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Motorola Announces the New Moto X
- aftbit 12y agoGreat, another 5.2 inch phone like everyone else.
- swimfar 12y agoIt is disappointing that there aren't many small high-end smartphones. Obviously it's more difficult to pack the latest technology in a smaller package. But it seems like it's a market much less flooded than the 5+ inch size phones. Maybe someday companies will start marketing "ultra-phones".
- gone35 12y agoI hope so. I'm old enough to remember the time when smaller meant better, and miniaturization was a sign of progress (Hell, to me the first iPhone, for all its wonders, seemed at the time way too big). Maybe one day people will re-discover the appeal of the candybar and slim-flip form factors, who knows.
- freehunter 12y agoSmaller means better when the thing is big for no conceivable reason. It's not a universal truth. Smaller was better with phones for a long time because the phone was much larger than a the screen, and it didn't need to be. Now, the phone is the screen. And with screens, bigger has always been better. TVs keep getting larger, as well as desktop monitors. Whether it's for functionality or for status, bigger is better for a lot of things. Phones were the odd duck because the screens were tiny back then.
- gone35 12y agoGood point about screen sizes in general, but perhaps you miss the main appeal of small portable devices (aside from aesthetics alone): portability! And it matters too for portable screens: otherwise 5" palm pilots, extra-large tablets, or 19" laptops would have been the norm, don't you think?
- roye 12y agothe Xperia Z3 Compact looks like a nice option for a hand sized phone: http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/3/6097817/the-xperia-z3-compact-is-sonys-true-new-flagship-phone http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/3/6097817/the-xperia-z3-compa... And no, I don't work for Sony.
- kelnos 12y agoI find it ridiculous that 4.6" is considered "compact". I clicked the link hoping for something around 4".
- 4ad 12y agoEven bigger phone, just great. Edit: there are 7 comments now, and all complained about the bigger size. That means something, doesn't it?
- wastedhours 12y agoIt means that 7 people here have an issue with the size.
- omonra 12y agoPut me down as the 8th. My take is that 100% of advanced users have a problem.
- bad_user 12y agoOh, I don't know - I like browsing the web on my phone and I started feeling that my Nexus is too small. I'm seriously thinking of getting a phoneblet next.
- nl 12y agoI'd self classify as an advanced user and I prefer a larger phone. I have average sized hands too.
- nl 12y agoWow. I know complaining about downvotes is stupid, but still. How could I possibly deserve a downvote for that? Does that mean that you disagree with my self classification? That you don't think I have average sized hands? That you don't like that someone has a different opinion to you? That you accidentally pressed the downvote? I'm assuming it is that.
- vidarh 12y agoI've increased phone size with every upgrade the last 3-4 times. My latest phone is a 5.5", and I might very well go for a 6" next time. The thing is I rarely use my phone for calls, and the 5"-6" range with a full hd display compares sufficiently well to a "public transport friendly" tablet - which would be 7" to at most 8" for me, because it needs to be nice to hold with one hand, and possible to slip into a pocket. If I do need to make calls when I'm out, I use a headset most of the time, because I'm usually listening to music anyway. If I'm not out I can usually comfortably sit down and the size doesn't matter. As for being an "advanced user", last office christmas party I logged in to our servers via ssh from my phone to apply a fix to our monitoring system - I like to consider myself an advanced user...
- khc 12y agoI broke my nexus 5 AND my old nexus 4 in the span of 4 days while traveling in Hong Kong. I am seriously considering getting this when I return to the US later this month. The only thing that bothers me now is that the nexus 5 is already a little big, and this is even bigger (4.95" vs 5.2"). Unfortunately my hands don't grow as fast as phones anymore. I wonder if this is something I can get use to though, since everyone in Asia is using giant phones, and I did feel the nexus 4 a little small for the 4 days I was using it again.
- allegory 12y agoNot sure I can keep hold of something that big to be honest without dropping it and smashing it. I think a 4.5 - 4.7 is about my limit.
- DCKing 12y agoObserving the sameish discussions over the years, that size limit preference you are talking about seems to be steadily rising. I'd hypothesize that if you analyzed tweets and comments about screen sizes, the ideal screen size per year would look something like this: 2011: 4.0 inch 2012: 4.3 inch 2013: 4.5 inch 2014: 4.8 inch 2015: 5.0 inch (projected) 2016: (median size for high end phones in 2015) Eventually we'll get to something that is the most practical in use. I think 4.7 inch is pretty good, but of course I'm biased towards my current phone, and I'll probably update my preference with my next phone.
- coldpie 12y agoI have a Moto X at 4.7 inches and it's a little too big for comfort. It's usable, and you do get used to the size, but I can't reach the top of the screen from every hand position. The HTC Incredible 4G I used to have, at 4 inches, remains my ideal screen size. Unfortunately, that means I have to compromise on performance, since there are now no reasonably-sized high end phones.
- josephlord 12y ago> now no reasonably-sized high end phones. Running Android. From next Tuesday you may be completely right though.
- DCKing 12y ago> I can't reach the top of the screen from every hand position. Well, I think that is not a self-evident bad thing. As a result of Android and Windows Phone design guidelines, by far the most interactions happen on the bottom half of the screen. I think that as long as you can reach the notification bar, there's a pretty good argument to be made that the additional screen estate is more beneficial. Furthermore, just because you're used to it on your current phone should not necessarily imply that you need it on your next. That is a line of reasoning I'm also seeing a lot, but that just sounds like people being conservative to me. It's a fine preference to have, but such a slightly different way of using a new phone may not always be a bad thing either. I'm not arguing that bigger screens are better, but I don't think that there are clear objective constraints to screen size. You could even wonder why people think one-handed usability is important at all.
- eloisant 12y agoThat sucks, the Moto X was the only high-end Android of a reasonable size. So what's left for someone who wants an Android with good specs, not too big, and not tainted by manufacturer poop?
- ximi 12y agoI'd look to Sony's compact series. They seem to go for small-ish displays without compromising on specs (see both the already released Z1 as well as the upcoming Z3)
- gcb4 12y agoi looked. it fits the bill on size only. but on the usa they cost too much. are not easy to flash custom roms and are full of boat on the factory one.
- fpgeek 12y agoUnlike other manufacturers, the international editions of Sony phones have all of the HSPA+ and LTE bands to work well on AT&T and T-Mobile and these days you can get back the extra upfront cost of buying an unlocked phone with monthly savings. International unlocked phones also generally qualify for Sony's boot loader unlock program. And you often can even get a good deal from a SE Asian gray market exporter.
- lucian1900 12y agoI'm quite happy with my Nexus 4.
- eloisant 12y agoand me with my Moto X, but if/when it becomes too old or breaks, I'm not sure what my options will be.
- izacus 12y agoHonestly, pretty much only small good phone right now seems to be Z3 Compact.
- sliken 12y agoSigh, another disposable phone with the planned obsolesce due to kick in at around 700 charges. You'd think if they bothered to let you have a dozen designer backplates they might got the extra mile and let you change the battery.
- izacus 12y agoOr you can just bring it to a service station and have it replaced in 45 minutes after three years or so.
- Kudos 12y agoAre you sure the battery isn't serviceable?
- gcb4 12y agoyes. also the parent poster is wrong about replaceable backing. they are not. you can choose between a dozen designs when buying only. and that's it. oh and only on the non developer edition, which is awful. the developer edition only came in the worst combination ever (white back, black front). they really go the extra mile to annoy customers. a true Google company.
- blisterpeanuts 12y agoI just read the iFixIt article on changing a Moto X (current model) battery. It requires 25 steps and 5 specialty tools such as a spudger, a T3 torx screwdriver, micro sim extractor, etc. You have to heat the back to weaken the adhesive. It's hard to imagine a service center doing all this manual work at a fee low enough to make it worthwhile. I'd like a phone where you can pop out the battery in 2 seconds, like a typical point-and-shoot camera can. For that matter, I want a memory slot as per a camera. I can live with an extra couple of mm of thickness and have a less-sexy handset in exchange for vastly expanded longevity and capacity. Am I in such a tiny minority?
- vidarh 12y agoBuy mid range phones from Aliexpress or similar. My latest phone was about $250 - a Kingzone K1 -, and is an octa-core MTK based phone (so per core performance is not stellar, but more than good enough unless you're doing heavy 3D stuff), 2GB RAM, 16GB flash, SD card slot, 5.5" 1080p IPS display. Pretty much all of these phones are thin (7mm or so for my current one), decent to great build quality (my current one has a metal back plate), and easily replaceable battery. Most of them also have dual SIM slots. There are some things to look out for, like bad sellers and models with poor GPS (MTK phones are notorious for that - my current model works great). The increased risks and increased hassle if having to deal with returns is more than compensated for by the prices. I'm pretty much expecting to replace my phone up to once a year on average at that price. In practice, my 3 last phones have all been good quality and I've had few problems (GPS being the only issue...)
- chrisblackwell 12y agoI'm glad to see the bump up to 1080p. I know some people don't care of think it matters, but I would just love this to be standard. It would make things a lot easier on Developers to have only a few different resolutions to worry about.
- higherpurpose 12y agoShame that some are already moving to a new resolution - 1440p - isn't it? And next year, some will adopt 4k in smartphones. Why would they do that, it doesn't matter. What matters is that they will.
- eli 12y agoIs Google still planning to release a new Nexus phone later this year?
- torgoguys 12y agoI'm an existing Moto X user. I guess I'm in the minority here. I like it in spite of its small size, not because of it. The bigger screen on the new model is a good thing, IMO. I can still one-hand most everything and the only thing I need to reach the top left corner for can usually be accomplished with a swipe from the left. Better resolution, more screen real estate, still manageable size. What's not to love? (If you've got small hands, I feel for ya, but just buy something else. Don't hate on Moto for appealing to the larger market preference.)
- kelnos 12y agoIf you've got small hands, I feel for ya, but just buy something else. You mean... normal hands? I have fairly average-sized hands (as determined by the highly scientific method of having compared hand sizes with many friends over the years), and the Nexus 4 with its 4.7" screen is uncomfortably large. I can reach the top left corner with my right thumb, but I always feel like I'm going to drop the phone when I do it.
- torgoguys 12y agoYou chopped off my next sentence which was the point of my post. Anyway, I just did a run around the office and with a sample of 12, I'm tentatively concluding that I have average-size adult male hands. The way I hold my MotoX, I can hit the top left if I have to. (Again--I wonder how often people actually have to, assuming they know to left swipe for the most common use case.) Investigating more--without realizing it until now, the way I hold the phone I actually adjust my grip on it to hit the far bottom left. I even adjust my grip slightly for the back button. It's still a one handed thing. You train yourself, withing limits, to adjust as needed. (I'm left-handed. Perhaps I should start complaining that no one designs a UI for us.) It's still very usuable and it's not a big sacrifice if you appreciate a bigger screen, like most people apparently do. If people didn't like bigger screens, manufacturers wouldn't be steadily bumping sizes up. I assume the market (i.e., actual sales) will correct the error when they go too big.
- kelnos 12y ago