How to sell the Motorola X?

I really shouldn't repeat the same rant I've already generated elsewhere, but dez's comment lit a fire underneath me.

Lemme see if I can be a bit more concise than I was the last time I ranted...

...OK, first: they said it would have amazing brains (adaptive responding, i.e., "contextual awareness") and well...meh.

Next, they said it would be made in America. And then...yeah, not a real selling point (it's ALL about PRICE and PERFORMANCE baby).

Then, they said it would be CHEEEEAAAPPP, like maybe even $200 carrier-free. That was probably just a wild rumor, but it was a nice one. Never had a chance.

Oh yeah, they said it would have a magical Clear Pixel camera and what do we hear now? Yeah...it's...OK.

What else...oh, I remember the sneak peak (sorta) when Woodside talked about the device in his pocket. Lotta hype there.

I think maybe the last thing we heard was that Googorola was gonna sell this thing HARD, like OG Droid hard, like tens of millions of dollars hard. But if that's true, it seems they put the ads in the wrong markets, or they're airing at 2am cuz we're just not seeing them like we hoped we would.

I'm really confused that the whole thing seems to be fizzling out so fast. Of course it's not over 'til it's over. Maybe by the time they hit the Verizon floors, there will be something in the X to be a little more excited about.

-Matt

 

moto needs to cut off contract price in half and give these out free with contracts on all carriers, yesterday, also push the customizable covers. otherwise this phone is already forgotten like old news, especially on verizon which is majority of this country.

they REALLY missed the target with this device, could have made a huge impact in cellular world but i think they've failed miserably.

 

The way Motorola sells this phone is easy:

"Unlimited data/$30 per month with the purchase of a Motorola X"

 

When Verizon first offered pre-order on the Droid Maxx I signed up, I later canceled it and chose to wait for the G2. If I changed my mind again and decided to grab another Moto, I would still pick a Maxx over the X. The X has a tough row to hoe.

 

It's quite simple, make it match up to the hype it had before the announcement. It would be the best selling android device, period.

 

Buy the Moto X...no fancy/power draining skins ontop of the already beautiful Android Jelly Bean OS. No spending a small fortune for a developers edition. No having to buy overpriced plastic ugly colored cases for your phone. Pick up a Moto X. Have it customized to your color choice. Want Pure Vanilla Android you got it. You want an unlocked bootloader..you got it (depending on your carrier). You dont need the useless bells and whistles of the phone knowing when your looking at it. You dont need to glide your hand over the phone to change screens. This is America we do love technology but we also love to feel that technology. Slide your thumb over the beautiful glass screen of the Moto X. Enjoy the way it responds instantly to your touch. Hear the crisp clear sounds coming out of the speakers. The amazing call quality that you can only get from Motorola. See the amazingly luminecent and colorful screen. Made from the highest quality, the nicest materials and so many options to make it your own. And all built for you right here...In the good Ol U.S. Of A.

 

I would have bought the Moto X hands down if it had the Maxx battery, an sd slot or maybe 32GB of memory (as I enjoy my nexus and not having to have my memory split up), and developer support. Pair that with the user experience that they have provided and you have created a near perfect phone for the masses. As I have said before, I enjoy a smaller screen and would enjoy a top tier phone with a 4.3" screen. A big battery doesn't make the phone thick; the Droid Ultra Maxx is thinner than the Ultra Mini, anyways who really cares if the phone is 3/8" thick compared to 1/4".

The Moto X has the form factor of an amazing device. In my opinion, the Moto X is one of the most beautiful phones ever built with its smooth lines, on screen nav keys, and ergonomic shape. Motorola needs to push the sexy factor of the phone, but to a greater extent push how you don't need the most cutting edge tech to have the best phone. What I laugh at is how people with the Note 2, for example, are usually saying, "this is the best phone ever, but I can't wait to replace it with the Note 3." This to me shows that the current model isn't making you as happy as you would like. Motorola needs to show that the Moto X might not have the best specs, but doesn't require them to be the best. Motorola needs to show how fluid Jelly Bean runs on it as well has how the few, but great, software advances they have made will push phone interaction to a new level, while in my experience with S4 users, all of them have turned off the new "amazing" features of the S4 such as the eye tracking. The same thing goes with Siri from Apple, everybody was saying Siri was revolutionary, but a year later rarely does anybody use it.

In real world use, you wont see a huge difference the performance of the Moto X compared to the S4, HTC One, ect. Comparing the Moto X to the top tier phones is like saying the Lamborghini Aventador is faster than a Corvette ZR1, which may be true on paper, but in real life the ZR1 can do everything the Lambo can do in. They are all great devices however, I agree that Motorola needs to lower the price on the Moto X if they try to compete spec wise however, if they can show how specs don't drive the cost of the device, the user experience does, they will out sell "top tier" phones. People will pay more for a certain experience over specs, look at Apple iPhones. They haven't had the best specs or even 4G (until recently) for the longest time yet people still pay more initially and iPhones hold there value much longer than any android phone. Just look at the prices on Craigslist or Swappa for an android device vs an iPhone. Example from Swappa: iPhone 4s ($225-$410), Droid Razr ($110-$190). Both came out around the same time , but the iPhone is still going for twice the price that the Razr is going for.

A friend recently sent me this link to Droid-Life comparing the Moto X with the S4 and after he read it he said the S4 was the clear winner, but after reading it I noticed how the author spent more time talking about how the Moto X was a better phone than the other way around. User experience is what they need to sell. I recently broke my GNex and replaced it with another GNex (almost a 2 year old device) because I enjoy the user experience of a Nexus (a Verizon LTE Nexus) device over better quadrant scores or other specs.

 

Well I ordered the x tonight and my s4 is for sale so I guess I'm the minority. Why am I switching you ask?

1. Form factor -the s4 is a little to large for my taste and I love the size and design of the x.

2. Vanilla Android- this as close to a pure vanilla experience I have seen on Verizon since the nexus.

3. Vision- like the way googlerola is heading with not focusing on specs as much but real world performance. Specs only go so far and usually don't translate room everyday usage.

Don't get me wrong, the s4 is awesome and I may miss it. My only real issue with it is size.

Galaxy S4!!!

 

Thanks. Forgot all about this contest. When does it end?