New Moto devices announced 7/28/15

[npaladin-2000]

Is it cheaper because of it?
Yep.

Try using it in your car with polarized sunglasses on, and then let me know if it was worth saving $25 on the purchase price.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Wait... "TFT LCD" on the Pure/Style!? (G and Play don't specify, so still AMOLED?)

There's already a freakout thread on /r/Android about this.

Honestly I think it's overrated. Android 5.0 onward is WHITE WHITE WHITE. When Holo died so did a lot of the AMOLED benefit. I get that AMOLED saves battery (debatably, I think it was kinda bogus) for notifications, but in 2015 those should be handled by your smartwatch anyway.

I am very very interested in the X Pure 2015. If the 2015 Nexus is a dud this will be my phone when they do that Black Friday sale they do every year.

 

[s44]

in 2015 those should be handled by your smartwatch anyway

Hah, no.

Anyway, the freakout isn't entirely LCD vs. AMOLED, but that it doesn't specify IPS. *Usually* "TFT LCD" means TN.

 

[kpkp]

Hah, no.

Anyway, the freakout isn't entirely LCD vs. AMOLED, but that it doesn't specify IPS. *Usually* "TFT LCD" means TN.

I think people are reading to much into it, Anandtech mentions IPS, let's wait until someone confirms or denies it.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Hah, no.

Anyway, the freakout isn't entirely LCD vs. AMOLED, but that it doesn't specify IPS. *Usually* "TFT LCD" means TN.

OMG TN would be product suicide. I don't think anyone has tried TN in mobile since the Tegra 2 era. We view our devices from too many angles, TN just doesn't work.

That would be depressing.

 

[Anubis]

, but in 2015 those should be handled by your smartwatch anyway.
.

 

[s44]

I don't think anyone has tried TN in mobile since the Tegra 2 era.

Would you believe Sony's Xperia Z1?

Nice touch with her wearing the thing on her wrist.

 

[poofyhairguy]

You joke, but the battery life fix for most devices is Android Wear. Something like a Nexus 5 has a completely acceptable battery life if it gets to sleep most of the day because your watch is the notification triage center. My Wear device completely undid the removable battery complaint for me.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Would you believe Sony's Xperia Z1?

Wow. Just wow is all I can say.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Would you believe Sony's Xperia Z1?

Nice touch with her wearing the thing on her wrist.

Its not TN. Thats a VA panel. With that said viewing angle is often overblown. I think it won't come as a huge issue to most users.

 

[lothar]

Liveblog here:
http://www.androidcentral.com/motorola-2015-launch-event-liveblog

I'll edit to add all the specs.

Moto G:
2470 mAh battery, 5" 720p display, Snapdragon 410 (boooo)
Nexus 6 rear camera sensor (no OIS), 5mp front camera, IPX7 water resistance
$180 for 8gb storage/1gb RAM version, $220 for 16gb storage/2gb RAM

Moto X Play:
3630mAh, 5.5" 1080p, Snapdragon 615, 2gb RAM
21mp f/2.0 camera, some super-fast charging thing
"$300-400 less" than other devices (apparently $300), launches later

Moto X Style:
3000mAh, 5.7" QHD, Snapdragon 808, 3gb RAM
21mp camera (same one?), super-fast charging
"$200-300 less" (apparently $400)
Pure Edition that works on all US carriers

All have microSD.

SnapDragon 808 on a 5.7" QHD LCD screen? And less battery than on the midrange version to boot? Absolutely ridiculous.
SnapDragon 808 on a 5.0-5.2" FHD(preferrably) or QHD screen with 3630mAh or even 3000mAh would have been better to see.

The specs on the Moto X style is highly disappointing...Reminiscent of the LG G3 (QHD on SnapDragon 801, meh battery, meh screen, etc...)
Hopefully LG won't disappoint with the Nexus.

 

[lothar]

...for notifications, but in 2015 those should be handled by your smartwatch anyway.

Not sure if serious...

I am very very interested in the X Pure 2015. If the 2015 Nexus is a dud this will be my phone when they do that Black Friday sale they do every year.

I don't see how the X Pure 2015 would be better than either of the rumored Nexus versions.
The Huawei Nexus has a higher end SnapDragon 820 processor with nearly the same screen size range to appeal to the large hands people.

The LG Nexus will have the same SnapDragon 808 processor with a 5.0-5.2" FHD or QHD screen leading to better battery life performance and also appeals to the small hands people.

Given that Moto only equipped X Style Pure Edition with 3000mAh battery, that shouldn't be hard for Google to beat.

 

[luv2liv]

moto G 8gb has microSD slot and waterproof for $180! im sold!
did anyone try ordering? if i order today, when will it arrive? i've been spoiled by Prime 🙁

 

[soulcougher73]

How does the new Moto G compare to first gen Moto X?

 

[s44]

Weaker processor, same RAM (16gb G only: 8 has less), larger screen, heavier, better camera, expandable storage.

 

[Bman123]

I'm more excited about these moto phones then the one plus two.

I do have a question tho. Will the moto pure edition have wifi calling if I use it on tmobile?

I ask this because I'm on Verizon noe and my signal is great. I've had t mobile before and the signal in my house sucked but it was great everywhere else. I'd be willing to jump ship and use the moto on tmobile of the wifi calling worked

 

[darkswordsman17]

I really like what they did here although will have to see on the display. Losing OLED would suck somewhat. Other than that I really like the decisions here. 808 is a better option than the 810. Focusing on the cameras I think is the right decision. Of course I think they made other great decisions. Having a single pure version is something I wish all Android OEMs would do. And they've maintained a good design, add back microSD support, and improve quality slightly while getting back to $399.

Ars said the Play isn't coming to the US? That's a bummer as I actually think it might be a better phone for most people, and hitting $300 is a major sweetspot (being around half of flagship phones but not being as compromised as budge devices like even the $200 G). If the camera is anywhere close to as good as the higher end on is supposed to be then it'll be tough to beat, while the higher end one does offer some things to make it worth $100 more. But then something in between that offered the Play's display and battery with what the Style offers would be about my ideal device.

Especially this year trying to push specs is just a horrible idea, much better to focus on tangible aspects and I think Moto did that big time.

moto G 8gb has microSD slot and waterproof for $180! im sold!
did anyone try ordering? if i order today, when will it arrive? i've been spoiled by Prime 🙁

Or for $30 extra get double the RAM and storage, meaning you'll probably be able to use the phone for quite a bit longer (and potentially saving yourself a lot more than $30 by doing so). Definitely makes it attractive, although with the Lumia 640 already hitting sub $100 I'm not sure the extra is worth it unless you need the app selection.

 

[RossMAN]

Just ordered my wife's Moto G (2GB RAM/16GB/microSD) for $219.99 with free shipping, should be here around August 5th.

I wonder how much of a difference she'll notice from her Moto G 1st gen?

 

[lothar]

I really like what they did here although will have to see on the display. Losing OLED would suck somewhat. Other than that I really like the decisions here. 808 is a better option than the 810. Focusing on the cameras I think is the right decision. Of course I think they made other great decisions. Having a single pure version is something I wish all Android OEMs would do. And they've maintained a good design, add back microSD support, and improve quality slightly while getting back to $399.

Ars said the Play isn't coming to the US? That's a bummer as I actually think it might be a better phone for most people, and hitting $300 is a major sweetspot (being around half of flagship phones but not being as compromised as budge devices like even the $200 G). If the camera is anywhere close to as good as the higher end on is supposed to be then it'll be tough to beat, while the higher end one does offer some things to make it worth $100 more. But then something in between that offered the Play's display and battery with what the Style offers would be about my ideal device.

Especially this year trying to push specs is just a horrible idea, much better to focus on tangible aspects and I think Moto did that big time.

They could have downgraded the screen of the Pure Edition and put the same 3630mAh battery from their midrange version.

I don't think many people would mind seeing a 5.0-5.2" FHD screen...or even a 5.0-5.2" QHD one. No need to chase penis screen size.
So much for Moto not "pushing" specs.

This person on Anandtech put their comment more elegantly than I could.

"Following the trend of larger screen sizes, it seems Motorola has taken this trend to its logical conclusion by cramming a 5.7” display into the phone"

Two sentences in, already lost all interest. Motorola either doesn't understand what made the original Moto X so popular, or simply doesn't care and for whatever reason wants to pursue a completely different audience.

 

[soccerballtux]

worried about the 2GB RAM. I want 3 bare minimum now. So tired of fighting with android over silly application killing when I had 750MB free.

OTOH that might be a kernel thing, and I did change the OOM priorities and it got better...but it's still wasting 300MB...hm...

 

[s44]

I don't think many people would mind seeing a 5.0-5.2" FHD screen...or even a 5.0-5.2" QHD one. No need to chase penis screen size.
So much for Moto not "pushing" specs.

Someone on reddit noted that Moto has literally been increasing screen size by half an inch every year:
2013 - 4.7"
2014 - 5.2"
2015 - 5.7"

So... 6.2" next year?

 

[saratoga172]

Man if only they made this in the same size as the original Moto X I'd be ordering one right now. Just have no interest in a device larger than 4.7. That's really pushing it for me too. 4.3-4.5 is my sweet spot. I've said it for the past 3 years and I'll keep saying it.

 

[darkswordsman17]

They could have downgraded the screen of the Pure Edition and put the same 3630mAh battery from their midrange version.

I don't think many people would mind seeing a 5.0-5.2" FHD screen...or even a 5.0-5.2" QHD one. No need to chase penis screen size.
So much for Moto not "pushing" specs.

This person on Anandtech put their comment more elegantly than I could.

Personally for me, there is a tangible benefit to a larger and higher res display. You might not think so, and that's fine but to me it's not just chasing specs. We'll see if they compromised the quality of the display to offer QHD in which case I'd agree they did that on the display. It is entirely possible they felt they had to offer that on their high end device just to compete (since it seems like all the other high end devices are doing that). To me the bigger issue is the move from OLED.

You say there's no need but the market seems to be saying otherwise. And that is what it boils down to. Moto wants to position the X as a flagship device and so they chose to focus on the two areas that I think actually matter the most to average consumers: display and camera. Plus, Moto has a carefully tailored lineup, and basically had to decide, and they seem to feel that QHD and larger display are what should define their higher end model this time.

Plus that was kinda the point of having the Play version although why they're kinda screwing US customers by not offering it I don't know, but very clearly that was the point of it. They basically had to offer something over the Play version to justify the extra cost. If you want a smaller 1080p display and larger battery, then find a way to get the Play.

I don't see how this isn't doing exactly what they did with the Moto X (they're offering high, basically flagship level hardware with stock Android for a good price). The market has just plain moved on from smaller devices.

 

[dawheat]

Personally for me, there is a tangible benefit to a larger and higher res display. You might not think so, and that's fine but to me it's not just chasing specs. We'll see if they compromised the quality of the display to offer QHD in which case I'd agree they did that on the display. It is entirely possible they felt they had to offer that on their high end device just to compete (since it seems like all the other high end devices are doing that). To me the bigger issue is the move from OLED.

You say there's no need but the market seems to be saying otherwise. And that is what it boils down to. Moto wants to position the X as a flagship device and so they chose to focus on the two areas that I think actually matter the most to average consumers: display and camera. Plus, Moto has a carefully tailored lineup, and basically had to decide, and they seem to feel that QHD and larger display are what should define their higher end model this time.

Plus that was kinda the point of having the Play version although why they're kinda screwing US customers by not offering it I don't know, but very clearly that was the point of it. They basically had to offer something over the Play version to justify the extra cost. If you want a smaller 1080p display and larger battery, then find a way to get the Play.

I don't see how this isn't doing exactly what they did with the Moto X (they're offering high, basically flagship level hardware with stock Android for a good price). The market has just plain moved on from smaller devices.

Screen and camera may be flagship level (though probably not best in market if the camera is at the note 4 level), but everything else is last year flagship level (battery, soc, memory) for a phone in this size.

It's a very high midrange phone at midrange prices.

 

[kpkp]

The thing is that $600+ flagships don't offer much more to the average consumer (that wants a solid phone) than a $250-350 mid-range phone does.

According to quite some surveys battery life is what matters most to the majority. That's why I think the X Play has a solid balance, if next year variant gets a 618 (or something similar) and some more work on the camera it will be a great device for the phablet craving masses.
Hopefully they will also realize that a smaller version would be a good idea. I really wonder where do OEMs get this idea that the global market demands huge phones, there are some pockets in Asia for sure but otherwise...?