Category: Moto X

Moto X Water Damage

June 26, 2014

My friend dropped her Moto X into the deep end of a pool without noticing. It remained there for roughly 5 minutes before it was retrieved. Instantly it was put in rice for 16 hours but afterwards it wasnt working correctly and remained stuck in a bootloop. At that point it was taken apart and cleaned using alcohol and left to dry. It was no longer working. A few days later I tried to change the battery but it didnt help as the device just stayed off or in a bootloop depending which battery I connected. I left the Moto X open for another week to dry out completely with all of the original parts assembled. Today I plug it in and to my surprise it turns on and works as normal, but every time I unplug it, it would turn off. This happened around 3 times and then I decided to leave it on the charger to let it reach 100. In a few minutes the battery went from 56% to 100% and then it said fully charged. After some heating up and rebooting, it just started working normally. So if your Moto X is heavily water damaged (water has been forced inside by pressure), open it and just let it dry for a week and you should be good to go. The nanocoating seems to have worked out well in this case.

Internal Rust
Internal Rust
Internal Water Damage
Internal Water Damage
Between the screen and main board
Between the screen and main board
The Main board under the battery
The Main board under the battery
Finally Working
Finally Working

 

Moto X: Balanced Perfection (Micro Review/Comparison with G2)

March 23, 2014

Moto X back

I have recently switched to a Moto X from the LG G2 and the device is surprisingly great. On paper, it doesn’t seem like it would be the best phone to use, but in actuality, it runs smoother and faster than my LG G2 ever did. This holds true for all of the roms I had tried, even stable builds of CyanogenMod 11.

The active display comes on an any slight hint of movement which is a nice way to check notifications without draining the battery. The video below shows how I check the time by just holding the phone.

The screen is only 720p but because it has a full RGB matrix and isn’t pentile, it is a much better experience than previous 720p AMOLED devices as text is not crunchy on the edges. I wouldn’t mind better whites but it isn’t too bothersome.

The battery lasts for around 5 hours of solid screen time but not for over a day off of the charger as the standby isn’t as great as the G2. The G2 would also reach 5 hours of screen time but if used minimally could reach 2 days off of charge as well. The speaker is great as it balances a loud volume with a full range of sound and is one of the better phone speakers I have heard.

The camera so far seems to be good enough for my nature shots but maybe not as good as the G2.

Macro Moto x Moto X flower macro Moto x flower macro

The BUILD is my favorite thing about the Moto X, from the way it feels to the way it looks, it is all done right. The attention to detail is much better than that of the G2 as a device is only as good as its weakest component and the Moto X is just a pleasurable device to use.

Pros:

– Performance

– Build Quality

– Battery Life

– Features Without Bloat

– Speaker

– Active Display

Cons:

– Display Resolution and Whites

– Standby Time