The (maybe) "Epic" Motorola X Pre-Release Thread

[sean76]

Moto X: 9 Things You May Not Know About Motorola

 

[EarlyMon]

Ok, it's been posted already yesterday when it first hit and it's still making news, so let's just show the benchmarks.

And again, repeating from last night, here's the linky - Performance preview: The Moto X sports a great GPU, respectable CPU | Ars Technica

I'm not a benchmark fan, and now even less so since the story broke that Samsung has jiggeredd their software on the SGS4 to detect benchmark apps and change how the phone runs better for the benchmark than for you, so I'll pretty much stop there but the info suggests a lot good about the X and certainly confirms things I've posted.

Comparing to the Nexus 4 - faster on graphics, faster on memory, faster on I/O - but due to the dual cores - slower on integer and floating point calculations. In a benchmark.

 

[shalemail]

I can't wait to get my hands on one.

That's the end of what I will say.

Oh that and I am hearing that Rogers pricing might be a little different ... 150 on contract for the 16GB.


I love the community of discussion boards, and I belong to several. Cars, boats, camping, DIY ...pretty much everything I have an interest in has a discussion board. And I love them all, especially when we all get worked up into a tizzy as soon as an announcement comes out. Me included FYI.

Final analysis ... we all need to play with the phone and see if we like it. That's it, nothing else, if we like it, we'll pay for it. we ALL KNOW that to be true, because we always do it.

HAPPY FRIDAY Y'ALL ... woot woot

 

[sean76]

I have a feeling were all being set up for something!

A Google nexus X

I just have a feeling there is more to what moto and Google are doing together and the fact that someone from the moto camp said that this is just the beginning of a long list of things to come from moto would lead me to believe Google will in fact drop a nexus branded X come November.

 

[EarlyMon]

I wasn't going to buy my last two phones - or at least - not right off the bat.

Except I did.

On launch day, once I got my hands and eyes on them.

:rofl:

This one will depend on the storage option and my budget.

 

[AntimonyER]

I wasn't going to buy my last two phones - or at least - not right off the bat.

Except I did.

On launch day, once I got my hands and eyes on them.

:rofl:

This one will depend on the storage option and my budget.

Yeah I will need to stay away from the Verizon store... My new N7.2 was due to this exact phenomena.

 

[EarlyMon]

I have a feeling were all being set up for something!

A Google nexus X

I just have a feeling there is more to what moto and Google are doing together and the fact that someone from the moto camp said that this is just the beginning of a long list of things to come from moto would lead me to believe Google will in fact drop a nexus branded X come November.

I have a theory on that, too.

The phone game still hasn't changed and it goes like this:

Release a phone with enough substance to get a lot of people on board, and leave enough off so demand remains for an upgrade or for waiting and not going to competitors.

That's the way it's always been.

 

[EarlyMon]

This post is pure snark directed at the blogosphere in general. Please skip if not interested.

My newest addition to my He Who Laughs Last collection -

Spoiler

By the way - and I'm not changing my position on benchmarks - but - I'm sitting here just chuckling away because of what just hit me.

On other releases, the blogosphere has been consistent - it rocks the new Godzilla Megaronian processor and wow, look at these benchmarks, they just prove how great this is going to be, I can't wait!

Compare and contrast to - well, we have to forgive Moto for not rocking the greatest specs, in fact they're really inferior, but Moto did that because they were looking for the XYZ market and by the way, the gaming and application benchmarks blow away our past favorites but let's talk something else.

This is what the blogosphere has sounded like to me describing benchmarks on every other new, exciting phone -

Except this time - and this time, it may actually apply as well as to any of the others.



Cheers, thanks for reading.

 

[shalemail]

Interesting article,

Motorola's Pricing Mistake - Forbes

Means the mainstream is going to start shooting it down for price too. Might maybe adjust the pricing before it comes out if there's enough of this.

Does Google GOOG -0.07% understand how much the Motorola brand has eroded over the past two years? The recent Motorola models at AT&T T -0.03% and Sprint fared badly and left a nasty smear on the brand image. The Moto X would be a really intriguing model priced at $99 with contract and $399 without. That is the price point where Motorola should be rebuilding its brand image. Attempting to go directly against Samsung Galaxy S4 and the brand new iPhone that will ship shortly seems quixotic at best.

 

[jova33]

I'm not that bright today.

Did you just say that the Marines are mid grade backed by PR?

Marines are the smallest armed service(coast guard is probably smallest military branch), they're slow to get the newest equipment. They were the last branch to get rid of the dragon missile system, the predecessor to the javelin, and impossible to hit anything with.
I'm not saying anything bad about their service members, it just seems like they get the short end of the stick when it comes to upgraded equipment.

 

[recDNA]

People seem to obsess about price here. I could care less about price but I want access to developer edition in vzw, a quad core, 1080p. I'm not going to spend a cent on a phone with last year's hardware locked to the gills. I see no reason to buy this phone. Even if it were a nexus the hardware would disappoint me.

 

[EarlyMon]

Interesting - and I agree that the brand has eroded, I think they know it and that's why they started the whole rebranding process last month.

However - once again - the Forbes article begins with this premise, and the bold red letters are mine -

It’s not a new idea that consumers should actually prefer a high-end smartphone with slightly older chip (1) and display technology (2) to gain better battery life. This is the pitch that has been made by several vendors literally for a decade. But it has never worked in the high-end niche. That is why it’s so surprising to see Motorola try it now.

1. This is not slightly older chip technology. The CPUs are Krait 300s and those did NOT appear until this year, the Krait 400 hasn't appeared in any phone yet. The GPUs are Adreno 320s, the Adreno 330 hasn't appeared in any phone yet.

2. Again - find me any phone before this with an RGB 720p AMOLED display.

Again, from the article -

There are consumers who price good battery life and don’t mind slightly older AMOLED display technology with 330 PPI density rather than splurging for a Samsung Galaxy S4 boasting a lavish, 5 inch Super AMOLED display with 440 PPI density.

Once again, let's do some Pentile/RGB math and see what holds water, and use correct numbers.

RGB = 3 subpixels/pixel

Pentile = 2 subpixels/pixel

Moto X subpixel density is 316 x 3 = 948 subpixels/inch.

SGS4 subpixel density is 441 x 2 = 882 subpixels/inch.

If they could have made a 720p RGB AMOLED last year, they would have done it.

They couldn't so they didn't.

They made it this year. It's actually new and improved.

So forget the Apple hype about ppi and Retinal displays for just a moment and ask yourself this -

How many points of light per inch do you think is more - 948 or 882?

If you said 948, then you just chose the Moto X over the SGS4 for screen resolution.

LoL

Lies, damned lies, statistics and the financial blogosphere.

They're creating the self-fulfilling prophecy for the Moto X to not be strong or worthy in the market.

Those however, are my opinions based solely on being actually familiar with the technology.

Statements 1 and 2 by Forbes - totally, completely and absolutely debunked. :rofl:

 

[recDNA]

Why don't you mention going backwards to dual core when better phones have quad core now?

 

[EarlyMon]

Why don't you mention going backwards to dual core when better phones have quad core now?

Better how?

Graphics performance? Memory performance? Application performance? Battery consumption?

Everything so far says this will be better for most applications in those areas.

Backwards how?

With the Krait 300 in those two cores, first phone ever to sport those in that configuration?

You said - better phones.

I think processors are one thing, a balanced design is quite another.
I'm not big on them but let me ask you - do you believe in benchmarks?

 

[Wolfedude88]

I'll definitely check it out for sure when it is released, and I will probably even pick one up, I usually get every phone, lol.

It looks nice, but the price is a turn off, but it is what it is.

I am deciding right now if I will get it on Verizon or switch to AT&T. Verizon just waived one of my early termination fees on my account for them not returning my $691.00 for the GS4 I returned two months ago.

So I could leave by only paying my wife's ETF of like 250. So I am thinking of leaving and going back to AT&T and get me and my wife two new phones, just cannot decide what do to. I would love to have the 32gb version.

 

[mush10]

That Droid-Life article is fantastic. I am pretty sold. I hope there is some price cut on the retail price but I am a sucker for a new device. 32GB here I come. Now when is it coming?

 

[Sandroidfan]

Better how?

Graphics performance? Memory performance? Application performance? Battery consumption?

Everything so far says this will be better for most applications in those areas.

Backwards how?

With the Krait 300 in those two cores, first phone ever to sport those in that configuration?

You said - better phones.

I think processors are one thing, a balanced design is quite another.
I'm not big on them but let me ask you - do you believe in benchmarks?

Are you sure it's Krait 300 in S4 pro? I thought Krait 300 first appeared in S600, and S4 pro has the same CPU cores as in S4 plus of last year. Maybe this new S4 pro (MSM8960DT) is different?

But I think X is doing surprisingly well in graphic benches than I thought it would.

 

[shalemail]

Interesting - and I agree that the brand has eroded, I think they know it and that's why they started the whole rebranding process last month.

However - once again - the Forbes article begins with this premise, and the bold red letters are mine -

1. This is not slightly older chip technology. The CPUs are Krait 300s and those did NOT appear until this year, the Krait 400 hasn't appeared in any phone yet. The GPUs are Adreno 320s, the Adreno 330 hasn't appeared in any phone yet.

2. Again - find me any phone before this with an RGB 720p AMOLED display.

Again, from the article -

Once again, let's do some Pentile/RGB math and see what holds water, and use correct numbers.

RGB = 3 subpixels/pixel

Pentile = 2 subpixels/pixel

Moto X subpixel density is 316 x 3 = 948 subpixels/inch.

SGS4 subpixel density is 441 x 2 = 882 subpixels/inch.

If they could have made a 720p RGB AMOLED last year, they would have done it.

They couldn't so they didn't.

They made it this year. It's actually new and improved.

So forget the Apple hype about ppi and Retinal displays for just a moment and ask yourself this -

How many points of light per inch do you think is more - 948 or 882?

If you said 948, then you just chose the Moto X over the SGS4 for screen resolution.

LoL

Lies, damned lies, statistics and the financial blogosphere.

They're creating the self-fulfilling prophecy for the Moto X to not be strong or worthy in the market.

Those however, are my opinions based solely on being actually familiar with the technology.

Statements 1 and 2 by Forbes - totally, completely and absolutely debunked. :rofl:

I agree completely. That said the market Moto is aiming at WILL read this and other articles just like this and drink the cool aid. All I can hope is it launches at whatever price and the market quickly moves it lower. I.e. the HTC First.

But only time will tell.

 

[shalemail]

That Droid-Life article is fantastic. I am pretty sold. I hope there is some price cut on the retail price but I am a sucker for a new device. 32GB here I come. Now when is it coming?

Late Aug early Sept to ATT ... with customization add 4 days shipping from the official date of release.

 

[mush10]

Why don't you mention going backwards to dual core when better phones have quad core now?

They need some Apple pixie dust to get out of this mindset folks like you have. Reading the MacRumors thread yesterday many people were commenting on the fact the Moto X only had 2 cores. They all are posting and criticizing without a clue that their high performing iPhone 5's also have a dual core processor. Nobody cares because it works well. If people take that same approach with the Moto X, it will be a solid phone for most people.

 

[EarlyMon]

Are you sure it's Krait 300 in S4 pro? I thought Krait 300 first appeared in S600, and S4 pro has the same CPU cores as in S4 plus of last year. Maybe this new S4 pro (MSM8960DT) is different?

But I think X is doing surprisingly well in graphic benches than I thought it would.

Positive.

Qualcomm has always played fast and loose on their processor naming - they've modified the S4 names and classes as they've gone along.

The Krait 300 did appear first in the Snapdragon 600 this year, the Adreno 320 in the earlier APQ8064 processor back when it was the only S4 Pro in the line.

Just days or a few weeks ago (I don't recall) a popular rumor for the Moto X was that it would sport the Snapdragon 600 due to results from benchmark apps and CPU id apps.

Looking at those results and comparing to actual 600 results, I predicted then that this would be a particular S4 Pro.

One of those app developers refuted my claim and insisted that the X would have the 600.

I maintained that they were all correct about the CPU core type but not the number.

The number we know is 2 - and the benchmark results above could only be possible with the Krait 300.

I could be wrong, the Geekbench results compared to the SGS3 (which I don't trust) say it's an earlier Krait clocked faster - but other results from 2-core benchmarks and the Geekbench results compared to the Nexus 4 (the one I'd trust) puts it above the APQ8064.

Snapdragon S4 Product Specs

And finally - Brian Klug from Anandtech said the T denoted the 300 -

APQ8064,8960=Krait 200. APQ8064T/Pro,8960Pro/T=Krait 300.

So - I'm going to stick by the claim that's the Krait 300.

 

[juxsa]

Why don't you mention going backwards to dual core when better phones have quad core now?

More cores and more mhz doesn't mean better performance. Compare the recent AMD FX9350 to an Intel core i7. The AMD has 8 cores and almost 2ghz advantage yet doesn't perform nearly as well. I don't put much weight on artificial benchmarks but so far this X8 design seems to hold its own.

I actually joined this forum because after reading some of these posts I couldn't stand the amount of misinformation and misunderstanding that was going on

 

[EarlyMon]

Welcome to the forums!

 

[juxsa]

Welcome to the forums!

Thanks. Don't worry I'll play by the rules and won't be a jerk :-D

 

[drhill]

The cores could come in to play when Chrome's webkit fork is finished. The claim for needing to fork was to take better advantage of multi-core systems. Other then that, and "hardcore" mobile gaming, dual core would be enough.

Really, they lost me when they didn't support wireless charging. I would have still considered a higher price, but I wasn't willing to give up a huge convenience feature for it. Now I'm hoping for a new Verizon Nexus phone... I must be insane.