Moto G (3rd Gen) hands-on and first impressions

If you’ve looked for a budget-friendly Android smartphone over the past two years or so, odds are you’ve stumbled across Motorola’s Moto G. Offering perfectly capable specifications, solid build quality and a great software experience at an affordable price point, the Moto G quickly became a force to be reckoned with.

Today, alongside the new Moto X Style and Moto X Play, Motorola unveiled the brand new Moto G (3rd Gen). We were lucky enough to score some hands-on time with the new handset, so let’s take a quick look at just what Motorola has to off to the low-cost crowd.

Design

At first glance, the new Moto G has a lot in common with the design of its predecessors. The shape is virtually unchanged and the handset still features the two speaker grills on the front. There’s a familiar 3.5mm headphone jack on the top of the smartphone, and the volume rocker and power/standby keys remain on the right-hand side of the display.

However, the back of the smartphone features a slightly different design, with a strip of plastic coming down from the camera lens to a dimple in the phone’s back. Motorola has also upped its game when it comes to build quality and it feels steadier in the hand as a result. The Moto G is now IPX7 rated for water resistance, which means that it can withstand immersion in water up to 1 meter deep for 30 minutes.

Motorola has also brought Moto Maker support to the G line this time around, which means, along with swappable back plates, users can now bring customization to the next level. Through Motorola’s website, you’ll be able to choose your front, back and accent colors, as well as personal engravings on the phone’s backside. This is a feature many users have been suggesting the company add for some time, and thankfully, it’s finally here.

Display

The Moto G (3rd gen) retains the same form factor from last year’s model and it has also kept its 5-inch display size. The display resolution remains unchanged at 720p (1280×720), but this is an acceptable compromise given the handset’s low price point. The display might not compete with Full HD and Quad HD smartphone of this size, but 720p still provide a reasonably sharp experience.

Hardware

Powering the Moto G (3rd Gen.) is a Snapdragon 410 processor, which is a bigger upgrade to the Snapdragon 400 that powered the last generation Moto G than the name might suggest. The low power quad-core Cortex-A7 design has been replaced with four 64-bit Cortex-A53 CPU cores and the clock speed has been bumped up from 1.2GHz to 1.4GHz. The GPU has also been switched out for an Adreno 306, which should provide a minor boost to gaming performance.

Other hardware components include an ever so slightly larger non-removable 2,470mAh battery and there’s still dual-SIM compatibility with support for 4G download speeds up to 150Mbps (Category 4 LTE). In terms of storage, the Moto G will be available with either 8GB or 16GB of flash memory, which also determines the amount of RAM that comes with the phone. The Moto G still features a single GB of RAM in the 8GB model, but this is bumped up to 2GB if you opt for 16GB of internal storage. While 2GB across the board may have been preferable, the choice should allow Motorola to keep the price of its handset low.

Camera

Camera technology has seen an improvement this time around. The smartphone now boasts a 13 megapixel rear with an f/2.0 aperture and dual LED flash, alongside a 5 megapixel front-facing camera, which provides a significant resolution improvement for main and selfie shots compared with the 8MP and 2MP sensors from the last generation. The sensor is the same one that Motorola used in the Nexus 6 and it features an HDR mode and is capable of shooting 1080p video.

We really liked the camera that came with the Nexus 6, so we’re excited to see just how this camera performs in our full review.

Software

The Moto G (3rd Gen.) doesn’t stray to far from other Motorola handsets when it comes to software. Featuring a near-stock Android experience with a handful of excellent Motorola features thrown in, the device’s software remains light and speedy, which should make many users happy. Fortunately, in our quick hands-on time, we didn’t notice any stuttering through the mostly stock Android 5.1.1 based user interface and the Moto G (2015) should prove to be a suitable performer for all of your day to day tasks.

Specs

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Pricing and availability

The new Moto G is already available for purchase from Motorola’s website starting at just $179 for the 8GB option and $219 for the 16GB model. You can customize the device through Moto Maker, giving you the ability to choose from a multitude of different back plates, accent colors and more. Amazon and Best Buy are also selling the new model, though you can only choose between White and Black color options if you purchase from these retailers. If you’re interested in picking one up for yourself, head to any of the links below to start shopping.

• Buy now from Motorola
• Buy now from Amazon
• Buy now from Best Buy

All in all, this is shaping up to be one heck of a budget-friendly device. Sure, we need to put it through the full review treatment, but there’s no doubt that this will be one attractive option for the low-cost market. What are your thoughts so far? Did Motorola offer enough upgrades this time around, or did the company leave out a few important features? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

PSA: The Moto X Pure Edition is only for the US, Moto X Style and Moto X Play are international versions

Briefly: Motorola has its highly anticipated announcement event this morning, which announced two new Moto X devices, the Moto X Style and Moto X Play. There is, however, the mention of a third Moto X device around the internet called the Moto X Pure Edition, and we wanted to just clear up any confusion: the Moto X Pure Edition is only for the US.

After the cameras turned off at the announcement event, Motorola quietly announced the Moto X Pure Edition to a small audience of media and press. However, for all intents and purposes, the Moto X Pure Edition is the exact same device as the Moto X Style, just that the name for the latter will be used internationally, whereas the Pure Edition will only be for the US – the only difference are available LTE bands, for obvious reasons. For full specs of the Moto X Style/Moto X Pure Edition, make sure to check out our announcement post from earlier today. Note that there won’t be a US version of the Moto X Play – or at least, not yet.

What do you think about the Moto X Pure Edition? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: Droid-life

The post PSA: The Moto X Pure Edition is only for the US, Moto X Style and Moto X Play are international versions appeared first on AndroidSPIN.

Moto X Style hands-on and first impressions

It’s been a great couple of days for Android smartphone fans around the world, with users getting their first look at the highly-anticipated OnePlus 2 yesterday, with its great feature set and impressive price point. Today, Motorola took the wraps off its latest high-end offering, that continues everything we loved about its predecessors – fantastic design and build quality, high-end specifications and features, optimized software experience, and lots of customization options. So today we’re going hands-on and giving you our first impressions on the Moto X Style!

Don’t miss: Moto X Style vs Play: what’s the difference?

Design

Motorola is not one for dramatic departures in the design department, and so, the Moto X Style retains a lot of the design language of its predecessors. In a lot of ways, this device looks like a slightly smaller version of the Motorola-manufactured Nexus 6, with a solid metal frame, and heavily curved back and sides, and identical placements at the center of the headphone jack and SIM slot, and microUSB port, at the top and bottom respectively. Things remain largely the same up front as well, with a slew of sensors to help with the Active Display and gesture features, and the 5 MP front-facing camera is also coupled with a flash this time around. The larger size may take some getting used to, but the 76% screen to body ratio will allow for a slightly better feel.

As always, customization is a key part of the Moto X experience, so users will be given the choice to change the color and material of the backing to suit their liking, and as rumored, there will also be a gold and white version. Material choices for the rear back plates include a coated silicon rubber in various colors, premium Horween leather, and natural wood. You also get to play around with the color of the metal frame and accent on the back, for a truly customized device, along with the ability to have a personal message engraved.

A new addition is the metal accent on the back that houses the rear camera, dual LED flash, and the Motorola logo, which is much more subtle and classy than the large, in-your-face, logo and dual flash ring around the camera seen with the Moto X 2014. Motorola has never strived for offering the thinnest and lightest devices around, and this current generation Moto X has a significant thickness and heft to it, which isn’t actually a bad thing though, and allows for a very substantial and comfortable feel in the hand.

Display

The display size has seen a bump up to 5.7-inches, with the resolution also going up to Quad HD, resulting in a pixel density of 515 ppi. The jump to Quad HD certainly brings the Moto X Style up to par with current generation flagships. This display is vivid and colors do pop, viewing angles and brightness are also as expected, and overall, media and gaming-centric users will certainly appreciate the additional real estate the device provide.

It also should be noted that Motorola opted for a TFT LCD display this time around, unlike the AMOLED displays found in the Nexus 6 and past Moto X devices. We’re not sure if the company’s Moto Display feature will drain battery life more than usual now that there’s a different panel, though we’ll definitely test this out in our full review.

Hardware

Under the hood, the Moto X Style packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor, clocked at 1.8 GHz, and backed by the Adreno 418 GPU, and 3  GB of RAM. The Snapdragon 808 may feel like a step back, but as we have seen with the LG G4, it’s all about software optimization, which is something that Motorola is known for. As such, the performance is still as smooth as ever, and any differences between the 808 and the 810 aren’t easily evident in real world use, helped along by Motorola’s fluid and light software experience.

The Moto X Style comes with 16, 32, and 64 GB of on-board storage options, but with expandable storage available via microSD card, by up to 128 GB. While the device doesn’t come with the water resistance like what’s available with the new Moto G, there is a water repellant coating, which should help with splash protection when out in the rain. It won’t be a good idea to take the phone for a swim though. Also great is the availability of dual front-facing stereo speakers, which should allow for a quality audio experience. The Moto X Style will be available in an unlocked iteration in the US, and the great news is that the device comes with universal LTE banding, which means that the same device will work on every network in the US, like Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, and T-Mobile.

The other big story here is with regards to the battery, with the Moto X Style packing a massive 3,000 mAh cell, which should provide for some long-lasting battery life. With that said, battery life is something we can find out only during the full review treatment. The device does comes with “Turbo25” fast charging capabilities, which Motorola claims is the fastest implementation of this tech in the world, and so, if you do run out of battery, you’ll be up and running once again in no time.

Camera

On the camera front, the Moto X Style packs a 21 MP rear shooter with dual LED flash, similar to what was seen with the Motorola Droid Turbo, as well as a 5 MP front-facing shooter, which also comes with an LED flash. Images captured by the camera as shown in the presentation were certainly fantastic, and Motorola guarantees that this will be the best in-class camera. Of course, more thorough testing will be required, and we can’t wait to put this camera through its paces.

Related: Moto X Style’s camera is right behind the Galaxy S6 Edge, according to DxOMark

Software

As has Motorola has always done, the software is perfectly optimized to make for a smooth and fluid experience. While retaining a lot of Material Design elements of Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, Motorola’s extras are also available, such as gestures, and the Moto Display, hands free mode, and a lot more. Other than the few Motorola add-ons, things remain as close to stock Android as ever, and as always, keeping it simple certainly helps keep it fast. Motorola will also be releasing a Moto X Pure Edition in the US, which allows for the “Nexus experience” with Moto X Style hardware, and will be running stock Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, and will also be one of the first recipients of future software updates.

Specs

Gallery

Pricing and availability

It all comes down to price though, and the Moto X Style definitely impresses in this regard. Flagship specifications and features will be available to you at a price point around $200 to $300 cheaper than other current generation high-end smartphones, and we already know that the Moto X Pure will be priced starting at just $399, which is just fantastic.

Stay tuned with Android Authority as we continue to bring you more great coverage from today’s Motorola event, and of course, for the upcoming full review of the Moto X Style, Moto X Play, Moto G (3rd generation), and a lot more.

Motorola unveils the Moto Pulse and Moto Surround wireless headphones

Motorola just took the wraps off of the new Moto X Style, Moto X Play and Moto G (3rd Gen.) smartphones, but you didn’t think the company would stop there, did you? Motorola has just unveiled two new pairs wireless headphones, which are already on sale through the official company website. Let’s take a look to see how these new audio products stand out from the rest.

For starters, the Moto Pulse (pictured above) is a new pair of wireless Bluetooth-enabled headphones that will supposedly last up to 18 hours on a single charge. Available now for just $59.99, these new headphones feature an on-ear design, a modern aesthetic and can fold up for easy traveling.

Next up we have the Moto Surround – a smaller, more lightweight pair of Bluetooth earbuds that will offer up to 12 hours of battery life on just one charge. These are both waterproof and sweatproof, and feature a built-in microphone for taking calls while you’re working out. You can purchase the Moto Surround earbuds from the Motorola link below for $69.99.

• Buy the Moto Pulse from Motorola for $59.99
• Buy the Moto Surround from Motorola for $69.99