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I have been debating buying a Moto X for some time. I keep missing the Dev edition before it sells out (twice now) and I have really been having a hard time with this. I'd like to know what your overall impressions are as well as your input on some various features.
For background, I'm currently using the G2, which I like very much, but the Touchless control, active notificaitons, Moto Connect, Trusted BT devices, and Moto assist features are a big draw for me.
So my questions:
How do you feel about the build quality (overall as well as any defects with your device)?
Do you like the screen? Anyone coming from a 1080p device feel that they are kind of missing out?
Touchless control - Do you use it and if so, do you find it useful?
Active notifications - Do you like this feature more than a dedicated LED? Do you find that you miss notifications or that the screen doesn't come on when you'd like?
Moto Connect - Anyone using this regularly? Does it work well?
Trusted BT Devices - Is anyone using this to bypass pin lock on a corporate account? If so, what device are you using (Pebble smartwatch, jawbone, etc) and how is it working for you?
Moto Assist - How is that feature working for you? Do you find it indespensible, or just nice to have?
Camera (post update) - Anyone with the camera update care to elaborate on how you feel about the X as a camera now?
I know that's a lot of questions. You don't have to answer them all. Just weigh in where you have input. I have read all the reviews and I'm trying to gather some real world commentary on these features and the device as a whole before I pull the trigger.
Thanks in advance to anyone who replies.
Build quality is excellent in my opinion. Coming from a HTC ONE I don't miss 1080p one bit especially with the gained battery life from a lower resolution screen. Motorola connect is my favorite feature so far. I've never had an issue with it. Active display is a game changer. Overall it's the best device I've used to date. You won't regret getting one.
Sent from my all black Moto X
capathy21 said:
Build quality is excellent in my opinion. Coming from a HTC ONE I don't miss 1080p one bit especially with the gained battery life from a lower resolution screen. Motorola connect is my favorite feature so far. I've never had an issue with it. Active display is a game changer. Overall it's the best device I've used to date. You won't regret getting one.
Sent from my all black Moto X
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Motorola connect a lot too and it is one of my favorite features. but for some reason it doesn't like my contacts and contact pictures. for most of my conversations it only shows the phone number. I don't know why. some of the contacts display picture and name. others just display the number.
1. perfect
2. cant tell the difference, like the video rendering better than what ive seen to date on any android
3. very useful, im doing all my texts and calling without using my hands
4. love this one, cant go back now to not having it
5. downloaded the chrome extension, great
6. not using this
7. use it for driving, plays pandora when i start driving without touching anything
8. happy now, happier in "very soon" as motorola stated today
9. dont wait, get it, its a GREAT phone
gammite said:
I use Motorola connect a lot too and it is one of my favorite features. but for some reason it doesn't like my contacts and contact pictures. for most of my conversations it only shows the phone number. I don't know why. some of the contacts display picture and name. others just display the number.
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Click to collapse
Mine used to show only numbers on most contacts and names on a few. The last few days it seems to have been corrected lately as I'm seeing all of my contact names. I did swap out my first x(white) for the black one and when I set up moto connect on the new one the contact names now show. Maybe if you delete and re add the chrome extension it would work? Just guessing though.
Sent from my all black Moto X
capathy21 said:
Mine used to show only numbers on most contacts and names on a few. The last few days it seems to have been corrected lately as I'm seeing all of my contact names. I did swap out my first x(white) for the black one and when I set up moto connect on the new one the contact names now show. Maybe if you delete and re add the chrome extension it would work? Just guessing though.
Sent from my all black Moto X
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Does Motorola Connect use much battery?
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - now Free
austriak said:
Does Motorola Connect use much battery?
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk - now Free
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Click to collapse
I don't believe it uses a lot of battery. It didn't on mine. I started using moto connect but it seems still in its beta stages. If you like moto connect I might suggest trying the mightytext app. They have been doing the text from computer stuff for a lot longer. I was using it previously and switched back to this until moto connect becomes more reliable. The contacts sometimes appear for some people. i had it both ways. Reinstalling at one point made them all appear. But I don't like the pop-out windows much.
Differences/similarities between connect and mightytext:
1. both use a chrome extension and have pop ups in the bottom right corner of your screen
2. MT pops up an individual conversation between you and the other person while I believe the connect just pulled a pop up of all of your text (this was one of my biggest issues)
3. MC lagged more with me when sending texts and then marking that it had sent texts in comparison to MT
4. MT has a webpage that has all of your text on it while MC does a pop out from the chrome extension button that when you click anything else not in the box it goes away. But you can click the pop out button there so MC will make a different window, but it seems to reload messages when it does this
5. Sometimes when viewing the texts from the chrome extension pop out and the actual pop out window in MC they didn't match
6. sometimes in MC it will show the text someone sent but not have loaded the ones I sent yet but it did eventually load. This happened especially when I sent the text manually from my phone as opposed to from my computer while using MC.
as for your other questions. I really think this phone might be a good buy because of its hardware. I feel like the development of touchless controls and other apps that may use the same hardware in the future could get huge. Other phones won't be able to do this because they don't have the low power processor. Also active notifications can become highly improved. Further there is an led light on the phone but I nor anywhere I have read has figured out how to utilize it if we decided we wanted the led light as well as active notifications. Also, the camera technology allowing better action shots isn't that great right now but it can be improved greatly over time. And finally, many of the areas that things can be improved on are more apps then big updates that will need to be released by google, so they will hopefully get to your phone faster, e.g., touchelss controls, active notifications, etc..
How do you feel about the build quality (overall as well as any defects with your device)?
Overall build quality is nice and the phone has a nice weight and feel to it.
Do you like the screen? Anyone coming from a 1080p device feel that they are kind of missing out?
Screen is fine, and more than adequate.
Touchless control - Do you use it and if so, do you find it useful?
I have only tested it but appears it could be useful
Active notifications - Do you like this feature more than a dedicated LED? Do you find that you miss notifications or that the screen doesn't come on when you'd like?
So far I like it but it is a little sensitive. Some additional controls would be nice.
Moto Connect - Anyone using this regularly? Does it work well?
On my list to test...
Trusted BT Devices - Is anyone using this to bypass pin lock on a corporate account? If so, what device are you using (Pebble smartwatch, jawbone, etc) and how is it working for you?
Trusted BT works well and is a nice feature.
Moto Assist - How is that feature working for you? Do you find it indespensible, or just nice to have?
Camera (post update) - Anyone with the camera update care to elaborate on how you feel about the X as a camera now?
Do not have the update yet.
Hi everyone,
I'm trying out a Moto X while my S4 is in the shop. Gosh I love the feel of the X... but I miss the large multicolor LED my old RAZR MAXX HD had, and even the S4 at least has a multicolor LED, albeit a small one.
A major thing I use the LEDs for is to flash a color based on what incoming emails or texts I've gotten. So, personal email account, flash blue. Family email account, flash purple. Text message, flash red. You get the point. The phone is often far enough away that I can see the light flashing, and the color tells me whether it's urgent enough to go get it.
I like the OLED active notification idea on the Moto X, but I haven't yet found out how to customize how it represents different types of emails from different accounts. Is there some app that lets users customize the color, flash rate, etc. of notifications based on what type of notification it is? I'd like to use different color icons or positions on the screen for the different email accounts, texts, etc..
What's the best way to do it?
Thanks!
Exactly on the same boat. Not missing the LED notifier of the S4 but yes the Active Display has basically no customization, nothing. I am confident that it is due to the lack of interest, not sure though. There is no way you can customize it, AFAIK. A future Xposed mod please?
I would love to have a timeout option, which you mentioned as flash rate, more than anything, the default six seconds is way too long, especially when I wake up at morning I see the phone with just one eye to check whether there is an unread notification or not, and no one likes to stare at something with lazy eyes
PS : If really needed then you can deactivate Active Display and use Dynamic Notification from Play, but needless to say that it will take a toll on the battery life.
Glad to hear I'm not alone in my interest in this! There must be an app out there...
I've used dynamic notification app before, but I think it uses lots of battery as you cautioned.
Sent from my XT1058 using Tapatalk
Im trying all kind of apps that send notifications but ac does not use it..
Tried tasker but still trying to get the hang of it too.
Sent from my XT1058 using XDA Free mobile app
I've never heard of anyone changing anything about active display. Sorry to say.
Disabling it, and using a similar play store app is one workaround. But that app wouldn't use the low voltage core like active display does....and your battery life would suffer greatly.
As @devilsdouble mentioned. The Moto X has one core dedicated to stuff like Active Display so the battery life has no hurt by using it.
In my personal opinion this is the way it should be. Just let you know what you receive, ,you can choose to open or dismiss. Everything else should be a lot.
Hey everyone,
I unlocked my boot loader, rooted, and flashed CM11 on my Moto X a couple days ago. I am only missing the Active Display feature from stock and wanted to replace it with something from the play store. I am running into a problem with both acDisplay and Dynamic Notifications apps. They both work when I get notifications, however do not work at all when set to "active mode". They should be using proximity and motion sensors to imitate how the Moto X normally operates. Does anyone know a way to get them to work similar to how they are "advertised" to work?
I'm sorry, I don't know the answer to your issue..
But I wanted to say, any app that mimics Active Display will take a great toll on your battery life. Active display is designed to use an extremely small amount of battery on the Moto X.... Any other app will not be so battery friendly.
This is why the majority of users stick to stock, with Xposed and Gravity Box for customization.... Or use stock based roms, that have the unique moto features in them.
i.Design said:
Hey everyone,
I unlocked my boot loader, rooted, and flashed CM11 on my Moto X a couple days ago. I am only missing the Active Display feature from stock and wanted to replace it with something from the play store. I am running into a problem with both acDisplay and Dynamic Notifications apps. They both work when I get notifications, however do not work at all when set to "active mode". They should be using proximity and motion sensors to imitate how the Moto X normally operates. Does anyone know a way to get them to work similar to how they are "advertised" to work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In not seeing where either of those apps claim to use the sensors in a similar way as stock active display. Where do you see that they are advertised to do so?
Edit: scratch that. I do see that acdisplay claims to use the sensors.... Not sure why it isn't working for you.
@KJ is correct that they will use much more battery than stock AD, which takes advantage of the low voltage components of the X.
So the finial version has come out. Im sure a lot of you guys have updated to it. Plus a lot of you have been using the Dev version along the way.
What are your guys thoughts?
I like the the new version but also there are still tons of things are are bugging the *poop* out of me.
I thought this was going to be "THE" version that appeased almost all android fans. Fixed a lot the issues since 2.3 while bringing a lot of new features.
1st the things i dont like.
1. Battery % WHY THE *heck* do we still not have an option to turn on a battery % next to the battery icon?????!!!!!!!
2. Hangouts picture (when syncing with FB) not always showing up bug is still present.
3. I like the new light colors with white and grey but why did they choose that color of teal. Im not super excited about that but i do like the white backgrounds.
4. Multitask menu. I dont like how EVERYTHING is in there. And why do we STILL NOT HAVE A CLEAR ALL
5. Google Now launcher. I like it and dont like it. Dont like how everything is so big and dont like how i cant have the middle space be my default. But Nova fixed that. Plus im rooted so i changed my DPI
6. Battery life. Ive only used it for 1 day (going on 1 day) but it seems my battery life is worse then on 4.4.4
7. Battery menu. Dont like anything about it.
Things i do like.
1. Material design (in most places) animations and universal layout for apps is nice.
2. Lockscreen notifications although i dont like how EVERYTHING is on there but im still messing with the menu for this feature.
Im still playing with it and im sure it will get better as apps update (what took them so long) but over all im kinda disappointed with the amount of hype 5.0 got.
Same here, like it but meh it's not there yet, hoping for apps updates etc. And my battery life is slightly worse too
I like it so far, but smart lock seems buggy as hell. I've got my Moto 360 set up as a trusted device, and even went so far as to set up face unlock, and still, I'm prompted for a passcode more often than not. There really needs to be a rescan option -- or, better yet, just make it work like it's supposed to.
Battery life seems worse for me too but I will give it another few days before really making that decision
Make sure you turn WiFi always scanning off. I am getting better than the Dev preview because of the fixed WiFi drain bug. I like it though.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
You cant know anything about battery one day after update, after update system still need some time to "sit on place" and its drains battery.
Where is material design music. Sadly it doesn't animate when I press the play button. I really like what was was shown in the demo .
jt3 said:
I like it so far, but smart lock seems buggy as hell. I've got my Moto 360 set up as a trusted device, and even went so far as to set up face unlock, and still, I'm prompted for a passcode more often than not. There really needs to be a rescan option -- or, better yet, just make it work like it's supposed to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have my moto 360 set up as a trusted device and I never need to unlock my phone. Only on reboot. rest of the time works perfectly.
Im not using face unlock though.
hmmm...
i don't like how you'not able to delete multiple contacts + separation of the phone numbers from the emails.
photos app gather all the jpg files that are in the sdcard which kinda sucks (dude, i don't need my album art in my photo gallery.) + you need Google+ enabled to be able to just look at the photos.
multitask is OMG.... really really nice effect but damn, is there any real need to "mark" every menu page i open? (oh, where's the "clear all" button?)
camera is ok but there is no 0.03 seconds of the new API. pictures are taken as slow as before.
material design is not bad but it shines on multiple layers only.
keyboard is really cool looking and although it'll take some time to get used to "button-less buttons" i do like it.
and battery, well, i can't say since it's only 1 day of use.
still, i think it's going to be ok (i still hate those wakelocks though... ) and last but not least, Chrome... i still miss "text wrapping" that's why i use Opera
all in all, i don't hate it, i'm not thrilled about it but i'm sure it'll "grow on me".
UI looks definitely great,performance and battery haven't improved, nor got worse. But it's too early to comment on that.
No toggle in quick settings to cycle through sound modes(sound/silent,vibrate), dafuq Google? I'm certainly missing Xposed.
very annoyed about the removal of the stock email app, i dont want to comingle gmail and my work stuff.
gjw00 said:
very annoyed about the removal of the stock email app, i dont want to comingle gmail and my work stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can DL the stock email app from the play store now
Really? I cant find it. Ended buying 'nine'
I really like having all my emails in gmail app. First day of use, I'm going to get 4hrs sot without messing with settings. It runs really smooth with hells kernel. I would like the pull downs yo have more options, but all in all, I'm happy.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
#sharath said:
UI looks definitely great,performance and battery haven't improved, nor got worse. But it's too early to comment on that.
No toggle in quick settings to cycle through sound modes(sound/silent,vibrate), dafuq Google? I'm certainly missing Xposed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's one of my main nits as well.
I've used Power Toggles for quite a while now. Short simple and to the point and it lets me toggle between sound vibrate or silent settings easily.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.painless.pc
Not my app but one I swear by.
not available in australia. jesus christ
jt3 said:
I like it so far, but smart lock seems buggy as hell. I've got my Moto 360 set up as a trusted device, and even went so far as to set up face unlock, and still, I'm prompted for a passcode more often than not. There really needs to be a rescan option -- or, better yet, just make it work like it's supposed to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had to enter my PIN once since I set up smart lock with my 360 and face yesterday. Works great!
You can't use the Photos app if you disable the Google+ app. So.... now I have to open the camera app and scroll through my pictures one by one to view them. Super!
I kinda don't like it.
1: The color scheme is not consistent throughout, which really irritates me. While you spend most of your time in a launcher (I use Nova pesonally) or in apps, some of those apps are system apps, and it seems like almost all of them have had color changes, they don't look good and don't even make sense.
2: Some of the features are cool, and even sound great...but they are commonly riddled with "omg, no way!" points of frustration. Smart-lock...would be AWESOME if it would just freaking work when connected to a specific wifi network! For example...in prior versions I had used tasker and secure settings to disable the lock screen and have a significantly longer screen timeout whenever I was connected to my home wifi. Tasker works just fine for the other things I use it for, such as reading my text messages outloud...but only when I'm connected to my home wifi or headphones. But the pin lock errors out, every single time. Root works, tasker and secure settings are configured exactly as they were before, and they both even have administrative rights. It still fails every time, and I get the toast message pop up. I wonder if it is because Google is worried that your neighbor might name their wifi network to the same as yours is, and have it be an open network so when they steal your phone they would automatically be able to get into it. If that is the case...well, that should be easy to fix, one make the service only work with password protected networks, and I'm also sure they could just only have it work when the network name is also reporting the same mac address. But I digress.
3: Lightflow. Ugh, enough said. You might say this is not a lollipop specific thing, but the guy posted an inquiry on this on the support thread since it was an complication with the new notification system, and they responded back saying they fixed it, and it has still not been pushed out by Google yet!
4: I find myself unable to quickly remove notifications from the lock screen and even when the phone is unlocked in some instances. For example, if I am copying lots of individual files over wifi from my computer, and there are multiple "copied" notifications as a result, the first few can be swiped away, but the rest can't! I have to click on them, and then close it. Kinda annoying.
5: One of the only reasons why I really wanted Lollipop were for the improvements to the lockscreen notifications. I envisioned being able to stop using dashclock entirely, and also having an all around easier time with notifications while the phone was locked. Nope! Sure, the basic functionality is good, I can read text messages without an app for it, and that's great...but I have to say I really miss having the unlock ability from just turning the phone on and swiping. Now I have to turn the phone on, press the padlock to get the phone to switch to the pattern lock, then do the pattern lock. That extra step is really quite annoying for me. I'd prefer to have the "extra step" be to SEE THE NOTIFICATIONS. You know, just like how it used to be with dashclock. (You would know you had a notification by the little icon right next to the time and you would swipe down from there to read them) Maybe I'm crazy, but I unlock my phone a lot more often than I have notifications to read. Especially since I can't get the pinlock automatic toggle to work when I am connected to my home wifi!
6: Most lock screen icons are blocked...and for good reason. But some of them are not. For example, in power toggles I have always used an icon that automatically makes a 14 minute timer, and another one for 29 minutes. I use this for my breaks at work of course. (The icon triggers a task in the "Trigger" app that does this) This works from the lockscreen...which sounds great because I can set that timer without having to unlock my phone...but it has also been deactivated by mistake when the phone was in my pocket. Ugh!
7: I don't like the "swipe down" from either the lock screen or from notifications bar option. A lot of this is because I am really used to using powertoggles for this, and this duplicates a lot of that functionality, but
I knew this was going to happen, I have been complaining about software "improvements" at work for the last year and a half. If something is working, don't break it!
---------- Post added at 09:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 PM ----------
svanheulen said:
You can't use the Photos app if you disable the Google+ app. So.... now I have to open the camera app and scroll through my pictures one by one to view them. Super!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check out Quickpic. I've been using it for ages, and it has always been amazing. It's super fast, very customizable...and just plain works!
gtg465x said:
I haven't had to enter my PIN once since I set up smart lock with my 360 and face yesterday. Works great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I've figured out the issue. I use "Gravity Screen" to shut my device down when I put it in my pocket. It seems that if Gravity Screen puts the device into standby, it also locks the screen in such a way that Smart Lock is disabled. Since that's normally how I shut off my device, I was seeing this almost every time. I'm hoping that the dev can fix this, because I'm really not used to touching my power button.
On another note. I wouldn't mind the email integration with Gmail, except that there's no way to label my various Exchange accounts. I have two separate Exchange accounts that I must monitor, and both simply show as a random-colored circle with a letter "J" (which is the first letter of each email address). I can't even change the color to something that would help distinguish the accounts. I just have to remember that random-color-J #1 equals one account, and random-color-J #2 equals another. It's very annoying. A combined inbox certainly wouldn't hurt, either.
I am close to pulling the trigger on the MotoX2. However, I have one lingering issue that I need help with. Because of a disability, Always On Voice Input (OK Google) is very important to me. However, I am concerned with reviewers who have characterized Moto Voice as a "hack" (sometimes unresponsive, inaccurate, and a delay when needing a "handoff" to Google Voice). One reviewer who tested OK Google with the MotoX2 and N6 described the MotoX2 as being 1.5 times slower than the "pure" Google Voice implementation on the N6.
Having now verified that disabling Moto Voice on the MotoX2 causes instant on (from screen off) to no longer function (even under Lollipop) has left me with a dilemma.
I NEED Always On OK Google, but really don't want the size of the N6. So, I'm looking for input from MotoX2 users who regularly use Always On OK Google.
In general, I want to know, have the reviewers exaggerated the problems with Moto Voice? In day to day use, is Moto Voice accurate/responsive/quick "enough" when "handoff is needed? In addition, do users feel that the other features provided (specifically by Moto Voice; not the other Moto added features) is a fair tradeoff for the inherent delay when Google Voice is needed (i.e. would you trade them for the "pure"/faster Google Voice?
Any and all inputs/impressions are greatly appreciated!
Sounds like what you've read and researched is fairly accurate. Moto Voice responds well when you're clear and direct. Don't mumble and you won't have a problem. The delay is due to the handoff to Google Search. However, you can use either Moto Voice or Google Now. Both work well. The Moto X is a fantastic device. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
As far as I know the delay comes from the hack that Moto had to implement to overcome the android limitations in the area of "always listen". Im not sure about it but my assumption is with lollipop it should be faster due to the fact that it's already built in into OS
Sent from my XT1092 using Tapatalk
I use Moto voice on daily basis. My day starts with "how's the weather today"
It is about 80% accurate, with my Indian accent. Considering that you have a better accent than i do you will be just fine.
That being said, you need to be in a fairly silent environment.
Does the delay bother me? Yes. Will it stop me from using moto voice? Heck no!
I integrated moto voice with commandr and tasker ad use about 20 tasks on regular basis so i am kind of addicted to moto voice. Apart from that i use moto voice for placing a call and texting, as a matter of fact it recognizes my friends' names(also indian) really well.
I would recommend you to go ahead and buy IF you believe you can use it a FAIRLY QUITE environment.
Thanks all for your inputs so far! Any further impressions will also be helpful!
@roaringcrown, I will be using it mostly from screen off, so I am tied to Moto Voice, as there is no support (even in Lollipop) for Always On with stock Google Voice.
@blinkin, it's my understanding that Moro Voice will still be required with Lollipop (for Always On), and hence, still the delay
@Prash8429, glad to hear it has decent accuracy even with your accent!
Thanks again to all. Looking forward to other impressions!
Moto X Voice Commands and Gesture on 3rd Party Home Launchers?
I have a quick question for user here on XDA. Can someone tell me if the 2014 Moto X Voice and Gesture command will continue to work from sleep/idle mode if I install a 3rd party home launcher? Or is this function specific to the stock launcher provided by Motorola on this phone? Thanks
twcamc said:
I have a quick question for user here on XDA. Can someone tell me if the 2014 Moto X Voice and Gesture command will continue to work from sleep/idle mode if I install a 3rd party home launcher? Or is this function specific to the stock launcher provided by Motorola on this phone? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had no issues with other launchers whatsoever.
Thanks for the update. I like the launcher I am using now and didnt want to have to stick with stock launcher just to use all the moto features...
imaginaryenemy said:
I have had no issues with other launchers whatsoever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using Nova Launcher Prime with no issues....