I Bought Two Smartphones

What I learned from owning two

I bought Nexus 5. A month later, I got Moto X on the Cyber Monday. Since I’ve decided to get out of the comfortable Apple ecosystem, I wanted to have a deep comparison of alternatives. Believe or not, my impressions on the devices were very different from some reviews I’ve read. Overall, it was worth paying for two smartphones.

Why not iPhone

I’ve been a big fan of iPhone 4 since its release day. Retina is still beautiful, but if I look around in San Francisco, everyone has iPhone. That is, a little boring.

Go off-contract

T-Mobile has a great off-contract plan, $30 per month for 100 minutes talk + unlimited data, which allows me to try more than one phone easily. After the comparison, I can sell one of the phones through Craigslist or other websites.

Two smartphones in my hands

It was perhaps one of the nerdiest moments in my life holding two smartphones with a smile. The comparison started right after the nightmare of iPhone 4 + iOS 7; I almost cried out with the speed of Nexus 5. With its super sharp screen, the first impression on Nexus 5 was really great. When I saw few dusts on the brand new Moto X out of the box, I thought the winner is obvious. However, I’m glad I kept using both of them for a while.

Body

Moto X should be the same weight as Nexus 5 as its spec says, but I felt heavier when I grabbed it after a month of use of the Nexus. While Nexus 5 is a bit oversized to me, Moto X’s curved side and a dimple on the back gives my hand a great fit. iPhone 4 looks so small now. Soon after I started using the Moto X, I noticed fingerprints are too clear on the back. Maybe I just got used to it, I feel okay now though. Nexus 5 White, which I own, has quite different texture from Black version, doesn’t get too many fingerprints.

Screen

Nexus 5 has a much sharper screen in my opinion. It reminds me when I got iPhone 4 and stared at the screen with no reason just because it looked so beautiful. Some reviews say they prefer Moto X while the Nexus’s colors look washed out. I feel Moto X’s colors look a bit odd. After a month of use, I don’t terribly care the screen density of Moto X anymore. If I take a look at both of screens side by side, the difference is still clear.

Camera

With the latest KitKat 4.4.2, both of them are capable of taking okay pictures with fairly fast speed. Moto X has an interesting feature that allows you to start its camera app with shaking the device. I use the feature often. Its camera app lets you tap once and done. Focus control is optional. I even googled how to get focus on a certain object. Nexus 5 has a focus icon and shutter separately. Either of Android phones doesn’t give me any impressive pictures which is disappointing and makes me dream of iPhone 5s.

Notifications, home screen and vibration

Moto X notices when I pick it up, then shows its lock screen. This feature is great since I carry it in my pocket and whenever I pickup the phone its already active. When it gets some updates the screen fades in with a summary. This is pretty nice too compared to iPhone’s silent face. On the other hand, Nexus 5 has a tiny light with a few colors which blinks when there’s any notification. I have to press the power button to turn the screen on.

Android allows you to customize its home screen. I ended up with the default after I’ve tried more than a few app launchers. I like Nexus 5’s home over Moto X’s. It has sharper font-face and cleaner interface.

The vibration when you type is another feature that iOS doesn’t have. And Android doesn’t seem to allow to modify it by any third party app. Moto X and Nexus 5 have slightly different vibration, and I like Nexus 5’s better. I can’t explain the difference well. It’s just my preference.

Moto X has a few more cool features, but I don’t really use them.

Saying good-bye to…

From the first impression, I thought I’ll keep Nexus 5. Gorgeous display. Period. But, then, for daily use, Moto X just fits my hand very well. I didn’t know it’s that important. And, the notifications. Well, perhaps most important thing is that none of my friends has the device. Honestly, I’m still hesitating to give any conclusion, yet I would say the winner is Moto X.

Since it’s unique I sometimes put the device back top on the table, though I’m not sure if turquoise and yellow accent was the best choice. The colors you choose on Moto Maker and the real color might look slightly different. I wish I could see and touch all of (or some of) customizations somewhere. I would pay extra $10, maybe.

I bought the Moto X with $150 off, which means it was exactly the same price as Nexus 5. Now, Motorola offers it from $399.99. No big difference anymore.

There are many things that you wouldn’t know until you use it for a day or longer. As a geek, I must admit that I enjoyed this comparison a lot. I chose not-high-end phones at this time. Comparing iPhone 5s, Lumia 1020 or HTC One would be interesting too. So, what’s your choice?