[Moto X Q&A] KidJoe:
I didn't realize you made a thread for this...

I'm going to post the replies I sent you via PM in case others are looking for this info too...

In the USA, the XT1053 was Sold as the GSM Developer Edition. In that configuration, you could only get it as 32gig, black face, woven white back and silver accents (buttons and ring around camera), and says Developer Edition on the back. Unlocking its bootloader doesn't void the warranty.

The XT1053 was also sold in the USA on the Moto Maker site as "GSM Unlocked (ships with T-Mobile sim)" and later "GSM Unlocked (ships with NET10 sim)". These two XT1053's were available with all Moto Maker options (for front, back, and accent colors, and different memory sizes). While you could bootloader unlock via the Moto web site, since they were NOT labeled "Developer Edition, it voided the warranty.

All of the XT1053 variants were SIM Unlocked (aka Carrier Unlocked), and support the exact same frequencies.

When it comes to the XT1060 there were made for Verizon USA.

There was the Developer Edition for Verizon (XT1060). As a Developer Edition, it too was only available as 32gig, black face, woven white back and silver accents (buttons and ring around camera), and says Developer Edition on the back. Unlocking its bootloader doesn't void the warranty.

The Retail and Moto Maker variants of the XT1060 for Verizon USA were available with all Moto Maker options (for front, back, and accent colors, and different memory sizes). They are NOT bootloader unlockable (moto never gave out the codes for these).

Again, All the XT1060 variants (Dev Edition or MotoMaker or Retail) were SIM unlocked, and supported the same frequencies.

Since Verizon uses CDMA/EVDO for its voice and 2G/3G data services, the XT1060 does include CDMA support, however its geared towards Verizon USA's network. You can't use the XT1060 on Sprint's CDMA network for example.

When it initially shipped, the only LTE Band the Verizon XT1060 variants supported was Band 13. Band 4 support was added to the XT1060 in the Android 4.4 update. This lead to the confusion as some web sites never got updated to reflect Band 4 being added.

As for what frequencies do the XT1053 and XT1060 support, see -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moto_X_(1st_generation)#Variants as it is now correct.

You will see that when it comes to GSM/UMTS/HSPA bands, the XT1053 and XT1060 support the "standard 4" (850/900/1900/2100) so if your carrier uses those for 2G, 3G or non-LTE 4G, you'll be fine with either. The XT1053 also supports GSM/UMTS/HSPA on AWS (1700/2100Mhz) which is used by T-Mobile USA.

When it comes to LTE, the XT1060 supports Band 4 and 13 (with 4.4 and up). The XT1053 supports Band 2, 4 and 17.

If your carrier isn't compatible with Verizon's CDMA, and/or uses GSM/UMTS/HSPA, I would recommend you get the XT1053 for the following reasons...

The XT1053 is intended to be used with GSM out of the box, and has an easier time being used on "any carrier". To use the XT1060 on a GSM carrier, you need to force its radio to GSM and the Verizon firmware will always tell you its a "non-verizon sim" inserted in the phone.

The XT1053 will get its Over The Updates (like Lollipop) no matter what carrier its on where as the XT1060 will likely need to be manually upgraded if you are not using it on Verizon's network.

Any variant of the XT1053 can have its bootloader easily unlocked (by requesting the code from Moto's web site). To unlock the bootloader on the XT1060, you must ensure you get an authentic "Developer Edition For Verizon (XT1060)"

both support LTE Band 4, neither support LTE band 28

The XT1060's are the same. Dev Edition vs Retail/Moto Maker is really only about 1. Does moto give out the bootloader unlock code (Dev=Yes, All others=No), and can you customize it when you purchase it (MotoMaker=Yes, others = No). All XT1060's use the exact same Roms.

The XT1053's are the same. Dev Edition vs Moto Maker is really only about 1. Does unlocking the bootloader void the warranty (Dev=No, All others=Yes), and can you customize it when you purchase it (MotoMaker=Yes, Dev Edition = No). All XT1053's use the exact same Roms.

Yeah, even if the price is higher, the XT1053 is likely going to perform better for you. See if you can get a non-Dev Edition XT1053 cheaper, because that will work exactly the the same as the Dev Edition XT1053. Unlocking the bootloader voids the warranty on the non-dev edition, but since you'll be out of the USA with it, the warranty probably wont matter.