Motorola has arguably the most storied history of any phone company. Being responsible for the first cellular phone, the wildly successful Motorola RAZR, the DROID line of devices, and last years breakaway hit: the Moto X.

Another year has passed, Motorola has again found themselves breaking new ground. Being sold by Google to Lenovo, a monumental deal for the American phone company. With 2014’s Moto X here, does it live up to the standard that Googlora/Moogle built. Or does the Lenovorola/Motonovo team fade into Android irrelevancy?

Look and Feel

The original Moto X set the precedent for a phone that can be both ergonomic and attractive. The new Moto X is no exception. The Moto X(2014) has a curved back, rolling from the center of the device carefully to the edges. Giving the Moto X a distinct presence in your hand when it is held. It’s an incredibly comfortable change from the hard edges and corners of most phones. On the back panel below the camera lies a dimple with the “M” Motorola logo. The idea behind the dimple is to allow your finger to rest on the back of the device comfortably. Unfortunately for my large hands, I could never find a comfortable grip to take advantage of the dimple. Above the dimple is the 13MP camera, with a peculiar “flash ring” around the sensor. But we’ll cover the camera later. The Moto X variant in my hands is the 16GB AT&T Black Resin variant. The Black Resin finish is a soft touch plastic that feels great in the hand. Though it can become a fingerprint magnet before too long.

The Moto X is outfitted with a metal trim along the sides of the device. Making the frame and device as a whole much sturdier(See Unbox Therapy’s Bendgate tests). The left side of the Moto X is completely blank. Motorola chose to place both the Power Button and Volume Rocker on the right side of the device. This makes one handed operation easier, at a cost. Motorola textured the Power Button to more easily distinguish it from the volume rocker. I still found myself double checking which button I was pressing more often than not. Sadly, the power button is also harder to press, which could lead your fingers to accidentally press the volume rocker instead.

At the top of the device, in the center where the device swells at the curve the most, you will find the headphone jack. It’s interesting to see a headphone jack in the dead center on the top of a device, but here it works. Along the bottom of the phone’s trim, you have your MicroUSB port, as well as regulatory information. The regulatory information being on the bottom of the device is fantastic. No more ugly text along the back of the device, marring a beautiful phone(though the AT&T Logo went ahead and ruined that here). Also found on the trim, in the corners, are plastic lines that allow for radios to transmit through the metal frame. This has been made commonplace with the HTC One series, as well as the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. On the Moto X, it’s incredibly understated on the dark metal trim.

The front of the device has a 5.2” screen with speakers above and below on the bezels. To the right of the top speaker, you will find the front facing camera. The entire front glass on the device is highly glossy, making for highly visible smudges and fingerprints. The bezels on the device are quite thin, but standard for devices with buttons along the side. The screen on the Moto X melds perfectly into the front bezel of the device. The bezels along the side slope ever so gently towards the trim of the device. The small, subtle design choice makes the phone one of the most comfortable to use. It’s likened to the iPhone 6 or Nexus 4. The lack of a hard screen edge provides a great fluid feel.

For one handed use, the Moto X is usable. As our desires for larger displays becomes more and more intense. Phone makers have been fumbling to find ways to make one handed use more realistic with larger screens. If you have big hands like me, it won’t be a big deal. But if you have smaller hands, you will be performing some finger gymnastics to reach corners, I hope you stick the landing. The phone isn’t much bigger than a Samsung Galaxy S4 or Nexus 5, but some may find it too big for one handed use.

The phone, with it’s metal frame and large screen, feels hefty in the hand. But it’s not heavy. The best word to describe the weight of the Moto X would be “solid”

It’s heavier than an iPhone 6, but lighter than a 6 Plus. It’s nearly identical in weight to the Samsung Galaxy S5. Which is shocking considering the immensely superior build quality found on the Moto X.

The Moto X is one of the most thoughtfully designed devices of the year. While it could be considered uninspired, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Motorola crams a large 5.2” screen into a body barely bigger than the Nexus 5(5” screen). The ergonomics are incredible. From the sloped back, the curved edges, and the metal trim. Motorola has created a fantastically built device. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Moto Maker adds a new paradigm of customization to make your phone more personal.

Moto Maker

One of the main allures of Motorola’s flagship is Moto Maker. The concept is simple: Customize the front, back, and accents of your phone. You can choose from Warm, Cool, Neutral, Leather and Wood backs. The Leather is real, and the wood is real, which means you will have to pay a $25 premium for either of these options when constructing your customized Moto X. But premium aside, you can get leather or wood backing. Which for a phone, is a little bit insanely awesome. You can also choose to have a black or white front color. Customizing the accents will change the color of the metallic ring inside the Moto dimple, power button, volume rocker, and speaker grilles.

You can choose between either 16 or 32GB of storage. 32GB will cost you fifty dollars extra. But with an on contract price of $99 for a 16GB, that’s insanely affordable and reasonable. I hope more phone companies follow suit with the affordable phone craze. For off contract options, it’s either $499 or $550 for 16/32GB, respectively.

With Moto Maker, you can also engrave a name or saying on the back, and customize a welcome message when you boot your phone. You can also sign in with your Google Account beforehand, allowing time to be saved with initial setup. Motorola even offers you to choose from a preset background out of the box.

Motorola understands the Android competitive market. Choice is king. With the Moto X and Moto Maker, you can have a unique phone that makes a statement about your personality.

Specs

Last years Moto X was slightly conservative with specs, presumably to keep costs down. This year is another story. The specs on the new Moto X are standard for a 2014 Android flagship. No, it doesn’t have a 1440p display, nor NVIDIAs K1 SoC, or even a gigantic battery. But for the common user, the Moto X is going to be insanely speedy, and more than enough phone for a year or two. But for you spec junkies, the specs are below, as well as some benchmarks:

Screen

The Moto X comes packed with a 5.2” 1080p AMOLED panel. The display is noticeably warm. With whites having a slight yellow hue. This is in no way a defect or negative aspect of the phone. Every phone maker has different color aspirations. Samsung super saturates, Apple has higher contrast, OnePlus has a warmer display. The Moto X follows suit with display warmth. The colors on the Moto X pop immensely. They are accurate, vibrant and gorgeous. This is one of the most beautiful panels I’ve seen on a phone.

Watching movies like The Dark Knight Rises, Gravity, and Man of Steel, which all have striking colors and depth, was great. All of these movies looked absolutely splendid on the Moto X. Though due to the display only being 5.2inches, I wouldn’t throw the tablet out the window just yet. The screen size is great for everyday use, but is not large enough to be cinematic and immersive.

The display can also achieve good brightness. Though I prefer to keep it set to Auto Brightness, to save my retinas. With the AMOLED screen, outdoor visibility is phenomenal, even in direct sunlight.

Speakers

Let me be frank. I have never cared about phone speakers. I’ve never used a phone that had good phone speakers. I’ve never cared, because it’s been good enough for my personal use. If I ever wanted to show multiple people a video or song, I would opt to Chromecast it, or choose a device other than my phone. Phones having crappy speakers wasn't a big deal to me.

The singular front facing speaker is really good for what it is(I was mistaken and had incorrectly said that it has stereo speakers earlier). The highs and mids are accurate, and stay accurate no matter the volume. The bass is good, too. Obviously you won’t be breaking it down like Claptrap in Borderlands 2. But the bass is the some of the best I’ve heard on a phone.

The speaker also get loud. Really, really loud. Luckily, even at it’s loudest, the Moto X does not suffer from hollowed out or tinny sound.

No, they aren't Stereo Speakers. But from what I’m used to with iPads, the Nexus 5, and the OnePlus One. It’s a huge step up to be using a speaker aimed at your face.

Call Quality

It’s 2014 and we look at cameras, CPU speeds, screen quality, gaming graphics and battery life more than anything for our phones. But, they are still phones. So, call quality matters. With AT&T in Northwest Arkansas(a primarily AT&T area). I have yet to have a dropped call, which is a first. Calls came in clear and I never struggled to hear anyone and they never struggled to hear me.

Battery Life

Oh, battery life, why must you destroy every great phone?

Okay, it really doesn’t destroy it, but it holds the Moto X back considerably. The Moto X will last the average user a full day easily. For those of you who aren’t on your phone constantly throughout the day, you don’t have anything to worry about.

Every single day, my phone would make it roughly 14 hours on battery, with my screen being on for just under three hours. For a power user, that isn’t enough to make it through a full day. But for the average consumer, it’s perfectly suitable. Power users will have to heed caution before buying the Moto X, though. With constant background tasks, WiFi and LTE data pumping, Google+ and Twitter updates, as well as emails and texts; I was constantly wary of the Moto X battery.

One scapegoat around the marginal battery life is Qualcomms QuickCharge 2.0. Motorola runs on a Snapdragon System on a Chip with QuickCharge 2.0 included. This means that the Moto X is capable of achieving 8 hours of battery life with a fifteen minute charge through Motorola’s Turbo Charger. The Turbo Charger will cost you $35 extra. But if you’re in reach of an outlet and need a quick charge, it might be worth it.

That being said, an accessory to make it through a long day is ludicrous to me. Using phones with behemoth batteries such as the OnePlus One have spoiled me with eons of battery life. Phone manufacturers need to be pushing for longer battery life in their devices.

Overall Hardware Experience

The Moto X is a fantastically built device. It’s ergonomic and functional, all while maintaining a sturdy and sleek design. Moto Maker adds a custom flare that can’t be found on any other device, allowing you to truly make the phone unique to you. The screen and speakers make for an incredible media consumption experience, if you can handle the smaller screen. The battery life is marginal for power users, but great for the average user.