motorola can't formerly enter that market (and Chinese Android phones use Hong Kong datacenters).
- forgotAgain 13y agoI read it as the Chinese government has banned Google services. Since Google phones have the services baked in the phones are also banned.
- Touche 13y agoAndroid phones in China use a fork of AOSP which doesn't have Google services.
- tjbiddle 13y agoWow, incredible price point. Well done, Motorola. I'm perfectly happy with my Nexus4, but I almost want to buy a Moto G just because.
- Pxtl 13y agoGod dammit, just once I thought we Canadians won. When I first heard the news - Brazil, Canada, etc. not US? I was happy to hear we'd be getting it first. Now? Now it's $200 freaking dollars to get a locked Moto G from Koodo while the Americans get the proper price unlocked. Why do you hate Canada, Google?
- enscr 13y agoMarketing & publicity plays a huge role. Google doesn't push Nexus brands that well outside US. Not sure how they'll handle Moto. At the price point, it simply blows away phones that cost upto $500. But, Google/Motorola needs to do a better job in educating people that they are getting almost everything (especially in markets that lack 4G service). There's little reason to look at other brands even if you are willing to spend twice as much.
- gcb0 13y agoHear Hear: google just entered the subsided device game! just like microsoft tried to kill competition by taking a loss on xbox. google via the acquired motorola mobility is probably taking a loss to sell you a 720p screen phone with NO SD CARD. the info site tells you in 7 different places that you get 50GB of free google drive. google wants your data pretty bad.
- intrazoo 13y agoIt seems logical that they would want your data, but: 50gb is pretty much free for them (storage gets cheaper over time, for one) and maybe a good selling point, no sd card makes file system easier and phones thinner, and in addition to wanting all your data, they would want to have android users have the nice automatic expedience of having all their music in one place on all devices, for example. Want your users to have great simple experience. You want this for business reasons, and I am not saying they are not also data hungry.
- yapcguy 13y agoTrue but for any discerning techie, root it and you can have nandroid/titanium backups, pushed to the cloud, or pulled via wireless adb, or even bittorrent sync (in lieu of an open-source solution for now). The Moto-G is nice except for the lack of LTE and micro-SD. Meanwhile the $150 Galaxy Light has both LTE and micro-SD but a low res screen. Trade-offs hmmm....
- gcb0 13y agonot having a SD card nowadays is crazy. Ask ANYONE who has the galaxy nexus S (maybe i have the wrong model... the only nexus without SD slot) you can't install swype, firefox, google voice and skype on the same phone! and that is a 2 year old model.
- techsupporter 13y agoI have a Samsung Galaxy Nexus (which has no SD card slot) with Swype, Firefox, Google Voice, and Skype all installed on my phone. According to the Storage page, I have 7.92GB of space left, out of 13.33GB total available, after my apps, some music, and pictures.
- breakyerself 13y agoI'd jump on this if it was LTE. I'm grandfathered into an unlimited plan on verizon. I'm going to have to buy a phone outright to keep that going, but I'm addicted to 4G. I've had it for 3 years and I can't go back. Hopefully a revised edition isn't too far out.
- skeletonjelly 13y agoAFAIK LTE brings added licensing costs (and requires a different chip) so it might not be as cheap if it does appear
- selectodude 13y agoEven if it had LTE, it lacks CDMA voice.
- w1ntermute 13y agoCheck out the transfer upgrade trick. I used it to keep my grandfathered unlimited data plan on Verizon while getting a new phone at the subsidized price a month or two ago.
- bruceb 13y agoI wonder if Republic Wireless will get on this since they offer the Moto X for $300 which they subsidize a bit. Seem that Moto G is better fit for them as they are going for the lower end of the market.
- jere 13y agoAgreed. Republic really raises the bar on cheap plans. Though I'm kind of pissed that they went from a super low end phone (with a 3 year old OS) as their only offering, the Defy, to a moderately high end phone, the Moto X. Not to mention the the plans are cheaper for the expensive phone. I was an idiot and bought the cheap phone before I realized the Moto X was coming out.
- MichaelGG 13y agoIsn't Republic Wireless a Sprint MVNO? So they'd need to wait for the CDMA version, right?
- lazyant 13y ago$200 in Canada
- Pxtl 13y agoAnd I assume it's locked to Koodo.
- wffurr 13y agoSpec for US GSM model doesn't list 2100 band, which makes the 1700 band kind of useless. It's only needed for T-Mobile HSPA+ which is on 1700/2100 or 1900/2100 if you're in a re-farmed area. I'm hoping that's an error, because otherwise this phone will be limited to 2G speeds on T-Mobile.
- pkulak 13y agoI thought T-Mobile was quickly moving LTE to AWS (1700/2100) and HSPA+ to PCS (1900)? That would mean that this phone would work as fast as possible in any "re-farmed" area, which I think is most of them at this point.
- wffurr 13y agoThey are, and the international version of the Moto G will have HSPA+ in refarmed areas, and EDGE service elsewhere. My Motorola Razr i has the same band support as the international Moto G, and I get HSPA+ in a lot of places in Boston but not all. Whereas my wife's penta-band Galaxy Nexus gets HSPA+ everywhere. What's confusing is that the US GSM version has the 1700 band, but not the 2100 band, and T-Mobile to my knowledge requires 1700/2100 (everywhere) or 1900/2100 (areas that have been refarmed for iPhone support).
- yapcguy 13y agoI think you're right but it's confusing as to what exactly is happening and the effect on devices... https://support.t-mobile.com/thread/39361?start=0&tstart=0 https://support.t-mobile.com/thread/39361?start=0&tstart=0
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- maxsilver 13y ago> otherwise this phone will be limited to 2G speeds on T-Mobile. I'm not sure what your reading, perhaps it's been changed. T-Mobile HSPA+ is fully supported on both bands on the US GSM Moto G phone, according to the spec sheet on their website at http://www.motorola.com/us/consumers/moto-g/Moto-G/moto-g-pdp-ways-to-buy.html http://www.motorola.com/us/consumers/moto-g/Moto-G/moto-g-pd... (It explicitly mentions PCS 1900 support, so AT&T HSPA+ and new T-Mobile HSPA+ works, and it explicitly mentions AWS 1700/(2100) support, so old T-Mobile HSPA+, Wind, Mobilicity, ect will also work)
- untog 13y agoIf you're looking for an even cheaper backup phone, take a look at the Nokia Lumia 520 - recently cut in price from $99 to $69 off-contract: http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-Lumia-520-GoPhone-AT/dp/B00E45043A/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1385492519&sr=8-2&keywords=nokia+520 http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-Lumia-520-GoPhone-AT/dp/B00E4504... Yes, I know it's Windows Phone but it's staggeringly cheap for a perfectly good phone.
- Touche 13y agoIt's definitely a big step down from a Moto G though. A Moto G could have been a flagship-level phone a year and a half ago...
- untog 13y agoOh, for sure. But it's still a very capable phone - my point was more that if the price is your number one concern then there are cheaper-still options. I'm tempted to buy one just to have around as a backup / to play with Windows Phone.
- blinkingled 13y agoIsn't that thing locked to AT&T - the Moto G is unlocked.
- yareally 13y agoT-Mobile sells it as well around the same price (I bought one to have a Win8 developer phone). I know if you use 6 months of prepaid service with them, you can unlock it afterwards without issue.
- dublinben 13y ago>Windows Phone >perfectly good phone You've lost me here.
- lotso 13y agoHave you used Windows Phone or do you just Microsoft bash?
- mrbill 13y agoBought one just to have as a spare/beater/toy-around phone, even though I just went from a N4 to an N5. This price point is what the US has been needing.
- seniorsassycat 13y agoI've never owned a smartphone before and I'm currently on an AT&T plan with no data. Could I use a Moto G?
- znowi 13y agoFinally, a flagship-worthy phone that lasts for a day! I think there's a major discrepancy between performance and battery abilities in the current flagship market. Specs are being beefed up with little care for power consumption. Moto G cuts the crap and gives us a full day experience on a quite capable hardware with great screen. I'll take two.
- drill_sarge 13y agoHuawei makes pretty good (Android) phones in that price range too, if you spend ~250 you get a "high end" (spec wise) one. From what I can tell, their build quality is good too.
- chintan39 13y agoI feel Moto G will look like an outdated phone in an year.