With the end of September looming and new iPhones on store shelves, you’d be forgiven for thinking the year’s biggest phones have all been released. But for me, the year isn’t complete until I’ve tested the new Moto X.
I had one in my hands earlier this week and, despite reviewing dozens of phones this year, it won me over straight away. The new design is elegant and ergonomic, the HD AMOLED screen is sharp with rich colours. I like the chunky steel rim around the camera lens on the model with the wooden back, and the dimple where you finger rests comfortably while holding the phone in use.
Motorola will release two design variants when the Moto X hits electronics stores in late October, the handset with aforementioned wooden back, and a more inconspicuous black model with a matte rubber-like plastic finish. Both look and feel great, but this wouldn’t be enough to have me raving.
Enhancements in voice-activated control are the real showstopper. Last year’s phone could be woken from standby with the command ‘OK Google’ and you could request information about incoming messages, or tap into Google Now search. This year, you can launch apps with voice, and control some of their functions, all hands-free. In a demo I saw, a Motorola spokesperson launched YouTube from a locked phone sitting on a desk and then requested a video with a complex title, and he didn’t touch the phone.
Oh, and you don’t have to use to the stock ‘OK Google’ command anymore. You’re free to choose something more personal, or more amusing.
I’m yet to confirm whether this functionality extends to third-party apps, like being able to search Spotify for new music while driving, but either way it is an impressive innovation. This is key to what I find most exciting about these voice commands; innovation. Motorola isn’t just making its phones bigger and faster, though the new Moto X is both, but instead it is trying to figure out how features in a smartphone can make our lives easier
This may sounds like a small, inconsequential feature to get excited about, but it is an example of of something new in phones that you may use all the time. For as great as barometers and fingerprint scanners sound in advertising, they are not things that I find will make using a phone any easier or more fun.
Unfortunately, Aussie telcos don’t see things the same way, so don’t expect to see the Moto X available on telco contracts any time soon. This is a shame, especially when you consider the asking price for one of the stylish wooden handsets is hundreds of dollars cheaper than a new iPhone or Galaxy Note 4 (based on US pricing). This in turn would mean it could be cheaper per month on a plan.
Moto 360
During the same show-and-tell session with Motorola I finally strapped a Moto 360 smartwatch on to my hairy wrist. The models I saw were running demo software, so I couldn’t control the watch in action, but I did get a good sense of how it would feel to wear from day to day.
I was initially surprised at how big the body of the 360 is. Not the watch face necessarily, but the thickness of the entire circular section. Standing 11.5mm high, it is seems awkwardly tall at first glance. But it didn’t take long for me to warm to both how it looks and feels, and with the leather strap, it is comfy and not too heavy in the slightest.
The real test, of course, in in the use, and I’m still not convinced that the functionality of the 360, or any smartwatch, is enough to convince me to wear anything on my wrist again. But if there’s a watch with a chance, it’s the Moto 360.
Joseph Hanlon
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