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Anyone here upgrade from 2013 to 2014?

A

araxxis

Well-Known Member
Hi guys, i am about to go to cricket wireless and i cant decide between the 2013 and 2014 versions. I have watched reviews on both and i was hoping to have them confirmed by someone on this forum who has used both phones:

1. 2013 has a better screen than the 2014. I have watched several reviewers on youtube say the 2013 has a better quality screen, and no they arent talking about it being sharper from the greater pixel density but they feel it is a more expensive/quality display.
2. 2013 has a better speaker than the 2014's dual front facing. Reviewers say although the 2014 has dual stereo speakers that the 2013's sounds better and gets louder for a single speaker.
3. Volume/power buttons on 2014 feel cheaper than 2013. This video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQaeh1E6vb4
He shows the buttons are loose in the phone and feel cheaper than 2013's, i wonder if this is common on 2014 or if he got a bad example.
4. 2014 is a lot bigger. I cant decide if the 2014 would feel too "tablety" to me, i use a 4.5" phone right now and i feel its a good size for a phone, but maybe i would get used to the size quickly.
5. No LTE on the 2014. I can get the 2013 LTE for 149.00 from cricket, but its locked to their network thats why its cheaper than amazon. I am not sure on this one. On one hand im not sure 4mbps (what cricket limits their 3g to) would be enough for streaming netflix 720p, if it is thats cool and the 2014 without lte could work for me.
6. 2014 has a better camera. Not a big deal for me cause i dont take many pictures, but nice to have a better camera still.
7. Call quality. From what ive seen on reviews people in general feel the 2014 has better call quality for some reason, but again thats why im hoping someone on this forum has had experience with both.
8. Battery life. It is said the 2013 has better battery life because of the smaller display, but i would like to hear it from someone who has owned both.


Thats all i can think of now, would really love to hear from someone that has owned both and can give info on my questions and maybe some i didnt think of.

I cant wait to get away from virgin mobile, the 4g service is soooo bad they say i have lte in my area but 80% of the time in my town im on 3g which is so slow on virgin (1mbps or less).
 
As are in a forum for the 2014 Moto g 2nd Gen I expect most here have indeed updated to the 2014 version.
The Moto G 2nd gen 2014 is a lot of an improvement on the 2013 model and I recommend buying it.
 
I can't speak for the 2013 model of the Moto G but the Moto G 2014 model is wonders. I have a Moto X 2nd Gen as well and have been using my Moto G 2014 as a daily driver. As far as the screen goes it is the same quality screen using IPS technology at 720p and trust the 5'' screen is very nice to have and considering the 2014 model has a larger screen it does reduce the PPI but its not at all noticeable. Yes, the Moto G 2014 does not have LTE but does utilize HSPA+ and if your going to be using Cricket Wireless then your in luck because they piggy back off of AT&T's network. Why are you in luck? Well because AT&T runs two "4G" networks they consider there HSPA+ network "4G" as well as LTE of course. AT&T's HSPA+ network runs on there 1900 PCS band and I usually average speeds of 6-8Mbps with bursts of upwards to 10-12Mbps depending on the time of day which outperforms Sprint's LTE network where I live... And really do you need any faster? 6-12Mbps over HSPA+ is plenty fast for browsing the web, email, streaming music, etc Pull the trigger and get the Moto G its well worth the money not to mention that Motorola is currently rolling out Android Lollipop, I received the update on both my G and X a few days ago.
 
I own both. The only reason I got the 2014 version was I broke the screen on my 2013 model. I prefer the newer model. I love the bigger screen and couldn't go back to having no SD card. The difference in terms of the display, battery life, speakers and camera (the last one supposedly a plus for the 2014 model) are negligible. One downside, and I think it's relevant to your situation, is how it feels. The 2013 model does feel slightly more comfortable to hold. If that really matters to you, and I think it does, then go for the older model. You won't feel shortchanged. Otherwise, the newer version is the way to go.

NB 4G is obviously a wild card. I haven't ever used it in a phone so can't comment on how much that matters to you.
 
i have booth... and really like the bigger screen of the sec. gen. as i get lots of text and e-mails from work and its just plain quicker for me to read.
plus the sd card is a bonus !
 
jmatherly411 said:
I can't speak for the 2013 model of the Moto G but the Moto G 2014 model is wonders. I have a Moto X 2nd Gen as well and have been using my Moto G 2014 as a daily driver. As far as the screen goes it is the same quality screen using IPS technology at 720p and trust the 5'' screen is very nice to have and considering the 2014 model has a larger screen it does reduce the PPI but its not at all noticeable. Yes, the Moto G 2014 does not have LTE but does utilize HSPA+ and if your going to be using Cricket Wireless then your in luck because they piggy back off of AT&T's network. Why are you in luck? Well because AT&T runs two "4G" networks they consider there HSPA+ network "4G" as well as LTE of course. AT&T's HSPA+ network runs on there 1900 PCS band and I usually average speeds of 6-8Mbps with bursts of upwards to 10-12Mbps depending on the time of day which outperforms Sprint's LTE network where I live... And really do you need any faster? 6-12Mbps over HSPA+ is plenty fast for browsing the web, email, streaming music, etc Pull the trigger and get the Moto G its well worth the money not to mention that Motorola is currently rolling out Android Lollipop, I received the update on both my G and X a few days ago.
Click to expand...


As you use the Moto G 2014 as a daily driver, could you please comment on the recent reports of multi-tasking limitations (i.e., keeping multiple apps open in case you wish to return where you left off is too limited due to the way the phone manages its 1GB of RAM as a result apps just shotdown and its a pain to start all over again).

Complaints are on the Motorolad Owner's forum and so I am concerned that it most likely is not user error. Do you feel you can't mover around the phone or switch between apps without any limits?
 
hisense said:
As you use the Moto G 2014 as a daily driver, could you please comment on the recent reports of multi-tasking limitations (i.e., keeping multiple apps open in case you wish to return where you left off is too limited due to the way the phone manages its 1GB of RAM as a result apps just shotdown and its a pain to start all over again).

Complaints are on the Motorolad Owner's forum and so I am concerned that it most likely is not user error. Do you feel you can't mover around the phone or switch between apps without any limits?
Click to expand...

The phone is very snappy and responsive due to the phone being pretty much pure stock Android Lollipop. I have not had any problems with apps closing due to the 1GB of RAM. Beware though that when playing graphically intensive games and backing out of them they will automatically close due to the RAM limitations, general tasks without playing games I have never experienced any slowdowns. Don't let that be the reason not to buy the Moto G it is a very respectful device and well worth the money. Its built very solid and almost feels like the Moto X.
 
Both versions do this. They both have very aggressive background app closing. Yes it is because of only a gig of ram being available. It can be a pain sometimes and it will do it a lot with the chrome browser. Say you open a page and then get a text message answer the message then try to go back to the page you were on. Well it will reload the page. Not a huge deal for some. About the gaming if your playing a game get a message then go back to the game it will reload the game. If your listening to music and start doing other ram intensive things with the music in the background it will close the music app. I don't know if lollipop has made that any better but it is deff there and its something a lot of people overlook because of the price of the phone. They really should of put a gig and a half of ram on the new g.
 
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