That battery looks awful small. Guess we'll have to see how much the SD 617 and 1080p AMOLED sip when active, but the standby times will suffer regardless.
6.0 is not a unique strength, all the 2015 phones will have it eventually. If you're receiving the same push notifications, syncing the same accounts, maintaining the same WiFi or LTE connection, updating the same locations, and never turning on the screen, a 2000mAh phone will have poor standby time compared to a 3000mAh phone.
Then how does iPhone, with the same "push notifications, syncing the same accounts, maintaining the same WiFi or LTE connection, updating the same locations, and never turning on the screen" manage better battery life than competing Android phones?
Because iOS is very power optimized, a luxury Apple has since it only needs to support a few devices.
Android has been improving power efficiency slowly but surely (they didn't really even put an emphases on it until 4.4 Kitkat) and Android 6.0 certainly has the framework to deliver comparable battery performance to iOS.
Well your comparison is a bit apple to oranges... androids. The one above is about phones that basically have a different battery capacity but similar hardware, OS and use cases. Obviously of the two phones that share much of the hardware and almost identical OS the one with the bigger battery will last longer on a charge.
Bringing into the mix a phone that has different hardware and different OS cannot be relevant to this particular comparison. How is the fact that Apple optimizez both HW and SW relevant for a comparison about android phones running the same OS version and basically the same run of the mill hardware?
The hardware here is not "comparable". It's intentionally underpowered, and decidedly mid-tier in comparison to any of the major flagships. This should be a benefit when it comes to power consumption.
The reason iOS is better power optimized is because Apple locks the OS down so much. You have a lot less control over the product. While a lot of people like this, a lot of people (primarily people who go for android phones) prefer the ability to modify or change things moreso. IMO we're splitting hairs here. Its not like an apples phone will last 2x as long as an android. From my experience at best its about 10% with similar usage scenarios.
I also think the battery life argument has really become a non issue. Back at the start of smart phones when you HAD to charge your phone every day, even if you didnt use it much, it was a relevant discussion. Battery life has become so long that you have to be extremely lazy, or be on some kind of australian walkabout to where you can't access a charger at least every other day or so.
Can't believe I'm saying this, but I think this might even be a Nexus 5X killer for me. IMO, it is closer to what I had hoped the 5P was. Apart from the weaker SoC and lack of pure Android, I really appreciate the more premium and compact form factor.
Agreed. I really wanted to pull the trigger on the 5X, but the lack of expandable storage capped at 32GB, and no image stabilization killed it for me. This seems like it checks all the boxes for me. I preordered a garnet red unit...
This. That was the main reason i bought the original One. There was some justification for the massive bezels above and below the screen. Now? Not so much. Personally i am absolutely enamored with my LG G3 and fully intend to pick up whatever replaces the LG G4 in about a year and a half when im ready for a new phone.
For its size and capabilities, IMO it is superior to the Nexus 5X. That may change once the online promotional offer of $399 ends on Nov 7th. After that the price jumps up by $100. At that point the 5x may be preferred. Too many people are comparing this A9 to the Moto X Pure, but that is a different market. HTC will be coming out with the M10 in the new year, and that will be their flagship in that sector. Some rumors the O2 may be a smaller version of the M10, for those that want a phone that is easy to hold and operate with one hand. For now the 5x and the A9 are the best two devices in that size sector.
They should have went with that design 2 years ago. The previous curved back with their "stacked" battery between screen and pcb was an absolute engineering (and disassembly) nightmare.
"BoomSound" dual speakers was a design fail too, IMHO. It put too much strain on the internal design of the device. That being said, WHY THE HECK can't they get rid of these oversized bezels? It doesn't even look symmetrical to me.
Such stubborn, foolish management. They should have fled the "premium" segment 2 years ago, and mainly concentrated on the higher mid-range just like they're doing now. They simply didn't have what it takes to compete in the "premuim" segment; their One series were hardly ever well balanced, and they couldn't afford "premium" advertising.
This isn't _too little_, but it's definitely too late. Chinese OEMs are going to kick their behind.
Properly powered stereo front-firing speakers was the sole reason I would ever buy a HTC again after my M7. Take that away and HTC really has nothing else to hold on to.
As for the sub-par engineering and industrial design evolution since the M7, it's no surprise since the company suffered from a pretty big talent exodus back in 2013. That's why they can't make competitive flagships on those fronts.
And yes, chinese OEMs like UNI and ZTE already have models in the market that give this a run for its money (same hardware for half the price).
There were so many things the M7 and M8 got right though. They really only suffered from the stacked battery you mentioned and obviously the camera. Sense is the best third party skin out of the Sense/Touchwiz/UX crowd.
Really hoping they can pull a rabbit out of the hat with the M10 or I think they are done. SD 820, 5.2" 1080p IPS, quality rear camera with OIS, stereo speakers, IR blaster, Micro SD, 3000-3500 mAh removable battery, and no more metal unibody for $500 would be my perfect phone.
Well, no. Not really. Sony does most of the above better than HTC. Big batteries with good usage times. Stereo speakers. VERY light skin (and better than HTC's, it's close to stock). Displays topping at 5.2". They wreck HTC in design as well, the Z5 is way better looking than the M9...
Good battery usage... 2 days per charge with runs to 3 on my M9 Stereo speakers... clearly you haven't enjoyed the M7-8-or 9 with front facing speakers Sense beats stock skins by miles, not to mention how smooth they run compared to Touchwiz (given, the S6 has the power to be smooth) Displays topping?? Some people actually like larger screens... Z5 is nice, but it's called taste/preference/opinion... I like the M9 more and don't thing the Z5 is prettier, you do. It's great to have different opinions, but it's no argument to say 1 is better than the other ;)
The M10 or MX (oh if only :P) needs to be an HTC version of the BB Priv. Considering the current design improvements (and details) this is a nice return into the right direction. Hardware wise, as explained in the announcement, the M series will be focused on that and they're focussing the A serie more to design. For that matter (and hopefully) HTC would re-focus into more concentrated ways and stop the market flood.
Well, we'll see what the MX will do. I hope more than the 820 otherwise it will lean more onto the design side and then... the Priv will be a real competition!
2 Years ago they had the chance to corner the market on budget/mid Windows Phones but they threw that away too. They could have at least been limping along with that in emerging markets.
No no no that space is used for something, the front facing speakers take up valueab... oh wait this doesn't have front facing speakers. So yes its a waste of space, htc still didn't learn.
I'd like to thank HTC for offering a very good device starting at 32GB storage / 3GB RAM. It's 2015, and I can't bring myself to support OEMs who purposely short-change flagship phones with 16GB of storage and tack on another $50 - $100 for flash memory that adds $5 - $10 to their BOM. I've also used HTC's repair service before for an out-of-warranty fix on my HTC One M7's microphone, and they 2-day shipped a refurbished unit for $110 with a return label for my broken phone. It's great to get worry-free fixes for a year and know that they still support cheap repairs out-of-warranty. IMO the increased storage, metal body, and pledge to update within 15 days of an Android update makes the unlocked HTC One A9 a better buy than the Nexus 5X, and a suitable upgrade from my One M7, so I've preordered one.
If you come from an SD600... the SD617 won't be an issue ;)
It may be mid-range, but you double on cores and for you guys in the USA the price is rather nice (and if you feel it's high... well wait two months :D)
It'd be nice to have a more powerful SOC but for $399 I'm OK with the tradeoff. My main use case is email, web browsing, and music playback, don't need the extra horsepower for games. It should also be more power efficient and help the smaller battery last longer.
I believe that actually the sd 617 is slower or at best equal compared to the sd 600. Remember that the 600 was their high end back then, the 617 is mid end.
Hope they continue to survive, but it's going to be tough. This phone isn't much different from its very well equipped competitors in a crowded segment. You've got the ASUS Zenfone 2, Moto X, and various Chinese manufacturers for almost half price in some cases (zenfone 2).
Honestly, that SoC is weak for such a high priced phone. You're gonna need to add value somewhere else, and HTC doesnt have the marketing aura Samsung/Apple commands, or SW value with HTCSense...
I've been using this phone for the past six weeks and I'm really impressed by it. The build quality is awesome, it's very speedy, takes awesome pictures of my daughter, and speaker surprisingly sounds the same as my M7.
What "issues" are being referenced regarding the Snapdragon 808? I think we're all aware of the 810's problems, but this is the first I've seen about the 808.
Considering Motorola couldn't figure out how to get good performance out of the Snapdragon 615 on the Moto X , I'm not holding out on HTC doing much better with the 617.
I think if they added the front facing speakers it may have resembled too much of a HTC butterfly device, which saddens me to a degree. That HTC logo too was sooo not necessary as more screen to body ratio would be a lot better. Talk about bezel city, too...
If they insist on keeping the HTC, they should just get rid of the fixed logo + bezel, then mod android to swap the home button icon with HTC. Problem solved.
Is that Deep garnet you're holding in the last three pictures? They look different from the promo pics. The one in promo pic looks more like wine red and I prefer that.
This phone is head turner for sure. People are going to look at the phone and say "Look at the bezel!!!". They should codename the phone HTC A9 aka HTC Bezel
As someone who regularly uses both iPhones and Android phones, I'd actually love to have matching devices, and this is pretty much the closest I'm ever going to come.
I went ahead and pre-ordered one because I like the size and enjoyed my HTC One X a few years back.
I was using my 2013 Moto X until earlier this year when I also got an LG G Flex 2. I loved the curved body, it felt great in my hand, and it was pretty light and non obtrusive in my pocket. However, the screen had to always be on the brightest setting, which was pretty useless outdoors, and it definitely throttled and slowed down when it got hot. I have had the new 2015 Moto X Pure Edition for about a month now but I am just finding it too big for my tastes so I will likely end up selling it and using my 2013 Moto X when I want or need the cool Moto features.
I wish I had made that decision before the return policy was over but I was really trying to make myself stick it out with the size. I am a gadget nut though so I may end up keeping it and just swapping phones for specific purposes.
I pre-ordered one as well. Just can't adapt to the larger size phones such as the Moto X Pure or Nexus 6P. At the pre-order price it is a better buy than the Nexus 5x. For its size sector, it is one of best in the market. Most manufacturers are putting all their emphasis on the larger size phones with 5.5"+ displays, and forgetting there is still a market for more compact (high end) devices.
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
60 Comments
Back to Article
Yaldabaoth - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
Moto X Killer?Demi9OD - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
That battery looks awful small. Guess we'll have to see how much the SD 617 and 1080p AMOLED sip when active, but the standby times will suffer regardless.Yaldabaoth - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
Perhaps I should have said, "Wannabe Moto X Killer?"Morawka - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
wanna-be iphone 6 moto x killertechxx - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
Standby times is where it will NOT suffer, especially running 6.0 out of the box.Demi9OD - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
6.0 is not a unique strength, all the 2015 phones will have it eventually. If you're receiving the same push notifications, syncing the same accounts, maintaining the same WiFi or LTE connection, updating the same locations, and never turning on the screen, a 2000mAh phone will have poor standby time compared to a 3000mAh phone.Samus - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
Then how does iPhone, with the same "push notifications, syncing the same accounts, maintaining the same WiFi or LTE connection, updating the same locations, and never turning on the screen" manage better battery life than competing Android phones?Because iOS is very power optimized, a luxury Apple has since it only needs to support a few devices.
Android has been improving power efficiency slowly but surely (they didn't really even put an emphases on it until 4.4 Kitkat) and Android 6.0 certainly has the framework to deliver comparable battery performance to iOS.
close - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link
Well your comparison is a bit apple to oranges... androids. The one above is about phones that basically have a different battery capacity but similar hardware, OS and use cases. Obviously of the two phones that share much of the hardware and almost identical OS the one with the bigger battery will last longer on a charge.Bringing into the mix a phone that has different hardware and different OS cannot be relevant to this particular comparison. How is the fact that Apple optimizez both HW and SW relevant for a comparison about android phones running the same OS version and basically the same run of the mill hardware?
stateofjermaine - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link
The hardware here is not "comparable". It's intentionally underpowered, and decidedly mid-tier in comparison to any of the major flagships. This should be a benefit when it comes to power consumption.Kutark - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link
The reason iOS is better power optimized is because Apple locks the OS down so much. You have a lot less control over the product. While a lot of people like this, a lot of people (primarily people who go for android phones) prefer the ability to modify or change things moreso. IMO we're splitting hairs here. Its not like an apples phone will last 2x as long as an android. From my experience at best its about 10% with similar usage scenarios.I also think the battery life argument has really become a non issue. Back at the start of smart phones when you HAD to charge your phone every day, even if you didnt use it much, it was a relevant discussion. Battery life has become so long that you have to be extremely lazy, or be on some kind of australian walkabout to where you can't access a charger at least every other day or so.
Maxpower2727 - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link
Considering that it runs Marshmallow, standby times should be excellent.techxx - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
Can't believe I'm saying this, but I think this might even be a Nexus 5X killer for me. IMO, it is closer to what I had hoped the 5P was. Apart from the weaker SoC and lack of pure Android, I really appreciate the more premium and compact form factor.Quantify - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
Agreed. I really wanted to pull the trigger on the 5X, but the lack of expandable storage capped at 32GB, and no image stabilization killed it for me. This seems like it checks all the boxes for me. I preordered a garnet red unit...jospoortvliet - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
I'm so missing the stereo speakers :(Kutark - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link
This. That was the main reason i bought the original One. There was some justification for the massive bezels above and below the screen. Now? Not so much. Personally i am absolutely enamored with my LG G3 and fully intend to pick up whatever replaces the LG G4 in about a year and a half when im ready for a new phone.Gigaplex - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link
Hardware wise I agree, but unless they guarantee Nexus like software and security updates it's going to be a hard sell to me.need2behave - Thursday, October 29, 2015 - link
For its size and capabilities, IMO it is superior to the Nexus 5X. That may change once the online promotional offer of $399 ends on Nov 7th. After that the price jumps up by $100. At that point the 5x may be preferred. Too many people are comparing this A9 to the Moto X Pure, but that is a different market. HTC will be coming out with the M10 in the new year, and that will be their flagship in that sector. Some rumors the O2 may be a smaller version of the M10, for those that want a phone that is easy to hold and operate with one hand. For now the 5x and the A9 are the best two devices in that size sector.nikaldro - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
Wallet killer. Nothing else.erikiksaz - Friday, October 23, 2015 - link
Hah, hardly. Mid-range SOC, smaller screen, no front-facing speakers, no moto suite, no customizability, history of poor camera performance.It might be more competitive if it were priced at $350.
lilmoe - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
They should have went with that design 2 years ago. The previous curved back with their "stacked" battery between screen and pcb was an absolute engineering (and disassembly) nightmare."BoomSound" dual speakers was a design fail too, IMHO. It put too much strain on the internal design of the device. That being said, WHY THE HECK can't they get rid of these oversized bezels? It doesn't even look symmetrical to me.
Such stubborn, foolish management. They should have fled the "premium" segment 2 years ago, and mainly concentrated on the higher mid-range just like they're doing now. They simply didn't have what it takes to compete in the "premuim" segment; their One series were hardly ever well balanced, and they couldn't afford "premium" advertising.
This isn't _too little_, but it's definitely too late. Chinese OEMs are going to kick their behind.
ToTTenTranz - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
Properly powered stereo front-firing speakers was the sole reason I would ever buy a HTC again after my M7.Take that away and HTC really has nothing else to hold on to.
As for the sub-par engineering and industrial design evolution since the M7, it's no surprise since the company suffered from a pretty big talent exodus back in 2013. That's why they can't make competitive flagships on those fronts.
And yes, chinese OEMs like UNI and ZTE already have models in the market that give this a run for its money (same hardware for half the price).
Demi9OD - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
There were so many things the M7 and M8 got right though. They really only suffered from the stacked battery you mentioned and obviously the camera. Sense is the best third party skin out of the Sense/Touchwiz/UX crowd.Really hoping they can pull a rabbit out of the hat with the M10 or I think they are done.
SD 820, 5.2" 1080p IPS, quality rear camera with OIS, stereo speakers, IR blaster, Micro SD, 3000-3500 mAh removable battery, and no more metal unibody for $500 would be my perfect phone.
[email protected] - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
Agreed. Add waterproofing and qi wireless charging and it's a galaxy s5 without the stupid touchwiz.kspirit - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link
Well, no. Not really. Sony does most of the above better than HTC. Big batteries with good usage times. Stereo speakers. VERY light skin (and better than HTC's, it's close to stock). Displays topping at 5.2". They wreck HTC in design as well, the Z5 is way better looking than the M9...Freaky_Angelus - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link
Good battery usage... 2 days per charge with runs to 3 on my M9Stereo speakers... clearly you haven't enjoyed the M7-8-or 9 with front facing speakers
Sense beats stock skins by miles, not to mention how smooth they run compared to Touchwiz (given, the S6 has the power to be smooth)
Displays topping?? Some people actually like larger screens...
Z5 is nice, but it's called taste/preference/opinion... I like the M9 more and don't thing the Z5 is prettier, you do. It's great to have different opinions, but it's no argument to say 1 is better than the other ;)
The M10 or MX (oh if only :P) needs to be an HTC version of the BB Priv. Considering the current design improvements (and details) this is a nice return into the right direction. Hardware wise, as explained in the announcement, the M series will be focused on that and they're focussing the A serie more to design. For that matter (and hopefully) HTC would re-focus into more concentrated ways and stop the market flood.
Well, we'll see what the MX will do. I hope more than the 820 otherwise it will lean more onto the design side and then... the Priv will be a real competition!
Gunbuster - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
2 Years ago they had the chance to corner the market on budget/mid Windows Phones but they threw that away too. They could have at least been limping along with that in emerging markets.melgross - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
Corner the market where there is no market . Yup, a good plan.Gunbuster - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
Are you saying they have a niche in the sea of 1000 other Android phones? I cant see that they do after throwing away the front facing speakers...hp79 - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
They just insist on slapping that ugly HTC logo on the front. It's really a waste of space.shabby - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
No no no that space is used for something, the front facing speakers take up valueab... oh wait this doesn't have front facing speakers. So yes its a waste of space, htc still didn't learn.jjj - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
A new low in design and value.Gunbuster - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
For those looking for an iPhone but who want to broadcast they cant afford an iPhone.RIP HTC.
mgl888 - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
Is it just me or does the 4x A53 + 4x A53 cores at different frequencies seem redundant for a biglittle architecture?Maxpower2727 - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link
I think the same thing whenever I read about a phone that utilizes the SD615/617.Gunbuster - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
Place your bets: What will expire first, the 12 months of Uh-Oh protection or HTC as a company?superflex - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
One thing is for sure.You will still be a douche after 12 months.
caleblloyd - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
I'd like to thank HTC for offering a very good device starting at 32GB storage / 3GB RAM. It's 2015, and I can't bring myself to support OEMs who purposely short-change flagship phones with 16GB of storage and tack on another $50 - $100 for flash memory that adds $5 - $10 to their BOM. I've also used HTC's repair service before for an out-of-warranty fix on my HTC One M7's microphone, and they 2-day shipped a refurbished unit for $110 with a return label for my broken phone. It's great to get worry-free fixes for a year and know that they still support cheap repairs out-of-warranty. IMO the increased storage, metal body, and pledge to update within 15 days of an Android update makes the unlocked HTC One A9 a better buy than the Nexus 5X, and a suitable upgrade from my One M7, so I've preordered one.Maxpower2727 - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link
The middling SOC means nothing to you then?Freaky_Angelus - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link
If you come from an SD600... the SD617 won't be an issue ;)It may be mid-range, but you double on cores and for you guys in the USA the price is rather nice (and if you feel it's high... well wait two months :D)
caleblloyd - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link
It'd be nice to have a more powerful SOC but for $399 I'm OK with the tradeoff. My main use case is email, web browsing, and music playback, don't need the extra horsepower for games. It should also be more power efficient and help the smaller battery last longer.jospoortvliet - Sunday, October 25, 2015 - link
I believe that actually the sd 617 is slower or at best equal compared to the sd 600. Remember that the 600 was their high end back then, the 617 is mid end.webdoctors - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
Hope they continue to survive, but it's going to be tough. This phone isn't much different from its very well equipped competitors in a crowded segment. You've got the ASUS Zenfone 2, Moto X, and various Chinese manufacturers for almost half price in some cases (zenfone 2).Honestly, that SoC is weak for such a high priced phone. You're gonna need to add value somewhere else, and HTC doesnt have the marketing aura Samsung/Apple commands, or SW value with HTCSense...
yelped - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
I've been using this phone for the past six weeks and I'm really impressed by it. The build quality is awesome, it's very speedy, takes awesome pictures of my daughter, and speaker surprisingly sounds the same as my M7.jospoortvliet - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
But not front-facing, so no stereo... No option for me, for sure. I want an updated M7 :( :(Just slap in the camera of this device and an updated SOC, perhaps an AMOLED screen and I'll buy it!
Maxpower2727 - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link
HTC employee?yelped - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link
Just a testerterminalrecluse - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
make an iPhone look-alike, sell it at a discount, profit!having owned the M7 I think I could own this one too if they got rid of the HTC sense and put just stock android 6.0 on it.
chedrz - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
What "issues" are being referenced regarding the Snapdragon 808? I think we're all aware of the 810's problems, but this is the first I've seen about the 808.Hrel - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
If Battery life is longer than an LG G2 I might FINALLY be able to upgrade!Devo2007 - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
Considering Motorola couldn't figure out how to get good performance out of the Snapdragon 615 on the Moto X , I'm not holding out on HTC doing much better with the 617.Der2 - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
I think if they added the front facing speakers it may have resembled too much of a HTC butterfly device, which saddens me to a degree. That HTC logo too was sooo not necessary as more screen to body ratio would be a lot better. Talk about bezel city, too...Der2 - Tuesday, October 20, 2015 - link
I can honestly see the comparison to an iPhone device because iPhone like a Google Nexus will probably beat .Zoomer - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link
If they insist on keeping the HTC, they should just get rid of the fixed logo + bezel, then mod android to swap the home button icon with HTC. Problem solved.tytung - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link
Is that Deep garnet you're holding in the last three pictures? They look different from the promo pics. The one in promo pic looks more like wine red and I prefer that.cyberfrost - Wednesday, October 21, 2015 - link
This phone is head turner for sure. People are going to look at the phone and say "Look at the bezel!!!". They should codename the phone HTC A9 aka HTC Bezellazymangaka - Thursday, October 22, 2015 - link
As someone who regularly uses both iPhones and Android phones, I'd actually love to have matching devices, and this is pretty much the closest I'm ever going to come.captainkirkw - Thursday, October 22, 2015 - link
I went ahead and pre-ordered one because I like the size and enjoyed my HTC One X a few years back.I was using my 2013 Moto X until earlier this year when I also got an LG G Flex 2. I loved the curved body, it felt great in my hand, and it was pretty light and non obtrusive in my pocket. However, the screen had to always be on the brightest setting, which was pretty useless outdoors, and it definitely throttled and slowed down when it got hot. I have had the new 2015 Moto X Pure Edition for about a month now but I am just finding it too big for my tastes so I will likely end up selling it and using my 2013 Moto X when I want or need the cool Moto features.
I wish I had made that decision before the return policy was over but I was really trying to make myself stick it out with the size. I am a gadget nut though so I may end up keeping it and just swapping phones for specific purposes.
need2behave - Thursday, October 29, 2015 - link
I pre-ordered one as well. Just can't adapt to the larger size phones such as the Moto X Pure or Nexus 6P. At the pre-order price it is a better buy than the Nexus 5x. For its size sector, it is one of best in the market. Most manufacturers are putting all their emphasis on the larger size phones with 5.5"+ displays, and forgetting there is still a market for more compact (high end) devices.