With the Moto X launch due,people are running it down as being a mid-range dual-core phone,with a quad-core price tag.While on paper the Nexus 5 might be better than Moto X,in real world,Moto X is at par,with most of the Nexus' specifications,and packs in some extra punches of its own.
So,here goes a quick compare of the two :
Design :
Moto is 5 inches in length,with a 4.7 inch screen,while Nexus is almost 5.5 inches with a 5 inch screen.
Both use plastic at the back,both have Gorilla Glass at the front.
Though,the polycarbonate on the back of Moto feels slightly better at handling finger prints than the Nexus.
Also,given the slight curve at the back of the Moto,compared to the flat back Nexus,the Moto feels more comfortable in hand than the Nexus.
I am a sucker for thin bezels,and hence prefer it over the slight bigger one on Nexus(the bottom one).Also,this makes the overall phone size smaller.
The buttons,ports,et al. are the same on both phones.
Both come with non-removable batteries,with the Nexus having 100 mAh advantage over the Moto.
In comparison,both are almost the same.Just a matter of personal preference.
Processor :
Moto packs in an Snapdragon,S4 based,dual core Krait processor,clocked at 1.7 GHz.It also contains two low powered cores,one for natural language processing and one for contextual processing.
The Nexus houses a Snapdragon 800 based,quad-core Krait processor,with a clock freq of 2.26 GHz.
The old processor on the Moto,translates to the 600 series of the Snapdragon processors.
So,from the looks of it,Nexus is miles ahead of the Moto,when it comes to the processing power.
But,bear in mind,unless you are a real power user,so much of power at your disposal is total waste.For day-to-day activities of music,surfing the net,facebook-twitter-whatsapp multi-tasking,even the dual core on Moto would not be working on its 100% load.
On the GPU front,Moto uses a quad-core 320 Adreno,whereas the Nexus has a quad-core 330 Adreno.
Nothing much to compare here.
Both have a 2 GB RAM at disposal.Again both win here as well.
Bottom line,unless you run an app which needs to utilize 4 cores of 2.26 GHz worth of processing power,combined with 4 cores of GPU,clocking in at 450 MHz,then you really shouldn't be running that app on your phone.
Moto will easily get you through your daily activities,without any lags or problems.
Screen :
Moto houses a 4.7 inch,AMOLED screen,with 720p display,whereas the Nexus has a 5 inch,IPS LCD,with a 1080p display.
I prefer the Moto in this case,because,firstly its AMOLED.Always prefer it over LCD,despite each having its own advantages.
Another reason,720p over 1080p.
Sure,with a bigger screen and better resolution,the Nexus seems to have clear edge over the Moto,but unless you nit pick,there is barely any difference between the two at such a small screen size.
Now,with a smaller screen,HD display and an AMOLED screen,Moto consumes lesser battery than the Nexus.
Also,both are protected by Croning Gorilla Glass.
UI/Software :
Both run stock 4.4.2.But while the Nexus has its proprietary Google Experience Launcher,with a few tricks up its sleeve,the Moto runs a simpler version of the Launcher.Most of the visual tweaks can be achieved by installing Nova Launcher on the Moto.
Moto has done a fine job of keeping the stock Android experience intact,with almost zero bloatware.It provides some useful tools like Moto Migrate,to help migrate date from your old phone to the new one,and two of the best features,active display and touchless control.
Active display,lights up the screen with the time and pending notifications,everytime it detects motion,like picking the phone from the table,or taking it out from the pocket.
Remember the AMOLED screen? So,it lights up only those pixels which displays the time and the notfiications.
Saves battery,plus saved the power button from being pressed time and again!
Touchless control,keeps listening to you,for the keyword,"Ok Google Now",and responds to your voice commands,even from the sleep state!
Oh and this app keeps getting new features,like the recent "Whats up Google Now",keyword,which reads out the time and unread notifications(if any)
For these,it'd require a processor to keep running,all the time.
Remember the 2 low powered cores? Brilliant,right?
Also,another cool feature of the Moto,flick your wrist twice to start the camera app.Again,works from the sleep state.
Moto is the clear winner in this case!
Other Specifications :
Both phones pretty much match up to each other in all other aspects.
No expandable memory,only 16 and 32 Gig options.
Bluetooth 4.0,NFC,GPS,A-GPS,GLONASS,accelerometer,gyroscope,etc. and host of other sensors.
No comparison!
Radio :
No,I am not talking about the FM radio.
Radio here,are the mobile radio signals.
After the screen,this consumes the most battery strength.
Remember,Motorola were the pioneers of mobile technology.This is evident form the better signal strength,clear crisps voice across phone calls on Moto devices.
Basically,if your phone can't pick up radio signals,it tries harder,consuming more processing power,while doing so.Once it does,it needs to maintain the same strength,consuming more power.
The weaker the signal,the more power it needs to search for a signal.(Which is why your battery drowns faster when moving to places with low signal strength).
Using the Moto at the same places as I was with my old phone,getting 4 bars,as I did earlier.The difference was in the battery consumption,the signal stayed green throughout for the Moto,whereas I used to get yellow/red bands earlier.
Moto X wins this battle hands down,in comparison to the Nexus.
Camera :
Both have an average camera,nothing quite special.
Megapixels don't count.
Though Moto can only click photos at 10MP,Nexus can shoot at various sizes.
Recording,both can shoot at 1080,30 fps.
Nexus has a special HDR+ mode,Photosphere,which the Moto lacks.
Picture quality is better on the Nexus in comparison to the Moto.
So Nexus wins on the camera front!
Overall,both line up well against each other,with their own advantages(and disadvantages),even though on paper they fall into two different categories.
To be fair,Moto X seems like a Nexus device in itself,given that its the first phone released by Moto,after being taken over by Google.2 years of development,and they could finally make a product which would compete with Nexus range of phones.
So,here goes a quick compare of the two :
Design :
Moto is 5 inches in length,with a 4.7 inch screen,while Nexus is almost 5.5 inches with a 5 inch screen.
Both use plastic at the back,both have Gorilla Glass at the front.
Though,the polycarbonate on the back of Moto feels slightly better at handling finger prints than the Nexus.
Also,given the slight curve at the back of the Moto,compared to the flat back Nexus,the Moto feels more comfortable in hand than the Nexus.
I am a sucker for thin bezels,and hence prefer it over the slight bigger one on Nexus(the bottom one).Also,this makes the overall phone size smaller.
The buttons,ports,et al. are the same on both phones.
Both come with non-removable batteries,with the Nexus having 100 mAh advantage over the Moto.
In comparison,both are almost the same.Just a matter of personal preference.
Processor :
Moto packs in an Snapdragon,S4 based,dual core Krait processor,clocked at 1.7 GHz.It also contains two low powered cores,one for natural language processing and one for contextual processing.
The Nexus houses a Snapdragon 800 based,quad-core Krait processor,with a clock freq of 2.26 GHz.
The old processor on the Moto,translates to the 600 series of the Snapdragon processors.
So,from the looks of it,Nexus is miles ahead of the Moto,when it comes to the processing power.
But,bear in mind,unless you are a real power user,so much of power at your disposal is total waste.For day-to-day activities of music,surfing the net,facebook-twitter-whatsapp multi-tasking,even the dual core on Moto would not be working on its 100% load.
On the GPU front,Moto uses a quad-core 320 Adreno,whereas the Nexus has a quad-core 330 Adreno.
Nothing much to compare here.
Both have a 2 GB RAM at disposal.Again both win here as well.
Bottom line,unless you run an app which needs to utilize 4 cores of 2.26 GHz worth of processing power,combined with 4 cores of GPU,clocking in at 450 MHz,then you really shouldn't be running that app on your phone.
Moto will easily get you through your daily activities,without any lags or problems.
Screen :
Moto houses a 4.7 inch,AMOLED screen,with 720p display,whereas the Nexus has a 5 inch,IPS LCD,with a 1080p display.
I prefer the Moto in this case,because,firstly its AMOLED.Always prefer it over LCD,despite each having its own advantages.
Another reason,720p over 1080p.
Sure,with a bigger screen and better resolution,the Nexus seems to have clear edge over the Moto,but unless you nit pick,there is barely any difference between the two at such a small screen size.
Now,with a smaller screen,HD display and an AMOLED screen,Moto consumes lesser battery than the Nexus.
Also,both are protected by Croning Gorilla Glass.
UI/Software :
Both run stock 4.4.2.But while the Nexus has its proprietary Google Experience Launcher,with a few tricks up its sleeve,the Moto runs a simpler version of the Launcher.Most of the visual tweaks can be achieved by installing Nova Launcher on the Moto.
Moto has done a fine job of keeping the stock Android experience intact,with almost zero bloatware.It provides some useful tools like Moto Migrate,to help migrate date from your old phone to the new one,and two of the best features,active display and touchless control.
Active display,lights up the screen with the time and pending notifications,everytime it detects motion,like picking the phone from the table,or taking it out from the pocket.
Remember the AMOLED screen? So,it lights up only those pixels which displays the time and the notfiications.
Saves battery,plus saved the power button from being pressed time and again!
Touchless control,keeps listening to you,for the keyword,"Ok Google Now",and responds to your voice commands,even from the sleep state!
Oh and this app keeps getting new features,like the recent "Whats up Google Now",keyword,which reads out the time and unread notifications(if any)
For these,it'd require a processor to keep running,all the time.
Remember the 2 low powered cores? Brilliant,right?
Also,another cool feature of the Moto,flick your wrist twice to start the camera app.Again,works from the sleep state.
Moto is the clear winner in this case!
Other Specifications :
Both phones pretty much match up to each other in all other aspects.
No expandable memory,only 16 and 32 Gig options.
Bluetooth 4.0,NFC,GPS,A-GPS,GLONASS,accelerometer,gyroscope,etc. and host of other sensors.
No comparison!
Radio :
No,I am not talking about the FM radio.
Radio here,are the mobile radio signals.
After the screen,this consumes the most battery strength.
Remember,Motorola were the pioneers of mobile technology.This is evident form the better signal strength,clear crisps voice across phone calls on Moto devices.
Basically,if your phone can't pick up radio signals,it tries harder,consuming more processing power,while doing so.Once it does,it needs to maintain the same strength,consuming more power.
The weaker the signal,the more power it needs to search for a signal.(Which is why your battery drowns faster when moving to places with low signal strength).
Using the Moto at the same places as I was with my old phone,getting 4 bars,as I did earlier.The difference was in the battery consumption,the signal stayed green throughout for the Moto,whereas I used to get yellow/red bands earlier.
Moto X wins this battle hands down,in comparison to the Nexus.
Camera :
Both have an average camera,nothing quite special.
Megapixels don't count.
Though Moto can only click photos at 10MP,Nexus can shoot at various sizes.
Recording,both can shoot at 1080,30 fps.
Nexus has a special HDR+ mode,Photosphere,which the Moto lacks.
Picture quality is better on the Nexus in comparison to the Moto.
So Nexus wins on the camera front!
Overall,both line up well against each other,with their own advantages(and disadvantages),even though on paper they fall into two different categories.
To be fair,Moto X seems like a Nexus device in itself,given that its the first phone released by Moto,after being taken over by Google.2 years of development,and they could finally make a product which would compete with Nexus range of phones.
