Gadgetory

while the Moto X is finally out and should soon be on all major US carriers so we're going to pit it against some of the top tier devices available today and this time we're going to compare it to what is probably its closest competitor hey it's Joshua regard from Android thority what's going on everybody and this is the Moto X versus the Google Nexus 4 when it comes to design these two devices are very similar in their philosophies both come with 4.7 inch screens that ultimately make them easier to handle than many of the 5-inch screen devices out now of course the Nexus 4 by LG did come out before the 5 inch screen craze so that better explains its design choices made pretty much completely of glass the Nexus 4 is easily gripa bowl and manipulable in one hand and the plastic spine keeps things from feeling too slippery all around the back is fully glass with the Nexus designation on top of LG's crystal reflection pattern design though the glass durability might have been questioned in the past there is no doubt that this is one of the nicest phones available in the hand you get what can be described as a refreshing ly easier feel due to the smaller size than most of today's phones it is completely flat on all sides which does give it also a level of rigidity but that flatness was exactly what moto wanted to alleviate when they designed the X while the sporting a size that is similar to the Nexus 4 the X is actually a little bit thinner narrower and sports a curved back that was deliberately added in for better ergonomics the result is a phone that is even easier to handle in one hand if the Nexus 4 was one of the last big releases of the 4.7 inch game the Moto X has gotten closer to perfecting that design is pretty much the same phone all around with the fully black front and what the pattern design on the back that this time isn't holographic it's clear that Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility has given way to real Nexus inspiration from Moto's latest offering and of course the Moto X trump card is its Moto maker platform that allows you to fully customize the look of your phone this is probably the closest comparison we'll be seeing when considering design the Nexus 4 is still one of the best devices in its size market but the Moto X takes those same philosophies and makes them even better so its plastic versus glass essentially oh but if you want some individuality of core the Moto X as customization options make it much more appealing than the all-black and quite frankly short-lived white version of D Nexus 4 ultimately however you'll get the very similar experience either way here but the Moto X with its curved back and slightly smaller overall profile may prove a little bit more comfortable the trend of having close comparisons continues with the displays both of these phones book the 1080p screen trend by packing 720p displays ok to be fair the Nexus 4 does come with a 1280 by 768 screen so in reality it does pack just a few more pixels all around it also has a slightly higher pixel density at 318 PPI this is basically due to a slightly fatter screen compared to the Moto X as an IPS screen brightness is really the Forte here but that doesn't mean the colors suffer the Nexus 4 does a great job with the saturation still despite not having the same level as the AMOLED that is found on the Moto X the AMOLED screen on the Moto X was again a deliberate choice for moto as the active notifications take advantage of completely disabled pixels for battery saving on paper it is outclassed by the Nexus 4 by just a hair but there is in reality really no perceivable difference I did notice that despite having a more saturated profile when it comes to color the AMOLED screen does then take on a slightly warmer overall tone compared to the Nexus 4's IPS screen it's as if there's like a small hue that's covering everything on the screen but it does join alongside the Nexus 4 as another great example of how 1080p screens are great but perhaps not really a necessity despite their subtle differences it really comes down to the Moto X taking advantage of that AMOLED screen by having the ability to activate only some pixels the screen allowed for Motorola to create the peeking active notification feature that honestly is pretty damn great in the end both screens provide the same kind of performance and easy to manipulate sizes so there's plenty to enjoy though both of these devices employ largely the same processing packages it was motorola that found a way of optimizing the Snapdragon s4 pro that is still holding up even today coupled with the s4 pro in the Moto X is the audrina 320 and then a dedicated pair of processors that govern voice recognition they do help to lighten the load on the s4 pro and despite not pleasing many spec hungry it really is just a crime to disregard the Moto X solely on what processor it uses because this thing is really that blazingly fast I never fail to WoW anyone with this quick little multitasking demo while the graphics processing might eventually get bogged down by future gaming demands by daily standards it's by far one of the snappiest experiences available despite not having the additions and optimizations put in by Motorola the standalone s4 pro and Adreno 320 package of the Nexus 4 is still no slouch it does have a slight pause and delay in comparison to the Moto X but the Nexus 4 remains very smooth and is still one of the most reliable experiences out there in all reality the Moto X is just faster than the Nexus 4 but that doesn't mean that the a more affordable Google official phone should easily be disregarded for what are essentially to Google fide phones Hardware offerings remain pretty simple both of these phones come with the usual bevy of connectivity tools like GPS Bluetooth and NFC the Moto X does come with more storage at stock with sixteen gigabytes over the eight gigabytes of the base model Nexus 4 the speaker on the Moto X is not only louder than that of the Nexus 4 it's sound is actually a little bit fuller and a little richer the voice recognition enhancements of by Motorola called for more microphones all around the Moto X one on top one on the bottom front and one on the bottom back and all of them are always working waiting for your voice and your voice only to tell it what to do but that in a couple other moto enhancements are the focus in the software and camera sections and share hardware however it's mostly a storage war for both of these phones since they offer pretty much the same things under the hood the battery situation is another neck-and-neck race as the Moto X offers only 100 more milliamp hours than the twenty one hundred million power unit found in the Nexus 4 what does matter here are the battery saving features of the Moto X yes this does involve just a simple battery saving option that you can turn on and off in the settings but also the additional cores that govern specific functions and the AMOLED powered active notifications in my experience I've been able to get all the way to bedtime with 30 percent battery life still available far more consistently with the Moto X than what the Nexus 4 for moderate to somewhat heavy usage you'll get a whole day's worth easily either and here come the cameras while the Nexus 4 offers 8 megapixel optics you get a couple more in the Moto X the apps remain pretty much the same either way with their offerings as Google usually keeps things pretty simple the Nexus 4's app interface uses an arched touch and swipe interface that is very minimalistic and does include HDR and photosphere picture quality is perfectly usable but doesn't really pop out like the pictures of some of today's better cameras shutter to file speeds though are quite good so you can easily rack up a lot of pictures in a short time the Moto X unfortunately doesn't really reach the level of today's best 13 megapixel shooters the app is also very simple utilizing swipes to access menus and includes slow-motion video as the replacement for the photosphere you can also access the camera using the quick capture feature in which flicking the phone a few times opens the app picture quality is actually the main detractor here as colors end up pretty muted and don't often accurately reproduce the vibrancy of any given scene it's pretty disappointing really but I will say that pictures and videos come out much sharper here than those that come from the Nexus floor so in hindsight you could always do some post-processing if you really want to make those colors pop in the end it comes down to color or sharpness as the differentiators here but with similar apps and equally just on par performance this camera choice is pretty much a toss-up finally we have the software since Motorola joined Google their software became decidedly more stock like and Motorola's Editions didn't change the general feel very much the Nexus 4 does get the advantage of getting updates before the Moto X but the Moto X isn't far behind with its 4.2.2 you get the standard home screens notification drop-down in shade and Google now but then Motorola added in their voice-activated feature that you can use by just saying okay Google now if you were already used to opening Google now and then saying google to activate it while this is a way of streamlining that process that actually works wonderfully active notifications are honestly an enhancement to the standard notification light and is great at giving you a quick glimpse at what you need in the end you have the stock Android experience we all known and loved pretty much either way but Motorola has done a great job of adding more practical features to really sweeten the pot now here's where things get interesting while the Moto X is being touted as Motorola's flagship device the Nexus 4 was the reference for many of the future smartphones that came after it but while the Moto X costs of $1.99 on a contract and potentially over $500 unlocked the 8 gigabyte Nexus 4 just recently got a discount making it a $200 phone unlocked that's an incredible price for a phone that quite frankly does do much of what the Moto X offers and so there yeah I can see why people saw the Moto X specifications and wondered how it could even dare considering itself a top-tier device and you know what the Nexus 4 is the reason why both of these phones employ many of the same tools and specs to achieve plenty of the same functions so the lower price overall of the Nexus 4 is what makes it the same attractive package it has always been but it's been a year and Motorola has been able to take what the Nexus 4 proved and made it even better it is really closer to perfecting what Google set out to do with the original Nexus and achieves that with flying colors you'll definitely get your money's worth taking advantage of all that Motorola put into the Moto X however at such an affordable price the Nexus 4 is still very tough to beat so this particular comparison is probably better considered a tie more than anything else if you still haven't checked out the full reviews for both of these devices you can find links in the description below that will lead you to them remember to stay tuned to Android authorities channel for all of the best coverage and reviews drop us a like down below and if you haven't already don't forget to subscribe and when you're done with all of that head on over to android authority comm because we're your source for all things Android