Thanks Brian. I was about to ask you guys to look into this, but you already beat me to the punch. I was on the fence and almost went and bought a LG G2 this weekend, but now that the camera has improved so much on the MotoX, I'm leaning more towards the MotoX. Thanks again.
I would if it was coming to Verizon, but based on what happened with the GNex and how the Nexus 4 never made it to Verizon, I have very little hope that the Nexus 5 will even make it to Verizon and even worst is the fact that Google keeps on pushing their Cloud on me. I want to be able to save whatever I want on my phone, not rely on my connection to the internet in order for me to get what I need. Give me the storage option, don't just assume I'm going to get your phone just because you are Google. And more to that point, is that now many carriers charge for data, so the fact that I will have everything in the Cloud and that I will be eating huge amounts of data is a double whammy I will not live with. Period. So unless is on Verizon, and has at least 32GB of storage, I'm not touching it.
The Galaxy Nexus which was officially the Nexus 3 and then Google dropped support for it was a Nexus on the Verizon network. With Verizon, unless you are Apple, it is very difficult to get any updates through their system. I don't know if its the notion that Apple can sell more or that Google just doesn't have that much sway, but I still blame Google for dropping support for the most part on this device.
Not by tradition or policy... The Galaxy S was available on Sprint, thGalaxy Nexus was largely a Verizon experiment (fail)... So two out of four Nexus devices were GSM only (first and last), and the last one didn't support LTE so it was limited in other ways.
OTOH the CDMA market outside of Verizon is small (by comparison) as it's pretty much Sprint and a few MNVO. Regardless, FCC docs do indeed suggest the next Nexus will fully support all AT&T, Tmo, and Sprint bands for 3G, voice, and LTE. (with SVLTE and being the only glaring sacrifice for Sprint)
I would also be wary of Verizon and un-branded devices that support Verizon lte. I was listening to a rant on twit about Verizon not opening a new line for a nexus 7 because it hadn't gone through some security and network compatibility stuff. It was said that the wait for authentication was about six to eight weeks
Very interesting, shame they didn't come out the door with this kinda performance since most sites will never retest. I reeeeally like the compact size of the X, but a low priced Nexus 5 will probably woo me away to a larger phone (if it does indeed come to Sprint).
You are not kidding when you say it fits so good in your hands. I fumble a lot with phones. Usually they drop and get knicked up but this phone fits so well in my hand I haven't dropped this phone even once and I got it at launch. My last phone which had a flat front and back I dinged up within the first two weeks.
I read the other day that Republic Wireless will offer the Moto X for 299 contract-free. Though not unlocked and tied to Sprint's network, that's still a very Nexus-like price.
wow, thank you for putting this through its paces whereas other sites are only reporting it exists.
is it safe to assume this will be available for the Droid MAXX, if subject to a slight delay? the camera is the only thing holding me back from buying that device.
thanks also for your hype-free liveblog of the Surface launch this morning. as a Pro owner, the Pro 2 looks like a great upgrade.
It looks like in some cases they jacked up the contrast a bit too much. Before you could see a lot in dark areas and now it just comes up black. Still, overall it looks much better and I'm now pretty sure this is what I'm getting when my contract is up next month. My only issue now is if I wait for MotoMaker to come to T-Mobile or not. I need 32GB but don't like the white back on the developer edition. Ugh...
It is good news that the camera no longer has to be a feature that pushes away buyers who are on the fence.
The big issue, however, is that they need to make MotoMaker available on all carriers. A smarter move would have been to release the phone at $100 for white and black models, then they could have gotten away with charging $200 for customized versions. I think they would have sold many more handsets (customized and not customized) with that strategy.
As it stands, most people considering this phone outside of AT&T will be waiting for MotoMaker. By the time it becomes available, there is a serious danger of losing the spotlight to all of the new phones that will be released between now and the holidays.
Then people would've been outraged at the cost and few would bother with using Maker... I'd pay $50 extra for the privilege, maybe, certainly not $100. The exclusivity sucks either way, wonder how much AT&T paid for it and whether it was rally worth it for Moto. Had the camera worked right on day one and the device/Maker/DEs not home thru this whole staggered launch it would've been a huge hit IMO.
I agree that $100 would be a lot, so no argument there, but at least it would give Motorola something to point to when trying to justify the $200 price (i.e. the cost of customization and your phone being built/customized in the USA for US buyers). As it stands, $200 seems too high, and if you are not on AT&T it feels like you are missing out on half the fun of getting this phone.
Yes, I'd like to know how it compares to the 5S camera, as I am considering switching to Android for this phone, but the camera is one of the key considerations for me.
These are some pretty stunning post-release improvements. Definitely looking forward to the larger comparison (S4/One/G2/iPhone 5s/Moto X). Then I can complain about how you're so bias and a bully. Wait, that's not it...
One of the gripes I had with the camera was the video. The brightness seemed to go dark and then bright as if it was trying to aggressively adjust to the perfect brightness. It came out as distracting. Can you confirm that this has been addressed?
You can manually turn HDR off or on or turn it to auto-HDR. The camera currently seems to kick HDR in more frequently in the auto mode. I don't mind loss of shadow detail to overcome the ridiculous haze. Also feel that the camera is really sensitive to lens grime or smudges. You have to OCD about cleaning the lens for a clear photo. Hope this addresses this issue too. I've got a Droid Mini on Verizon so I hope this update will eventually make it over. The whole Droid lineup has the same camera and processor hardware/software as the Moto X.
It will be very interesting to compare phones camera when the final image are all at the same dimension. For example, the HTC One appears to do a lot better than the Moto X (pre-updated), but while the HTC One's sensor pixel size is a lot bigger, Moto X has a lot more pixels to begin with. It will be interesting to compare Moto X's output when the photo it captured is down-sampled to the same size as the HTC One, as this effectively "enlarge" Moto X sensor's pixel size virtually.
Software tuning can only do so much. The potential of the hardware just isn't there. I was expecting more from the clearpixel breakthrough. At least, I thought it was suppose to be a breakthrough. The camera would've probably benefited more from OIS or a lower aperture lens than the clearpixel layer. At least it is on par with the rest and not substantially worse like before.
I still love my Lumia 928 for the camera. I still put my SIM in it when I am going to be taking pictures. I love my Moto X and the Android ecosystem, but the more I use my Lumia, the more I am thinking of selling the X.
I will be honest, I like the Lumia a lot better, since I have been using 8.1 as a full time OS on my Ultrabook.
It's a shame Google doesn't get how important the camera is. Outside of HTC, there is really no stellar low to mid light Android camera.
Hope Google does the same kind of tune up for it's Nexus 4. We come to realise the in built camera software is mediocre, when we try to use third party camera softwares like Camera FV lite or Camera 360 ultimate - what these produce are far better (whilst using the same lens and hardware) to what the former can do. Therefore, as the article says the software tuning is very important and hope (if not other OEMs for their flagships) atleast Google follows steps to do this for their most popular Nexus 4 as this is one big lagging area for this device as most of us know.
Thanks for the update, Brian! The only thing that I would have liked to have seen is for the low light pictures to have the same ISO for a truer apples to apples comparison.
Like a few others have mentioned, the camera was the biggest turnoff for me up until now. This update may have just put me over the edge though!
The samples from the link above show unacceptable level of purple fringing in the MotoX shots. This problem is generally associated with lens quality so we might see it go away in newer camera modules. But it has drawn to my attention that the new Clear Pixel sensor also collects a lot of ultraviolet light.
Purple fringing is also present in shots with the old software. The new processing engine seems to make it more visible, not add more of it. The new software aims to underexpose landscape scenes. Looking at the EXIF data from the old and updated shots I'm surprised to see that the ISO, f-stop and shutter speed are more or less the same. That indicates that the new image look may be the result of digital processing, not improvements in the metering and capture system.
The Clear Pixel color matrix calls for extra calculations on the green channel to determine the correct tonal balance. It seems the new software is able to accomplish that really well in dark lit environment but it looks to me that it's somewhat off when the highlights are clipped. The high ISO performance of the Clear Pixel sensor looks great but it's probably somewhat prudent to pursue better sensor dynamic range as we race towards better low-light performance.
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
50 Comments
Back to Article
skiboysteve - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
wow awesomejamdev12 - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
Thanks Brian. I was about to ask you guys to look into this, but you already beat me to the punch. I was on the fence and almost went and bought a LG G2 this weekend, but now that the camera has improved so much on the MotoX, I'm leaning more towards the MotoX. Thanks again.BMNify - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
Better wait for the Nexus 5.jamdev12 - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
I would if it was coming to Verizon, but based on what happened with the GNex and how the Nexus 4 never made it to Verizon, I have very little hope that the Nexus 5 will even make it to Verizon and even worst is the fact that Google keeps on pushing their Cloud on me. I want to be able to save whatever I want on my phone, not rely on my connection to the internet in order for me to get what I need. Give me the storage option, don't just assume I'm going to get your phone just because you are Google. And more to that point, is that now many carriers charge for data, so the fact that I will have everything in the Cloud and that I will be eating huge amounts of data is a double whammy I will not live with. Period. So unless is on Verizon, and has at least 32GB of storage, I'm not touching it.mtalinm - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
Aren't nexus devices GSM only?jamdev12 - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
The Galaxy Nexus which was officially the Nexus 3 and then Google dropped support for it was a Nexus on the Verizon network. With Verizon, unless you are Apple, it is very difficult to get any updates through their system. I don't know if its the notion that Apple can sell more or that Google just doesn't have that much sway, but I still blame Google for dropping support for the most part on this device.Impulses - Tuesday, September 24, 2013 - link
Not by tradition or policy... The Galaxy S was available on Sprint, thGalaxy Nexus was largely a Verizon experiment (fail)... So two out of four Nexus devices were GSM only (first and last), and the last one didn't support LTE so it was limited in other ways.OTOH the CDMA market outside of Verizon is small (by comparison) as it's pretty much Sprint and a few MNVO. Regardless, FCC docs do indeed suggest the next Nexus will fully support all AT&T, Tmo, and Sprint bands for 3G, voice, and LTE. (with SVLTE and being the only glaring sacrifice for Sprint)
Rock Hydra - Tuesday, September 24, 2013 - link
I would also be wary of Verizon and un-branded devices that support Verizon lte. I was listening to a rant on twit about Verizon not opening a new line for a nexus 7 because it hadn't gone through some security and network compatibility stuff. It was said that the wait for authentication was about six to eight weeksryanmt - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
This was my major concern about the MotoX... it seemed like the camera wasn't acceptable compared to other options, like the HTC One.Impulses - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
Very interesting, shame they didn't come out the door with this kinda performance since most sites will never retest. I reeeeally like the compact size of the X, but a low priced Nexus 5 will probably woo me away to a larger phone (if it does indeed come to Sprint).Rock Hydra - Tuesday, September 24, 2013 - link
You are not kidding when you say it fits so good in your hands. I fumble a lot with phones. Usually they drop and get knicked up but this phone fits so well in my hand I haven't dropped this phone even once and I got it at launch. My last phone which had a flat front and back I dinged up within the first two weeks.desaf - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
I wish this update came earlier. If the Moto X had the pricetag of a Nexus I would buy it without thinkingImpulses - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
Dittofic2 - Tuesday, September 24, 2013 - link
Ditto.code65536 - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
I read the other day that Republic Wireless will offer the Moto X for 299 contract-free. Though not unlocked and tied to Sprint's network, that's still a very Nexus-like price.desaf - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
+1 it's a shame I don't live in the states. I live in Holland :-(mtalinm - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
wow, thank you for putting this through its paces whereas other sites are only reporting it exists.is it safe to assume this will be available for the Droid MAXX, if subject to a slight delay? the camera is the only thing holding me back from buying that device.
thanks also for your hype-free liveblog of the Surface launch this morning. as a Pro owner, the Pro 2 looks like a great upgrade.
MattCoz - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
It looks like in some cases they jacked up the contrast a bit too much. Before you could see a lot in dark areas and now it just comes up black. Still, overall it looks much better and I'm now pretty sure this is what I'm getting when my contract is up next month. My only issue now is if I wait for MotoMaker to come to T-Mobile or not. I need 32GB but don't like the white back on the developer edition. Ugh...Impulses - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
Is Moto Maker on AT&T available if you decide to use their annual phone update/financing program?MattCoz - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
I don't know, but that program is a ripoff.Impulses - Tuesday, September 24, 2013 - link
I agree, I was juscurious whether it'd make it to Sprint One Up program which actually has some merit.SimLash - Thursday, September 26, 2013 - link
I'm waiting for Moto Maker but I'm wondering why T-Mobile isn't doing its payment plan with the XTrackSmart - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
It is good news that the camera no longer has to be a feature that pushes away buyers who are on the fence.The big issue, however, is that they need to make MotoMaker available on all carriers. A smarter move would have been to release the phone at $100 for white and black models, then they could have gotten away with charging $200 for customized versions. I think they would have sold many more handsets (customized and not customized) with that strategy.
As it stands, most people considering this phone outside of AT&T will be waiting for MotoMaker. By the time it becomes available, there is a serious danger of losing the spotlight to all of the new phones that will be released between now and the holidays.
Impulses - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
Then people would've been outraged at the cost and few would bother with using Maker... I'd pay $50 extra for the privilege, maybe, certainly not $100. The exclusivity sucks either way, wonder how much AT&T paid for it and whether it was rally worth it for Moto. Had the camera worked right on day one and the device/Maker/DEs not home thru this whole staggered launch it would've been a huge hit IMO.TrackSmart - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
I agree that $100 would be a lot, so no argument there, but at least it would give Motorola something to point to when trying to justify the $200 price (i.e. the cost of customization and your phone being built/customized in the USA for US buyers). As it stands, $200 seems too high, and if you are not on AT&T it feels like you are missing out on half the fun of getting this phone.kwamayze - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
How does it compare to other flagship phones now? I was wishing you update the previous articlemcsmith1981 - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
Yes, I'd like to know how it compares to the 5S camera, as I am considering switching to Android for this phone, but the camera is one of the key considerations for me.Brian Klug - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
I definitely plan to do the comparisons again and see how it stacks up, I just didn't have enough time to do everything for that.-Brian
swamy035 - Tuesday, September 24, 2013 - link
Curious to know about the speed - launch speed, between snaps, image view (if it counts here)? - just from the time you spent with I5s and updated x ?somedude1 - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
Does this update address only the camera?Any release notes? ...mostly curious if it addresses the noise-cancellation problems...
Thanks.
dwdty9 - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
Here's the changelog:http://www.androidcentral.com/moto-x-update-coming...
somedude1 - Tuesday, September 24, 2013 - link
thanks!Krysto - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
I think they need to roll back the contrast/darkness in outdoor photos just slightly. They seem a bit darker compared to S4 and LG G2 cameras.http://www.droid-life.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/...
http://www.droid-life.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/...
In low-light it seems to perform very well, although I need to see more comparisons. Overall huge improvement, and how it should've been from day one.
teiglin - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
These are some pretty stunning post-release improvements. Definitely looking forward to the larger comparison (S4/One/G2/iPhone 5s/Moto X). Then I can complain about how you're so bias and a bully. Wait, that's not it...darwinosx - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
The iPhone 5s slays all of them no contest.Brian Klug - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
HA! Yeah I'll definitely be comparing it to the current roundup.-Brian
KennyG Jr - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
Now I would consider it, but I'll still wait to see what the Nexus 5 will offer.kenguy79 - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
The difference in the pictures is amazing!One of the gripes I had with the camera was the video. The brightness seemed to go dark and then bright as if it was trying to aggressively adjust to the perfect brightness. It came out as distracting. Can you confirm that this has been addressed?
UltraWide - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
So they fixed a crappy camera... it's expected. It should not be rewarded.chriscardinal - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
Regrettably, there was apparently nothing the MotoX team could do to keep you from taking photos of Tucson... :-) (Tempe says hi!)Droidguy29 - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
You can manually turn HDR off or on or turn it to auto-HDR. The camera currently seems to kick HDR in more frequently in the auto mode. I don't mind loss of shadow detail to overcome the ridiculous haze. Also feel that the camera is really sensitive to lens grime or smudges. You have to OCD about cleaning the lens for a clear photo. Hope this addresses this issue too. I've got a Droid Mini on Verizon so I hope this update will eventually make it over. The whole Droid lineup has the same camera and processor hardware/software as the Moto X.pixelslave - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
It will be very interesting to compare phones camera when the final image are all at the same dimension. For example, the HTC One appears to do a lot better than the Moto X (pre-updated), but while the HTC One's sensor pixel size is a lot bigger, Moto X has a lot more pixels to begin with. It will be interesting to compare Moto X's output when the photo it captured is down-sampled to the same size as the HTC One, as this effectively "enlarge" Moto X sensor's pixel size virtually.siberstorm - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
Software tuning can only do so much. The potential of the hardware just isn't there. I was expecting more from the clearpixel breakthrough. At least, I thought it was suppose to be a breakthrough. The camera would've probably benefited more from OIS or a lower aperture lens than the clearpixel layer. At least it is on par with the rest and not substantially worse like before.cditty - Monday, September 23, 2013 - link
I still love my Lumia 928 for the camera. I still put my SIM in it when I am going to be taking pictures. I love my Moto X and the Android ecosystem, but the more I use my Lumia, the more I am thinking of selling the X.I will be honest, I like the Lumia a lot better, since I have been using 8.1 as a full time OS on my Ultrabook.
It's a shame Google doesn't get how important the camera is. Outside of HTC, there is really no stellar low to mid light Android camera.
gandergray - Tuesday, September 24, 2013 - link
Brian: Thank you for the valuable information. You should link this article in your original review.sany - Tuesday, September 24, 2013 - link
Hope Google does the same kind of tune up for it's Nexus 4. We come to realise the in built camera software is mediocre, when we try to use third party camera softwares like Camera FV lite or Camera 360 ultimate - what these produce are far better (whilst using the same lens and hardware) to what the former can do.Therefore, as the article says the software tuning is very important and hope (if not other OEMs for their flagships) atleast Google follows steps to do this for their most popular Nexus 4 as this is one big lagging area for this device as most of us know.
sasthach - Tuesday, September 24, 2013 - link
Thanks for the update, Brian! The only thing that I would have liked to have seen is for the low light pictures to have the same ISO for a truer apples to apples comparison.Like a few others have mentioned, the camera was the biggest turnoff for me up until now. This update may have just put me over the edge though!
boris81 - Tuesday, September 24, 2013 - link
http://www.droid-life.com/2013/09/23/moto-x-camera...The samples from the link above show unacceptable level of purple fringing in the MotoX shots.
This problem is generally associated with lens quality so we might see it go away in newer camera modules. But it has drawn to my attention that the new Clear Pixel sensor also collects a lot of ultraviolet light.
Purple fringing is also present in shots with the old software. The new processing engine seems to make it more visible, not add more of it. The new software aims to underexpose landscape scenes. Looking at the EXIF data from the old and updated shots I'm surprised to see that the ISO, f-stop and shutter speed are more or less the same. That indicates that the new image look may be the result of digital processing, not improvements in the metering and capture system.
The Clear Pixel color matrix calls for extra calculations on the green channel to determine the correct tonal balance. It seems the new software is able to accomplish that really well in dark lit environment but it looks to me that it's somewhat off when the highlights are clipped. The high ISO performance of the Clear Pixel sensor looks great but it's probably somewhat prudent to pursue better sensor dynamic range as we race towards better low-light performance.
Samwise - Wednesday, October 2, 2013 - link
Anandtech, please review the Droid MAXX.hemesh - Monday, May 12, 2014 - link
how to update the moto x camera??