Gadgetory

they both run almost stock builds of Android and they each have a pretty close relationship with Google but they come from different manufacturers and one is aimed at the mass market while the other is aimed at the enthusiast segmental how do they stack up let's find out I'm Michael Fisher this is PocketNow and this is Google Moto X vs. HTC one Google Play edition as some of you might have deduced from our on-site reporting at the Moto X announcement yesterday in New York City we're obviously still quite new to the phone only a day into the review period in fact as a result we're still gathering a lot of data and we're not going to be comparing these phones on all metrics but just on the points we can even so we've got a lot to talk about so if you're wondering which version of the pure Android experience is better for you tune in for our comparison of hardware software camera performance and a few tests notes and follow PocketNow at all the usual watering holes so you don't miss our full moto x review when it lands you don't need to get under the hood to see the physical differences here these phones convey completely different intentions right out of the box though they both feature 4.7 inch displays Motorola's is an AMOLED panel at 720p meaning it's brighter and more saturated but less sharp than the ones 1080p s LCD 3 is the difference in pixels per inch detectable it depends on how sharp your eyes are but most people probably won't notice the resolution reduction on the X nor will they find much difference in direct sunlight performance it's what surrounds the displays that really differs and we're not just talking about the fact that the Moto X will come in a bevy of customizable colors the materials are quite different as well with the X's composite frame feeling soft and substantial to the touch even brand new it feels totally natural to just throw this phone in a pocket with some keys and coins because it seems like it can take it the HTC One on the other hand with its polycarbonate accented unibody aluminum precision machined speaker grills and chamfered trim work feels almost more like a piece of jewelry it's not that it feels fragile but it almost feels too nice throw around like you'd throw around the X and it definitely doesn't have the splash-resistant nano-coating that the X does either the one is also much larger in the hand thanks to its boom sound speakers at top and bottom in fact it's hard to believe the Moto X packs the same size display as the one considering how much more compact it feels Google has done it's best to de-emphasize specs in its marketing and literature for the Moto X reinforcing the position that this is a phone for the every person not the gadget geek but that latter group is pretty passionate about its numbers so a quick glance at the heart of these phones is in order the one is the more conventional device with a quad-core Snapdragon 600 at 1.7 gigahertz backed up by 2 gigs of ram and 32 gigs of non-expandable storage along with a non-removable battery rated at 2,300 milliamp hours the X retains the non removable battery but bumps its capacity down to 2,200 milliamp hours and it also offers a lower capacity 16 gigabyte storage version alongside a 32 gig model once again no microSD here but Moto X buyers will receive 50 gigs of free Google Drive storage which should help somewhat the real difference here is in the processing guts there's still two gigs of ram on board but the system architecture is built around Motorola's x8 mobile computing system that's a Snapdragon s4 pro at 1.7 gigahertz with the Adreno 320 GPU linked to two additional cores one for natural language processing and the other for contextual computing while the raw power of this system or lack thereof compared to quad-core devices like the one is being criticized in comment sections all across the internet but once again it's not designed for horse power it's designed to offer a very specific software experience that experience runs atop Android 4.2.2 in our demo unit the same version found on our Google Edition HTC One but there are some added features specific to the Moto X that Google will be pushing hard to consumers we'll check them out more completely in our full review but these features include something called touchless control which leverages that language processing core to allow the Moto X to constantly listen for a key phrase saying okay Google now within earshot of the X even when it's idly sitting in standby mode triggers touchless control that allows you to set calendar appointments look something up on the internet start a navigation session set an alarm and so on there's also Motorola's new active display which uses the X's contextual computing core to keep an eye on the gyro and proximity sensors so that when you pick it up or flip it over you'll get a quick preview of the notifications you missed you can then act on the notifications or dismiss or ignore them without ever unlocking the phone another feature called motorola assist also helps the phone stay in context a little better modifying notification behavior if it detects you're driving in a car say or in a meeting or asleep and Motorola Connect works with Google Chrome to allow you to display caller ID and send and receive text messages right from your computer neither HTC nor Motorola have historically been lauded for their smart phone camera performance HTC has recently been making a push to change that with the four megapixel ultra pixel camera on the one with its optical image stabilization and superior low-light performance but that's on the stock HTC One the Google Play edition of the device retains the hardware but removes HTC's software customizations leaving you with the vanilla Android viewfinder that's clean but not exactly easy or intuitive on the Moto X the software customization starts right on the first boot of its 10 megapixel clear pixel camera if you want you can skip tapping an icon and jump right into the viewfinder with a double flick of the wrist it's pretty awkward but it might come in handy with more practice once the camera is open you're given a pretty smooth and pretty fluid UI with a rotating disc off to the left for controlling just a few tweakable options for Stills and video it's simple and other features like tap to focus and snap and the scroll directly into the gallery remind us a lot of Windows Phones shooting experience that's a good thing in terms of the results well there hit and miss on both of these phones in bright sunlight or other similarly even and bright lighting they perform fairly well though it might take some tweaking of the HDR settings to get the balance you're looking for on but even in these brightly lit samples the Moto X is color reproduction is pretty obviously inferior to the one the shots come out oddly tinted the colors substantially more muted than on the one now motorola calls this the clear pixel camera owing partially to the quick exposures it can capture but if the cost is saturation dampening like this which doesn't seem correctable no matter what settings we use it's not worth it that holds true in low-light photos as well while the one puts out plenty of noise in its own low-light pics it's nothing compared to the X which produces photos heavy and artefacts and once again subpar saturation despite the ostensibly quick captures the exes shots are also prone to motion blur and lens flare if there's a closed off camera light source it's just not a terribly good low-light camera and frankly without HTC's software neither is the Google Play edition one all this holds true in video as well with the HTC One having a harder time keeping up with focus but on the whole delivering richer colors and sharper results than the dull and sort of dead Motorola X footage this may well be due to some overly aggressive HDR on the Moto X and we'll take a closer look in the full review but as of now our vote for the superior shooter goes to the HTC One and that extends to its wider angle front-facing shooter as well fortunately things pick back up again in more conventional testing areas using both of these devices on AT&T in rural New York State gave us the opportunity to test them on both 3G and 4G LTE and they consistently provide comparable if not identical reception voice quality is similar with excellent noise cancellation on both units in fact the only complaint we heard in voice testing was that background noise from our and sounded to quiet as though the call had been dropped when we weren't speaking that's despite some stiff breeze on our side too so each of these phones can be trusted to deliver a solid voice experience for what it's worth we found the Moto X the more comfortable of the two to talk on physically thanks to its more substantial curve to build in terms of loud speaker audio putting any device up against HTC's boomsound dual front speakers usually results in a bloodbath but not this time motorola knows what it's doing acoustically and when streaming music the ex delivers clear sound that's actually substantially louder than the one it's not as dynamic maybe and it's around back which is as annoying here as it ever is but it's pretty solid nonetheless all that brings us back to the question of what you're looking for with the HTC One only available at nearly $600 unlocked from the Play Store it's an enthusiast phone a niche product for developers and those who want the superior hardware of the one with the untainted software of stock Android and superior though lower resolution camera the Moto X will be cheaper at $1.99 on contract when it launches on the major US Nationals this month and it includes some added value as well in terms of Google's futuristic new features and a more rough-and-tumble but still comfortable design so while the one may be the more powerful device it may also be the more limited one depending on your mobile lifestyle as Google recently reminded us with the X's initial marketing material it's not always about the specs folks we have a lot more posted and a lot more to come on the Moto X from Google both here on our YouTube channel page and at pocketnow.com so visit us over there but before you go anywhere please drop us a like if you enjoyed the video leave us a comment down below if you have something to say and follow us on social media so you don't miss future content until next time there's been Michael Fisher with PocketNow thanks for watching