[Moto X Q&A] patheimata:
Absolutely.

First, agreed on the app and cache situation. I was going to exclude apps on the adb backup and just use it for pictures, settings, text messages, etc., and leave out of the backup would be potentially corrupting it after the FDR. I've used other apps in the past to back those things up, but the promise of adb seemed easier (and more fun), thus going that route. I think I've thrown in the towel on that plan at this point, but it has been a good learning experience as I learned a lot commands and troubleshooting methods in that department.

As far as battery life goes, I've had two devices. Started with a dev edition, and while I had that, I was really impressed that it would make it all day long and still have some battery leftover at the end of the day. I exchanged it for a MotoMaker edition, though. I'm not sure I ever remember this one getting as good as battery life as the other, although it's been 5 months, so it's hard to tell. Nevertheless, 18 hours would be fantastic for me.

GSAM says my average fully charged battery lasts 14 hours, with 7 hours and 4 minutes active time. That sounds pretty on par with you, but looking at the charts, I believe they're projecting from 100%–0% as I wouldn't say I typically make it from 100%–20%, which is when I always try to recharge by. The 7 hours active is where I assume my problem lies, and thus the desire to try an FDR. I use my phone a lot, but I'm not active on it for over 7 hours a day. GSAM says my average screen on time is 2h 8min, max of 2h 33min. (These averages are over a 2 month period.) In light of that, I'm regularly charging midday to make sure I can make it through the end of the night.

Regular usage patterns include very little by way of voice calling. I felt like I was on the phone a lot today, that was probably no more than 10–15 minutes. Most of the rest of the SOT time split between texting and internet/light app usage.

Android OS is of course the far and away process consuming battery, which I realize tells us nothing and isn't that uncommon, especially when the phone isn't in use.

Over the past few months, I've tried isolating the typical likely suspects (Facebook and Facebook Messenger, Google+, location services, etc.), uninstalling them, and looking for battery improvements to no avail. The only time I ever really saw a direct correlation with a particular app that I could trace has been with Google Camera. I haven't reinstalled it since they're most recent update, but while it was installed, after it's first update I dropped to about 6–8 hours of battery life.

I've also participated a good amount in this forum on the issue: https://forums.motorola.com/posts/6675cef7e3?page=31 which also happens to be where I read of user jason.motox's experience backing and and restoring with adb.

Alright, I think that's a good start from there. Would love anyone's thoughts on best practices, etc. As much as I hate the thought of adding a few apps at a time every few days, I know that's the best way to go to ensure it's not an app. But anything else that anyone else is aware of to watch out for would be useful. Also happy to post a list of currently installed apps if that would be useful.

EDIT (A thought I started and never completed in the original post): I have read in the Motorola forums of at least one user eventually having the cellular radio replaced in theirs, which solved their battery life. In a 31 page thread, I had only seen one user have a FDR actually fix their battery problems, so I haven't exactly been hopeful that it would help mine. In addition to that, since I remember my Dev Edition getting better battery life all things being equal, it does make me wonder if mine is more hardware related than app or software/firmware.