Moto X 2nd generation review: This just got hardcore

In its new avatar, since late last year, Motorola has had us excited about every one of its devices. Starting with the amazing first generation of the Moto G, to the Moto360, and now the latest generation of Moto X, it has got us waiting eagerly for its devices. These devices haven’t disappointed us. Yes, they’ve had their little flaws, but they haven’t been big enough to say that Motorola’s new generation of smartphones are under-whelming.

But coming back to the new Moto X, we would like to point out that though the previous Moto X was quite brilliant for its price, it still wasn’t that big a deal to take on the flagships from HTC, Samsung or Sony. Now, with the new Moto X, things have changed – we at Technophile are at a point where we would recommend the Moto X for users who want everything that a flagship smartphone, sans any gimmicks, has to offer. And here are the reasons why.

One may argue that hiking the price of the Moto X by about ₹6,000 isn’t that good an idea, considering that the bulk of the smartphone market’s action hasgone down to the sub-₹15,000 segment. True as it may be, Motorola already has the Moto G there to take care of matters. The reason why the new Moto X is more expensive than the older one is because it is now bigger, and so much better in terms of build quality.

The first noticeable difference is that you’ll now find a 5.2-inch AMOLED display instead of a 4.7-inch one. It was time Motorola realised that this is the display size to tote if one has to go against HTC, Sony, LG and Samsung’s flagships. It’s overlaid with Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which falls smoothly over the curved edges. The front grilles have been cleverly raised and balanced in such a way that if you keep the phone flipped over on its fascia, the display wouldn’t actually come in contact with the surface on which it’s being kept.

But the thing that makes the new Moto X so much sexier than before is the fact that it now brings metal rims, a very thin bezel, and a curved back in a very classy design. There’s a cushioned leather back panel, which may wear out a little faster, but feels luxurious nonetheless. Who said that a very geeky phone couldn’t look this brilliant?

Speaking of geeky, we think that this phone is a must-have for everyone who loves the stock Android UI experience. Running on Android 4.4 KitKat, the new Moto X is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core chip that clocks in at 2.5GHz, and is complemented by 2GB of RAM. If you still haven’t seen it, these are specs on par with HTC One E8 and M8, Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z3. And the scores on Quadrant Standard Benchmark test proved it too – 21,900 points on an average.

The bigger display is just gorgeous – it’s bright, colourful, and the resolution has been pumped up to 1920x1080 pixels. The primary camera has been upgraded too – from 10MP to 13MP, now with a ring-type dual-LED flash. The camera’s quality is quite good, as it reproduces colours quite well and even in low-light conditions, it suppresses noise quite efficiently. The disappointing bit is that for such a good camera, there aren’t enough camera tools and features to play around with.

And that’s surprising because though the UI is all stock, Motorola has thrown in its own tweaks, such as Moto Voice, which works like Google Now, and helps you in opening apps, taking selfies and much more than Google Now. There’s also Moto Assist to help you silence your phone if you’re in a meeting or read out messages when you’re driving. There are gesture-based actions such as waving your hand over the phone to silence it, during an incoming call, or waving your hand over the locked screen to see the notifications.

The 2,300mAh Li-ion battery lasted for a full day on a single charge cycle, over mixed usage – the same pattern that we treat every smartphone with.

At this point, we can say that the Moto X is everything that the Nexus 5 couldn’t be. It’s a pure performance-oriented smartphone, but it also runs all day. It’s got some features thrown in by the makers, but nothing that we wouldn’t want to use. Everything about this phone is just practical. Sure, we did miss an expandable memory slot, and considering that the 32GB variant is still not to be seen on Flipkart, it is a slight downer. But if you’re a Cloud person, this wouldn’t matter much.

So is this the best smartphone to own right now? That depends on whether you like stock Android, or a customised UI. If it’s the former, then yes – the Moto X is the best Android smartphone that you can buy, with flagship specs and only a little more expensive than most mid-range smartphones.

If it’s the latter, then you should go for the HTC One E8 – identical specs and pricing, but also offers you dual-SIM compatibility, expandable memory and a brilliant 5MP front camera as well.

₹31,999 onwards

Love – Stunning performance; sturdy build and sexy design

Hate – No expandable memory; Spartan camera features