Motorola announcement today...guesses?

[Red Storm]

So I took the Moto 360 off the charger at around 6am this morning, and at around 12pm I was at 75% battery life. I got 8 email notifications, and 6 hangout notifications that I replied to with the watch. Also did the usual weather and commute checks in the morning. My phone would normally be at around 80-85% by that time, but today I was at 97%.

I would like to see how long it would go, but I got a buyer who wants the watch and is willing to pay $375 for it, so it's now reset and powered off. I'm gonna miss this thing, but I want the metal band so I'm willing to wait.

 

[dlock13]

So I took the Moto 360 off the charger at around 6am this morning, and at around 12pm I was at 75% battery life. I got 8 email notifications, and 6 hangout notifications that I replied to with the watch. Also did the usual weather and commute checks in the morning. My phone would normally be at around 80-85% by that time, but today I was at 97%.

I would like to see how long it would go, but I got a buyer who wants the watch and is willing to pay $375 for it, so it's now reset and powered off. I'm gonna miss this thing, but I want the metal band so I'm willing to wait.

That is a nice profit. Good job.

I need to get another Android phone before I can even dream of getting this watch.

 

[bigben2wardpitt]

I know the Moto X camera may not be the best, but it has to be better than the HTC One, Right?

I'm still deciding between the moto, htc, and lg g3. The G3 just seems too big for me, otherwise I'd go to it.

I like what moto has done with this phone. Not worried about the battery or SD card. 32 GB is plenty for me. Camera is one worry.

 

[Red Storm]

I know the Moto X camera may not be the best, but it has to be better than the HTC One, Right?

I'm still deciding between the moto, htc, and lg g3. The G3 just seems too big for me, otherwise I'd go to it.

I like what moto has done with this phone. Not worried about the battery or SD card. 32 GB is plenty for me. Camera is one worry.

FYI the G3 and the HTC One M8 are the same height, the G3 is a tiny bit wider though.

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/size#/phones/size/LG-G3,HTC-One-M8/phones/8347,8242

 

[sze5003]

Verizon will sell the Moto 360 with a metal band on November 11th
http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/08/verizon-selling-metal-moto-360-nov-11/?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000595

 

[GoodRevrnd]

As a Verizon customer, I'm trying to weigh the new Moto X versus the SGS5 (and to a lesser extent the LGG3). Seems like the Samsung has slightly beefier hardware (not enough to matter to me), same or slightly better display (?), slightly better camera, removable SD card. The Moto X is smaller (most attractive aspect to me) and has less shitty software, but the reality is I'd root either one which would give the S5 the current advantage since who knows how long until the Moto's bootloader is unlocked, especially since removing Verizon bloatware is a top priority for any phone. I'm also really concerned about the Moto X's small battery. Whatever phone works best as a world phone (being on VZW) would probably be nice too.

Typing this out makes the Sammy seem like the obvious choice but I feel like I'm missing some considerations here and I just have the impression Samsung is on an obnoxious downward spiral. I honestly wanted the LG G3 but the massive size was a disappointment and the battery life w/ the over-resolution screen was the nail in the coffin.

 

[bigben2wardpitt]

yea, stats wise the battery is small on the moto, but the old moto x had an impressive 8 hours of life, and that was on a small battery! It of course depends what you are coming from. Im coming from a small battery on my iphone, that works great out of the box, but after a year or so, is awful for me.

I hate Samsung. Even rooted, I'd rather have a much more basic and clean system, like the Moto X. Samsung's phones feel cheap in my hands, and I hate the size, shape, and feel of them. They also keep teasing moving to their own OS, which just seems disastrous. The Moto X will likely be one of the first phones to get Android L, which I also like: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/08/the-state-of-android-updates-whos-fast-whos-slow-and-why/

I also like Moto Assist, Display, and Voice, even if they aren't 100% unique, they are really nice.

I think the camera is better on the samsung. But as much as I've worried about cameras, the new Moto is good enough for me. It beat or is about the same as the closest rival for me, the HTC One.

 

[bigben2wardpitt]

FYI the G3 and the HTC One M8 are the same height, the G3 is a tiny bit wider though.

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/size#/phones/size/LG-G3,HTC-One-M8/phones/8347,8242

Yea, the width matters to me. HTC feels much more natural to me. But I'm excited to see how the new Moto X feels.

 

[thedosbox]

I also like Moto Assist, Display, and Voice, even if they aren't 100% unique, they are really nice.

I'm hoping the next iteration in Moto's product line returns to the original X's form factor. I can't imagine going back to a phone where you have to use the power button to see exactly what notifications you've got.

Also somewhat surprised that the Assist functionality (specifically sleep hours) isn't in the base OS.

 

[sze5003]

I'm hoping the next iteration in Moto's product line returns to the original X's form factor. I can't imagine going back to a phone where you have to use the power button to see exactly what notifications you've got.

The active feature allows you to wake it up and display notifications via voice or probably tap to wake. My m7 currently has tap to wake but I'm on a custom kernel.

 

[s44]

I can't imagine going back to a phone where you have to use the power button to see exactly what notifications you've got.

Flash them ROMs! Active Display is a pretty standard feature in them now.

 

[Red Storm]

There are also apps that give you close to the same functionality as Active Display, obviously it would be best used on an AMOLED screen.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.greatbytes.activenotifications&hl=en

 

[vi edit]

I know the Moto X camera may not be the best, but it has to be better than the HTC One, Right?

The camera is truly terrible on the original Moto X. And it's not just a function of hardware. A lot of it is software. The thing can't do light metering to save it's life. And with that comes terrible exposure control. You can't tap the screen to pick a spot for the metering in the default camera app. It's just a frustrating experience trying to get a decent shot with it.

I generally hate using 3rd party camera solutions as they always have some sort of quirk or missing function that should be integrated into the rest of the phone.

 

[kaerflog]

A great great phone ruined by a small/non-replaceable battery.
I think I have to cross this off my list.
I can't settle for anything less than comparable G2 battery life.

 

[s44]

Fail.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014...to-360-finds-smaller-battery-than-advertised/

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Ars MotoX review up but it's not very good. Inadequate battery life testing and not much said about the screen. Will have to wait for AT review.

 

[sze5003]

Gotta say the new Apple iwatch looks nice. Very aesthetic and not that bulky.

 

[Red Storm]

Gotta say the new Apple iwatch looks nice. Very aesthetic and not that bulky.

I personally think it looks terrible, just like every other rectangular smart watch attempt. Moto 360 is still the best looking smart watch, and it's not even close IMHO.

 

[sze5003]

Well I guess if you are not a fan of the rectangular aspect I see that. But I feel if the 360 were a little less thick it would be perfect.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I personally think it looks terrible, just like every other rectangular smart watch attempt. Moto 360 is still the best looking smart watch, and it's not even close IMHO.

Agreed there. In fact I could already have gotten the LG g watch (and almost did) which is rectangular. Be just about the same thing minus the os and different materials/color. I thought apple would at least try to make it exciting. I don't think they hit the mark, nobody has yet. Like I said before the moto 360 is the closest. Just not there yet.

 

[Mopetar]

I personally think it looks terrible, just like every other rectangular smart watch attempt. Moto 360 is still the best looking smart watch, and it's not even close IMHO.

I agree that the 360 looks better, but as many reviews have pointed out, a circular display has issues and developers aren't used to working with one so the implementation leaves something to be desired.

I think all of these smart watches need a few more years to fully bake and for hardware advances to provide better battery life among other improvements. If either of those were $150, I might take a plunge, but at $300+, neither is appealing.

 

[sze5003]

I'm just waiting now for the nexus 6 announcement. I figure they were waiting for Apple to go first.

 

[thedosbox]

Flash them ROMs! Active Display is a pretty standard feature in them now.

Not an option, as my employer uses a MDM system - no rooted devices for us. An app also doesn't address the size issue.

Fail.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014...to-360-finds-smaller-battery-than-advertised/

Looks like it's been updated - the battery was too small to fit both the "minimum" and "typical" capacity, so they only put the minimum on it. Still doesn't change the poor battery life of course.

I personally think it looks terrible, just like every other rectangular smart watch attempt. Moto 360 is still the best looking smart watch, and it's not even close IMHO.

This - the rectangular shape reminds me too much of the old Casio's.

 

[kaerflog]

Just no way a 2300mah battery can hold up.
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Our-...t-is-done-and-the-results-aint-pretty_id60564
I never had battery life as my top priority until I got the G2.
I went from One S -> Nexus 4 -> Nexus 5 so usage habit never changed.
It was always "let be careful so I don't run out of battery".
Then I got a G2 and wow, "do what ever the hell I want and still have plenty of battery at the end of the day"
Can't settle for anything less now.

 

[thedosbox]

Just no way a 2300mah battery can hold up.
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Our-...t-is-done-and-the-results-aint-pretty_id60564
I never had battery life as my top priority until I got the G2.
I went from One S -> Nexus 4 -> Nexus 5 so usage habit never changed.
It was always "let be careful so I don't run out of battery".
Then I got a G2 and wow, "do what ever the hell I want and still have plenty of battery at the end of the day"
Can't settle for anything less now.

It looks like the G2 survived the same test for about one hour longer than the 2014 X?

But yeah, bigger screens need a bigger battery - I'm surprised Motorola didn't repeat what they did with the Maxx.