In a week, where IFA 2014 was the main topic, Motorola went further and decided to surprise everybody with the release of the new Moto X Smartphone, Moto 360 SmartWatch and a very cool wireless earbud called Moto Hint.
First stop, Moto X (2014). Motorola decided to continue with the same Moto X name and also the same feel and look, but with a bigger size and some cool improvements. If last year the Moto X version was cool and introduced the concept of design your own smartphone, now they even added leather or metal design variants. In terms of features the new Moto X smartphone comes with a higher resolution screen, a 4K capable camera and faster processor, but that’s not all.
Under the nice 5.2-inch 1080p there’s now a Snapdragon 801 CPU, clocked at 2.5 Ghz, the same processor that is found on Z3, Z3 Compact and Z3 Compact Tablet. The cpu is sustained by 2GB of RAM which is quite the standard these days. Considering the 1080p, some would tell that 3GB of RAM was a better choice, but I think that’s not the case here knowing that the display it’s Super AMOLED.
On the back the Camera also received an improvement, from 10 megapixel to 13 megapixel and as I said before it’s now capable of shooting 4K videos. The back camera is surrounded by a ring of two leds, which should also add more light when you take photos. As new features, the camera also has a mode that automatically chose the best shot on photos that are sensitive, like smiles or motion blur.
On the Software side, Motorola promises the Moto X will continue to have one of the purest Android experience you’ll ever find on a smartphone. The new Moto X comes with Android KitKat 4.4.4, but as soon as Android L will be released Motorola will make the update available for this new device.
The new Moto X also carries the customization legacy from the previous Moto X generation. In fact, Motorola went further and added leather in four colors which looks amazing. And now that the new Moto X includes metal, you can also customize it in two colors: black or white.
As you, the new Moto X is cooler, faster and bigger than the previous model. Motorola says Moto X (2014) version will be released later, this September and will cost $499 unlocked (the 16GB version), just like its predecessor, while the 32GB version will cost an extra $50.
Now let’s talk about one of the gorgeous looking SmartWatch ever: Moto 360.
With a SmartWatch revolution underway, the new Moto 360 SmartWatch appears to have what it takes to go further than it’s competitors. It’s circular and it’s a SmartWatch not a gadget or mini computer. At first it’s beautifully designed, it looks high end and it comes with a leather strap, made by Chicago tannery Horween. So it’s also comfortable.
The 1.65-inch display has a 320 x 290 resolution and it’s protected by Gorilla Glass 3. When I see it in official picture or videos, it’s hard to imagine this is a SmartWatch and not a classic watch.
There are some downsides like the battery life or the thickness, 11.5mm, but this is only first SmartWatch model made by Motorola so maybe over the next years we’ll be able to use one that holds 7 days for example.
On the software side, Android Wear has just started, so don’t expect a lot of things from a SmartWatch yet. You can receive notifications from your phone(emails, texts, calls, tweets, weather information) or keep track of your steps and heart rate. Also you can talk with your Moto 360 through its two microphone(“Ok Google”) to send texts, set reminders, check weather or ask for directions. And that’s just the beginning.
Now about accessories, I want to talk a bit about Moto Hint wireless earbud. This is a very big step forward made by Motorola as the earbud is very small and the design is also beautiful. With Moto Hint earbud you can control your phone by only using your voice and if you have a Moto X you can even ask questions like “What’s today’s forecast?” or get turn by turn navigation directions.
Motorola Moto Hint earbud will cost $149.99 and will be released in a few months.
It appears that despite being sold by Google few months ago, Motorola is going forward with its strategy and products like Moto 360 SmartWatch or Moto Hint are the best examples of interesting future for the company recently acquired by Lenovo. I think we might talk more about them pretty soon.
