[Moto X Q&A] themagpieswarble:
Moto X Fan Club

[IMG="My Moto Xs"]http://i.imgur.com/pRDXLdf.jpeg[/IMG]

[IMG="My Moto Xs2"]http://i.imgur.com/tzXpiRT.jpeg[/IMG]

No, I have no idea what you're talking about ;)

When I first bought my Moto X 2013 , I had no idea how badly I would be screwing myself in the smartphone expectations department for years to come. You nailed it all on the head, so I won't go into it too much.... but...

It's the best feeling phone in the hand all of time. Period. No other phone melts into the palm of your hand like that phone (Motorola even bragged about this in their original marketing for the OG Moto X.) No jagged corners/edges that are uncomfortable to hold. Beautiful plastic material that did not feel cheap and could stand up to drops and scratches with ease. Motomaker options for Wood (Leather for 2014 later) and customizing the colors and buttons were all great touches to making the phone feel personal.

Then the thing that really ruined phones for me is the Moto software. Especially on the Moto X 2014 and 2015. The Wave to Wake on those phones is insane and makes you feel like a damn Jedi to use it. Years after their release, I'm still impressing people by talking to my phone while it's off or waving over it quickly to see what time it is (while it takes everyone else several seconds to pick up their phone and press a button.) How is that a 3+ year old phone makes other phones look archaic and dated? Active Display (like you touched on) is so much better than any other iteration (Always On or Ambient Display.)

With Active Display you can click and hold on a notification icon to interact with it without waking up the display. While holding on to the notification bubble, you can go to the notification (Swipe UP) or dismiss the notification (Swipe Left or Right) or just unlock the phone and go to the home screen (lock screen if you have security settings) by Swiping DOWN... all right from the Active Display without waking up the phone.

With Ambient Display, as soon as you touch any part of the screen when a notification wakes the Ambient Display, you wake up the whole phone to the lock screen. That means a lot of accidental wake ups in your pocket which always drove me nuts. So it's got the advantage of only the Notification Bubble being an active part of the screen and the ability to make actions on the notification right from Active Display without even waking the phone. It's simple and genius and it's really annoying that no other OEMs have picked up on this and replicated it.

And then you have your gestures with chop for flashlight and twist for camera (I actually could take Double Press Power Button shortcut over this.) All these damn amazing features are getting diluted in Motonovo's hands with the reduction of IR sensors on the front (From 2014-2015 Moto X's 4 front facing IR sensors to now a max of 2 IR sensors on the Moto Z I believe.)

I am so spoiled for every other phone coming out today. Bezels are friggin huge even on 5.2" phones now. When I owned the Pixel for a short while, I had to swallow my pride and accept that my Moto X 2014 had a 5.2" screen in a smaller body size than the 5" Pixel. Don't get me wrong, the speed/camera/battery life of the Pixel is amazing. I just wish I could have all those things in the 2013/2014 Moto X body with Moto X software.

I'm at a loss for what phone to buy next. I was hoping the new Moto X could be good but it's looking like just another boring ass Motonovo phone that has nothing to do with the original Moto Xs. I was hoping maybe the new Pixel 2 would be comfortable but it sounds like they're just keeping the same exact body size/screen size as the original Pixel and only decreasing the Bezels on the Pixel 2 XL.

There's just no phone manufacturer anymore that really cares about the user experience (except maybe Apple, but you have to live in Apple's walled garden which is something I'm not really willing to do.) But even Apple tends to favor a PREMIUM experience rather than comfortable experience I'd say. Everyone else is just making thinner phones that aren't comfortable whose battery life sucks and bezels are too big and uncomfortable to hold and they're fragile as **** made out of premium materials with absolutely NO personality.

When Rick Osterloh (head of Motorola Design at the time of the original Moto Xs) moved to oversee Google Hardware division, I had great hope that he would influence the design direction of the Pixel. But it seems that they're still just hiring HTC/LG to copy and paste their uninspired designs over and then let Google do their hardware/software magic on the inside. The Pixel is a fantastic phone but it's huge downside is the design. It's a pretty phone but it's not comfortable to hold and it's too expensive/fragile to feel comfortable using case-less. I want a phone I can use without a damn case to bulk it up and make it look ugly.

I was actually excited by this failed indiegogo project just because they gave me original Moto X feels. Their mission statement and design philosophy hit a lot of the right Moto X notes to me: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/nuans-neo-reloaded-smartphone-design#/

The problem [MENTION=6866997]DrvLikHell[/MENTION] is that you and I are a complete minority. There's no market for compact phones like there used to be. There's no reason to stop and consider the user experience and ergonomics and product design like they used to. The market is telling them to make thinner/sexier/bigger/more premium looking phones and they're making a TON of money doing so. Why is there any reason to stop?

Part of me wants to try and research who really worked on the Moto X design and interview them. Where are they working now? Why can't they make another Moto X like phone that feels really special and custom tailored to the user? Where the experience of using the phone is a simple joy? The phone should feel as personal as it is to our daily lives. Instead, phones expect us to adapt to THEM.

"Oh, it's a little uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time. But it's okay."

"Such a beautiful phone but I have to buy a case to protect it so I can sell it in a year when I upgrade. If I drop it, it will shatter."

"It's kind of heavy and hurts my wrist after awhile."

"The sides kind of dig into my hands a bit but it's such a fast phone."

"The battery life isn't that great but the 2K display is amazing to look at."

"It doesn't have a headphone jack, but they make a dongle for it."

The Moto X felt like it was custom made for the user and you didn't have to accomodate for anything. Well, that is until 2-3 years down the road when the age set in and the camera didn't look so good compared to the new cameras coming out and the batteries started to die and the phone became sluggish...

My perfect dream phone is:

1. The body of the 2013 or 2014 Moto X

2. Pixel 2 hardware inside (assuming it will improve on Pixel)

3. Waterproof

4. Headphone jack

5. Moto X Software

6. Fingerprint Scanner inside Moto X dimple on the back :D

7. Motomaker Customization

8. Reliable software updates for 2-3 years.

It's crazy that this is asking too much. Isn't it?

Well, I could really ramble on about this phone forever. I just wanted you to know that you're not alone and crazy in this Moto X universe.

I'd like to ask you.. is there any phone on the horizon that you're hopeful for?