The Moto X Gen 2 Phone

I just upgraded to a new phone, the second-generation Moto X from Motorola.

Back in November 2013 I blogged about my experience with Motorola's first-generation Moto X phone. I've used that phone for the last 15 months, and like it a great deal (with one notable exception: the grass cracked just a month after I got the phone which has been a bummer. Then again it was probably my own fault for not being more careful with it.) I've really come to value many things about this phone. I especially like its size and hand feel, and its innovative active notifications feature, which updates just a few pixels of your turned-off screen to give you notifications in a super battery-efficient way.

Active Notifications

Recently, I decided to upgrade to the new second-generation Moto X, which I received one week ago. When I got the previous first-generation phone, Google had purchased Motorola which was one of the attractive features since I'm not a fan of carrier bloatware on Android phones. Motorola was since sold off to Lenovo, but I ultimately decided to stay with the Moto X family since I liked the first generation so much. Fortunately, the customer ordering experience, phone quality, and very-latest-Android aspects of the Moto X have not been impacted.

The ability to custom-design your phone remains a compelling feature of the Moto X. After ordering my new phone at my local AT&T store, I received a voucher card. At home, I connected to  the Moto Maker site at https://www.motorola.com/us/motomaker, entered my upgrade code, and proceeded to design my phone. There are some nice new options available, including several wood and leather back choices (wood or leather costs an additional $25, and you need to be careful where you put your phone to avoid stains). I ultimately chose a white front, bronze accents, and a cognac leather back with my name inscribed.

Lots of choices to customize your phone

Moto Maker online designer

Less than two weeks later, my phone arrived. After following a short online procedure with AT&T, my new phone was linked to my existing number. I did not have to relocate any SIM cards.

Moving to a new device always raises the question of how much work you'll need to do to get your apps and data and configuration replicated. I'm happy to report that not only is that well-addressed by the phone, but three different parties are all looking out for you. Google, Motorola and AT&T all provide software/services to assist in phone upgrade data transfer. My first inclination was to use the Motorola Migrate application, which moves apps/data/configuration from old phone to new over your WiFi network--and that's largely what I did. Since contacts are managed by my carrier, I also utilized AT&T's facility to move my contacts over. While I was doing all this, Android on the new phone automatically prompted me to restore backed up apps and data from my old phone. Motorola Migrate is easy to use: the new phone scans a QR code displayed on the old phone and they communicate over your WiFi network. All in all, it only took about 15 minutes to move everything over and it was painless - everything was done for me automatically.

Motorola Migrate

Hardware-wise, the phone has a powerful processor and a good camera, two areas for which the original Moto X was sometimes criticized. The processor is a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801. The rear main camera is 13 megapixels (previously 10) with a circular dual-LED ring flash (previously single-LED). The front camera is 2 megapixels. There are a lot of nice features in the camera, and they have been thoughtfully engineered.  I don't know about  you, but it usually takes me some time to get acquainted with phone camera features and I often end up not using many of them because they can be cumbersome to get to. That's not the case here: camera features and settings are discoverable and easy to get to. Touch the camera to take a photo, or hold your finger down to capture photos in burst mode so you can select the best shot(s) afterward. You can take Ultra HD video and slow-motion video. You can even quickly summon the camera app with a double shake of the wrist.

Moto X Camera Settings

One concern I had was with the size of the phone. As is common right now, phones are getting larger and the Moto X is no exception: it's gone from 129.3 x 65.3 x 10.4 mm (gen 1) to 140.8 a 72.4 x 9.97 mm (gen 2), and the screen from 4.7 to 5.2 inches with a beautiful AMOLED display. Admittedly, a larger display would be easier on the eyes, but would the larger phone be more difficult to handle? The original Moto X was just perfect for your hand and allowed many things to be done with just one hand. As it turns out, I've had no problem with the larger size phone. It still goes in and out of my pocket easily and has not been cumbersome to use.

My favorite feature is still there, Active Notifications, along with a great new feature that complements it well called Attentive Display. The phone has low power IR sensors on the front and can recognize when you wave your hand or a face is looking at it. This means you can wake up the time and notifications display by simply waving your hand. When looking at the phone (for example reading messages or an e-book), the screen won't time out and go dark on you. It may sound a little spooky that the phone knows when it is being looked at, but this feature is really well-implemented.

Last but not least, there's Android Lollipop. Android prompted me to upgrade to the "L" release (Lollipop) the first day I had the phone, which I proceeded to install. I like the new Android release and its "material design" UI very much. Big UI changes are not always pleasant to adapt to, but this one was.

It's only been a week, but so far I'm loving this phone. It's really a pleasure to use, thanks to the features and little refining touches Motorola has added and the careful way they've been engineered for usability.

The Moto X Custom Order Experience

I just ordered a Moto X Android phone for myself, and thought I'd share the experience.The Moto X has a unique custom order experience which is somewhat reminiscent of custom-ordering a new car from a factory: you get to choose every last detail. The Moto X is made in Fort Worth, Texas, and if you're in the U.S. you get your new phone about 5 days after placing your custom order.

Making Arrangements With Your Carrier
You can start your experience online, but if upgrading from a different phone you'll likely begin with a visit to your carrier. In my case, I was having some technical problems with my Nokia Lumina 920 phone and decided it was time to upgrade, so I stopped in at my local AT&T store. After inspecting an actual Moto X to ensure I would be comfortable with the weight and form factor, I decided to go for it.
I was initially told it would be $200 to upgrade to the 16GB Moto X or $300 for the 32GB Moto X, but after some checking the salesperson informed me that due to some specials that were running I could get the 32GB Moto X for under $100. Sweet.
Once you've made arrangements with your carrier, you'll get a voucher card like the one shown below. You can then design your customized phone online and complete your order from home.

Carrier Voucher Card

Online Designer
You design your phone at http://motorola.com/designit, and the design experience is noteworthy for several reasons. First of all, you're able to customize a great deal about your phone, including back color, front color, button color, the display name of your phone, even your wallpaper. Secondly, the experience is done well: it feels immersive and is just plain fun.

Online Designer Start Screen

Phone Back Color
The back of your phone is the part with the greatest selection of colors. The online designer groups the choices under Cool colors (Navy, Turquoise, Olive, Mint, Royal Blue, Spearmint, Neutral colors (Woven Black, Woven White, Cement, Black, Chalk) , and Warm colors (Cherry, Lemon Lime, Violet, Crimson, Blush, Raspberry, Cabernet). As you select this and other options for your phone, you see your custom phone expertly depicted. Moreover, you can rotate and zoom in on the image.

Turquoise Back Color

  

Raspberry Back Color

 

 Royal Blue Back Color

 I ultimately selected a Royal Blue back color for my phone.

Front Color
Compared to the wealth of colors available for the back, the front phone color selection is a tad limited: the only color choices are Black and White.

Black Front Color

White Front Color

 I selected a white front for my phone.

 

Accent Color

You also get to choose the "accent color". This is the color of your side buttons and the ring around your camera. There are 7 choices: Metallic Blue, Metallic Silver, Metallic Yellow, Metallic Red, Metallic Purple, Metallic Black, and Metallic Orange.

 

Blue Accent Color

 

I went with a metallic blue accent color for my phone.

 

Memory

You can select 16GB or 32GB of memory. Depending on what you've earned in terms of upgrades with your carrier, and applying current promotions, your preferred model will likely be attractively priced.

 

Selecting Memory

 

Power On Name or Greeting

Your customization is not limited to physical manufacturing elements: you can also specify some software configuration aspects of your phone. Of course, you can set these up or change them anytime once you have your phone, so these selections are not nearly as binding--but it's still nice that you can tailor even these aspects at order time.

 

Power On is a name or greeting text that will appear when you turn your phone on.

 

Power On set to My Name

 

I set my Power On selection to my name.

 

Wallpaper

Another selection you get to make is your wallpaper. There are about 20 or so wallpaper choices.

 

Wallpaper - Earth

 

Wallpaper - Piano

 

I selected the Piano wallpaper for my phone, but will most likely replace it with a personal photo once I receive the phone.

 

Google Account

You can choose to link your phone to your Google Account, if you wish. If you do, your phone will be aware of your name and username when you first power it on. You'll need to enter your password, however.

 

Linking to Your Google Account

 

Accessories

You also have the choice of choosing accessories during the design/order processing, some of which can also be customized. JAX headphones with mic, for example, are available in 16 different colors.

 

Accessories

 

 JAX Headphones Accessory Color Selection

 

I decided to add JAX headphones/mic in royal blue for an additional $39.99.

 

Carrier Selection

Near the end of the process you'll select your carrier. If you've made previous carrier arrangements, as I had, you can enter your PIN at this point from your voucher card.

 

Selecting Carrier

 

Checkout

At this point you'll make payment arrangements (not shown) and complete your order.

 

Completing Checkout

 

 

Thanks for Your Order

 

You'll receive options at this point to transfer your data and to share your phone customization.

 

Data Transfer

The data transfer option offers to migrate your phone's data over to your new Moto X. This turns out to only be available for users migrating from an iPhone or Android phone. I couldn't take advantage of this since I was upgrading from a Windows Phone.

 

Data Transfer Option - only available for Android and iPhone

 

Tell The World

If you're willing to tell the world about your new customized phone, either through Facebook or Google Plus, you'll earn $10 credit in the Google Play Store. This is a smart way to get new customers involved in evangelizing the brand.

 

Tell the World About Your Phone for Google Play Credit

 

Order Confirmation Email

You'll get an email confirming your order, which gives you a short time window for changes or cancellation (1 hour).

 

Order Confirmation Email

 

The Custom Order Experience: In Summary

Someday all phones will have a similar customization experience, I suspect. Although it remains to be seen what I think of the actual Moto X phone once I get to use it, the level of customization available--and the experience of designing your customized phone--has definite appeal. I think Google and Motorola are on to something here.

Follow-up: Now That I Have the Device...
First off, I want to say the online design and ordering experience set a 5-day expectation. In fact, I received my custom device only 3 days after placing my order. I ordered on a Sunday evening and had the device in-hand Wednesday afternoon.

The online activation process with AT&T only took a few minutes, though they seemed to expect me to crack open my device and confirm serial number and SIM card number--which wasn't obvious how to do with a fresh phone in my hand. I was content to confirm those numbers off the box label. Even though I was upgrading an existing phone and keeping my same phone number, there was no need to transfer my SIM card: the upgrade phone comes with a new SIM card and the online activation process anticipates this. There was a stern warning given during the activation process that it was important not to turn the device on until activation was complete and 15 minutes had gone by... but in fact I turned the device on accidentally several times inadvertently in handling it. None of that caused any trouble, though.

So far, I really like my Moto X. It's fast and speedy and has nice display. And this is coming from someone who also has an HTC One, considered by many to be the leader of the pack. In comparison, the Moto X is in a smaller and lighter package but has the same screen dimensions (though fewer pixels). You can read a side-by-side comparison and performance test here.