Need new phone. Considering DMaxx

[bigbadwulff]

Tell me about the phone. What to like/ not to like. Compared with Galaxy S5.
Really like the looks and handling of this phone but need to know more about it.
Internal storage 32gig?. Battery life?

 

[Mustang02]

Can't be rooted if it has 4.4. That's the only con.

Battery is awesome. I don't have much on my phone currently 20gb free.

 

[bigbadwulff]

Rooting not a big thing for me. Would love to delete bloat, but. Where is it in it's life cycle? Hate to get something near the end and not get updates but also don't want to pay the 'new phone price'.
Anyone know anything about the MotoX? Kinda like the smaller phones. Coming out of a RazrM.

 

[doogald]

Tell me about the phone. What to like/ not to like. Compared with Galaxy S5.
Really like the looks and handling of this phone but need to know more about it.
Internal storage 32gig?. Battery life?

The software is fairly close to stock Android. The initial Maxxes were 32 GB, but just last week Verizon began selling them with 16 GB only, at least online. It's possible that stores still have stock with 32 GB of storage, but that's likely not much longer for this world. Battery life is great with the phone, as it should be with a 3500 mAh battery, though battery life seems worse since the KitKat update. (Not much worse, though.) The only other comment of note is that the camera is relatively mediocre, especially compared with Samsung Galaxies. It's quite possible to get decent shots in decent light conditions, but it's also possible to get mediocre shots in any light. The camera is fast to start and fast to capture images, though, and there aren't a ton of confusing options.

It has some great features that I like - Active Display to replace LED notifications, that flashes the display with an icon when you have app notifications. It also has a feature called touchless control that allows you to easily voice control a lot of functions.

Rooting not a big thing for me. Would love to delete bloat, but. Where is it in it's life cycle? Hate to get something near the end and not get updates but also don't want to pay the 'new phone price'.
Anyone know anything about the MotoX? Kinda like the smaller phones. Coming out of a RazrM.

Life cycle? They came out in late August, so it's been 8 months since they came out now. It's likely that there will updated models this summer, though who knows?

There is bloat, though not really much, and almost all of it can be disabled so you never see it.

The X is just like the Maxx - a better size, the same resolution with a 4.7" display, so more ppi on the display. The KitKat build is slightly closer to stock Android. The camera, touchless controls, and active display are exactly the same as the Maxx. Maybe the only issue is that the battery is 2200 maH, so battery life through a full, active day may be an issue. I believe that the X also lacks wireless charging, which the Maxx supports. It's on the same life cycle, most likely. (So, probably an updated device launching this summer, probably in August or September.) If you like smaller phones and don't need wireless charging, and can live with the battery, the X is probably a better bet. (The X is also getting software updates from Motorola faster. So far there was one Jellybean and two KitKat updates for the X, and the Droids are still waiting for the second KitKat update, now two months after all of the X models received it.)

 

[bigbadwulff]

Thanks for the info. Think I may go with the X. Just like the smaller size. I do a lot of outdoor activities and it just fits in things easier. Plus I think the X is now "free" and the Maxx is still $199.

 

[xeene]

Problem with moto phones is the 10mp camera can't be adjusted for smaller resolution. So all pictures are around 4-5mb each. Without sd card, people who like to take a bunch of pictures(like my wife) will often find themselves with low storage warnings.

She has filled up her 32gb phone to the max couple times now.

 

[RETG]

I have 517 MP3, 324 photos, 5 videos, 30 documents (many PDFs are large), 106 apps, and 862 other files and I have 15.82GB free with a 32 MG Maxx. In my case a SD card was not necessary.

 

[doogald]

Problem with moto phones is the 10mp camera can't be adjusted for smaller resolution. So all pictures are around 4-5mb each. Without sd card, people who like to take a bunch of pictures(like my wife) will often find themselves with low storage warnings.

She has filled up her 32gb phone to the max couple times now.

Boy, there are so many ways to solve this now. Dropbox, Google+, Flickr (with 1 TB free storage) can all automatically upload photos and videos as they are taken (and can be set to do so when you are only on WiFi to avoid using mobile data.) You can delete photos from the phone shortly after they are taken and still access them online from the phone (with the Flickr app, Google's Photos app, and with Dropbox's new Carousel app). And for music, Google Play Music lets you copy up to 20,000 songs for free and stream quality is great on the Play Music app on the phone.

 

[xeene]

Relying on data transfer rates for quick access to info when you need it isn't practical.

 

[doogald]

Relying on data transfer rates for quick access to info when you need it isn't practical.

It works for me. (I'm also trying to figure out when I would *need* to access photos or videos when I'm not in a place with WiFi or at least >1 Mbps mobile data, and really can't come up with anything.)

I guess we're all different, and that's what's great about Android - you can buy the phone that you need, rather than the one that one company wants to make.