Flipkart has started shipping the Moto X2 Second Generation, also known as the Moto X+1 2014, to users in India.
The phone, arguably the most value for money high-end smartphone in India, was listed for preorder earlier this week on Flipkart at a price of 32,000. The white version is priced at Rs 34,000.
The Moto X 2 is without doubt the most advanced smartphone made by Motorola, a unit of Chinese company maker Lenovo, and is leagues ahead of the previous unit, the Moto X, priced at Rs 26,000 at launch. With the second generation launch, the brand has now caught up with its Korean competitors like Samsung and LG, and with Japan’s Sony, in terms of polish and power.
The biggest improvement, and one that puts the Moto X squarely in the league of the Samsung Galaxy S5, the LG G3, the Sony Xperia Z3 and the Lenovo K920, is in the display and in LTE support.
The first difference, as far as the screen is concerned, is that the size been increased from 4.7 inch to 5.2 inch diagonnally. While that is only an increase of around 10%, the actual area on the display has increased by 22.4% as even a slight increase in the diagonal length bumps up the total area significantly.
In addition to the enormous amount of extra real estate on the display, the screen also has another key improvement – it’s not full HD compared to the 720p HD that the previous generation model had. And yes, it continues to be AMOLED as well, which promises more lively colors compared to ordinary LCD.
Not surprisingly, the initial users are all going ga-ga over the display. “The most amazing part is the display and the looks. It’s so subtly crafted and everything feels so natural in hand… the looks are amazing , it’s so thin and lightweight, zippy and smooth,” says Ankit Kohli, among the first to get his hands on the Moto X2 Second Generation anywhere in the world.
“This might as well bet the most good looking Android phone ever to come out,” says Gokulnath S. “People say Galaxy Alpha is better looking, but the Moto X beats Galaxy any day in terms of class. The metal body frame is especially brilliant, the first time you hold the phone, the phone exudes coolness, both literally and figuratively.”
Another user, Marwan Nizamuddin, found the display good, but not the best out there. “Impressed with the quality of the screen and the response. The build quality is good but probably not the best among other contenders. Makes an impression with it’s metal lining yet reduced weight at the same time,” he noted in his review.
The processor has been bumped up from MSM8960Pro Snapdragon 1.7 GHz to the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 801 MSM8974-AC which runs at 2.5 GHz. The other phones that are powered by the same processor are the Lenovo K920, HTC One M8, Gionee Elife E7L, LG G3, Galaxy S5, Oppo Find 7, Sony Xperia Z3 and the Xiaomi Mi4.
The camera is, however, slightly below those of others in resolution at just 13 megapixel. RAM too has been maintained at 2 GB. These are the two features that perhaps make the Moto X2 what it is – the cheapest high-end Android phone in India.
“Camera with 13MP is fine but could have gone for at least 18MP for the price (no issues still good!). secondary camera with 2MP is great but sometimes it is blurry either under low light or too much brightness (common issue with other phones),” says Nizamuddin.
Another key improvement is the addition of 4G LTE. Even as the Samsung Galaxy S5, which is priced at Rs 35,500 in India, does not come with LTE support, it is surprising that a phone that is priced about 10% cheaper is coming with built-in LTE.
In addition, the Moto X Second Generation is known to support a wide variety of LTE bands, which would come in handy as Indian companies are likely to launch such services on 800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2300 MHz.
Nearly all the new launches these days have come with built-in LTE, including the LG G3 and the Xperia Z3.