Top 5 Unique Features of Moto X

Moto X is finally announced on August 1.  By the end of this month, you may have the chance to get one in your pocket from the major carriers in US or BestBuy.

The biggest surprise of Moto X is not the phone, is its  price. Motorola asks for similar price as  that for Galaxy S4 and HTC One, although the hardware specifications are obviously inferior (arguable).

Motorola is confident consumers will like their unique features and fork money for features rather than hardware specs. They may be correct. Most flagship Android phones are obsessed with hardware specs, and therefore are overpowered (i.e., wasted).

The problem is what these features are and why people are willing to pay for them instead of better specs.

In this post, I will share with you the top 5 unique features of Mot X.

Touchless control

Touchless control is the killer feature of Moto X.  You can control and operate the phone without touching it. It is also dam smart as well: it knows what to do and when.

Essentially, it is a combination of voice control and Google Now. What makes Moto X stand out of the crowd of Siri, S Voice and other similar apps  is  that you can use voice control  even the phone is locked. “OK Google Now” is the hot words (Moto magic) to wake up the phone.  You probably can configure this to something else like “Oh, Moto Magic” if you want.

More interestingly, Moto X only responds to your command, not others’. If 10 other people around you shout “OK Google Now” , your Moto X will not respond to them, because it knows your voice and knows you are the master. It is more loyal  than you secretary.

Google Now is one of the best innovations from Google. It  was officially unveiled in Google I/O 2012. Its predictive, not responsive, thinking make the smartphone smarter.  By combining voice control and  Google Now, Moto X  now is No.1 in intelligence and voice control among smartphones. There are no comparable products in the market yet. Of course, Apple, Samsung , Nokia or even BlackBerry may roll out product with such features in 2014 or even later.

So, Moto X now enjoys at least one year competitive edge on this innovation.  Now, you get your hands free from the phone to pass some money to Motorola. This is economics.

Quick capture

Smartphone is not just for talking. More and more pictures are taken with smartphones.

Moto X is impressive with the speed of taking pictures. From the locked phone to a captured photo, you need less the 2 seconds.  No other phones can do this unless the phone has a dedicated hardware button for camera!

For example, if you put your camera app in the lock screen. You need press the power button to wake up the screen, then drag the app to launch it. This will take you about 2 seconds already if the phone  has decent hardware. Then, it will take you at least another 2 to 3 seconds to snap the picture.

There are two tricks used in in Moto X to get this done super fast.

One trick is firing the camera  without waking up the display. They happen at the same time. The camera app can be launched without lighting up the screen, so when you double twist your Moto X, it will launch camera app and then (or at the same time) light up the screen. So, when the screen is lighted up, the camera is  ready to take photos.

The other trick is the clear pixel technology used in the camera sensor.  Its  OmniVision OV10820,  1/2.6-inch sensor uses  a sensitive RGBC (red / green / blue / clear) color filter. And an additional companion chip automatically converts the resulting shots into the Bayer RAW format. So, it takes photos fast with high quality  (due to two chips). The low-light performance is superior thanks to the filter.

For most consumers, the superior performance under low-light conditions are more attractive than the speed. If you have HTC One, Clear Pixel can easily beat your UltraPixel.

In 2014, we will see more smartphone manufacturers  adopt this or other similar technology. So, again, this gives Moto X at least one year to keep its lead position in camera capbilities.

Always-on (and always-ready)

Always-on is  linked to touchless control.  Moto X is packed with a X8 computing system (detailed explanation can be found : What is Motorola X8 Mobile Computing System?). There are two always-on  low power chips in the X8.

One is  the natural language processor, which always listens to your voice commands. The other is the contextual computing processor, which always check status of sensors to determine whether your Moto X is in your pocket, in your hand or in  your bag, whether your Moto X is facing up or down.

With these two additional (non-conventional) chips/cores, Moto X always knows (not just guesses) what you are going to do, and is always ready for your commands.

Customizable exterior

A smartphone is a necessity, not a luxury.  Most consumers are getting tired of the limited options in the exterior. Motorola Moto X is betting on this demand.

Motorola allows you to get following customization for free:

• 18 colors for the back. Another 4 colors for wood will come soon.
• black or white front color
• 7 accent colors
• black or white wall charger
• 18 colors for headphone
• engraving your signature
• your own power-on message
• your own wallpaper

This has to be done through MotoMaker.com, which will be alive when Moto X is launched in AT &T.

Please note, this customization is initially exclusive for AT & T customers (probably for 2-3 months). Then other  carriers and BestBuy will get access to this well.  This service is free and the handset should arrive your doorstep within 4 business days.

Active display

Active Display allows the owner to see the time and notifications on the  screen without waking up the phone/screen. Only part of the screen is lighted up to save battery.  Active Display will  be activated once you pick up the phone or flip it face up.

You can preview any notifications on a sleeping Moto X . If you want to read the details, you can drag it to open the corresponding app (this will also wake up the phone). If you already set PIN or password, you can preview notifications and time, but it will direct you to input PIN or password to open the corresponding app.

Moto X probably is the smartest phone in the market up to now. Motorola and Google are trying  to focus on improving the user experience, instead of racing raw hardware specifications or software gimmicks. It is  a smart move.

Are you willing to pay for these 5 unique features? Let us know in the comments box below.