Unlike the Motorola Moto G, the Moto X is positioned in a higher segment, which means there’s a lot of competition waiting for it already. When it comes to Android phones, especially in the price range we are dealing with, the first phone that comes to mind is generally the Google Nexus 5. But with recent price-cuts, last year’s flagship from Samsung, the Galaxy S4, is within reach, and that would be a tough thing to miss. Let’s see if the Motorola Moto X stands anywhere close to the Samsung
Galaxy S4:
Design: While neither of the two are outright beautiful, the Samsung benefits from the use of faux metal trim on the sides, which gives it a marginal edge by making the Galaxy S4 look more premium. That in no way means the Moto X doesn’t look good. It looks decent, and the unique wood back panels (dearer by about Rs 2,000 over the standard phone) help it stand out.
Display: Samsung Galaxy S4′s 5-inch Super AMOLED display is larger, is full HD (1920×1020 pixels), and has a higher pixel density (441 ppi) in comparison to Moto X’s 4.7-inch HD (1280×720 pixels) AMOLED screen with a pixel density of 312ppi.
Power: The Moto X has a 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 SoC and 2GB of RAM. The Samsung S4, on the other hand, has identical RAM but is powered by an eight-core Exynos Octa 5 CPU clocked at 1.9GHz. On the Moto X, the Motorola X8 co-processors take care of tasks when the phone is ‘asleep’, hence improving the phone’s battery life.
Storage and Battery: The Galaxy S4 has the upper edge here as it comes with 16GB of internal memory as well as the option to expand it up to 64GB using a microSD card, whereas the Moto X offers 16GB of onboard memory and that’s about it. No expansion option is available on the Motorola. The Galaxy S4 also boasts a bigger battery (2,600mAh) than the Moto X (2,200mAh).
Software: Both the phones run Android 4.4.2 KitKat, but where Samsung’s device is bogged down by bloatware, the Moto X offers near-stock Android experience.
Camera: On paper, both phones’ cameras are closely matched. Both can record up to 30fps Full HD (1920×1080 pixels) video on both front and rear cameras. The Galaxy S4 though comes with a bigger sensor than the Moto X (13-megapixels vs 10-megapixels) and also features dual-camera recording, which essentially captures shots from both front and rear cameras simultaneously. Other camera add-ons like Sound & Shot, which records audio with photos, and Drama Shot, which stitches continuous photos to make a collage.
Extras: Moto X comes with things like Touchless Control, which is the ability to listen to user’s voice commands without him having to touch the phone, at all. You say ‘Ok Google Now’ and the phone responds. There’s also Active Display which brings the important notifications on the lock-screen, and Quick Capture lets the user access the camera by the twist of the wrist, provided the phone is also in the wrist! The phone also features resistance to water splashes, thanks to the water-repellant coating on it.
Samsung doesn’t fall back on the gimmickry either. It has Air View, which lets you control the phone’s touchscreen without touching it. It can pause videos when the user is not looking into the screen, and can also convert into a 2.1 or 5.1 speaker setup if there are a few more S4 phones around. This Samsung also detects temperature and humidity too.
In essence it’s a competition between two phones not just separated by about six months (the Moto X was launched in certain markets in August last year, while the Galaxy S4 is exactly a year old now), but also their respective position. The Moto X is a mid-range phone bringing a good amount of user-centric features and not just big specs for bragging rights. The Galaxy S4 on the other hand, is 2013′s flagship device from Samsung, which was launched at a price tag of Rs 41,500, but has eventually come down to Rs 29,500. So, you essentially get a phone that sat on the top of Samsung’s range a year ago but now finds itself close to the mid-range devices. You see, the Galaxy S4 comes at a higher price and offers certain features that might win your heart. But if we are talking about user-centric features, it’s the Moto X that wins the day.
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