Moto X Pure Edition review roundup: A great smartphone with a great price

BY Evan Selleck

Published 3 Sep 2015

Moto X Pure Edition engaget review

The Motorola X Pure Edition (which goes by the Moto X Style name outside of the U.S.) is available to pre-order right now, and, as such, reviews are now coming in.

Motorola has been chasing a singular dream for a long time now, ever since the adoption of its Moto X branding and the launch of Moto Maker: That elusive, perfect smartphone. While it’s probably not possible, or even likely, that any manufacturer can make the “perfect” smartphone, it’s always good when companies try. With Motorola’s latest endeavor, while they may not have created the perfect device, they did create a great one with a great price tag:

The Verge

    “Beyond working with virtually any SIM card you might have, Motorola says this year’s phone includes a class-leading camera, addressing the biggest complaint with its prior devices. Based on Motorola’s promises, you’d think that it’s finally cracked how to build the perfect Android smartphone. I’ve been using it for the past week, and, well, it’s far from perfect. It’s not the best smartphone you can buy, Android or otherwise. But it is a really good smartphone at a really great price, and to do better than the new Moto X, you’re going to have dig much deeper into your wallet.”

Android Central

    “Launching around the £270 mark, the Moto X Play delivers a great deal for the money — a great screen, a decent camera and solid battery life, not to mention Moto’s excellent software experience. But nagging performance and multitasking issues hamper what might otherwise have been the perfect Android mid-ranger.”

Engadget

    “Now Motorola’s at it again with the Moto X Pure Edition, a phone that appears to sit right at the intersection of price and power. It’s unlocked, ready for any US carrier and — more importantly — it’s priced as low as $400 off contract. In other words, it’s a serious contender for the “Best Smartphone Out There” crown, at least on paper. The thing is, the market for cheap unlocked smartphones has exploded in popularity this year, and it’ll take something really special for it to capture the title. So, how does Motorola’s new flagship fare? Spoiler alert: really damned well.”

The Wall Street Journal

    “It has almost everything I’d want from a smartphone these days: top-notch build quality, a gorgeous display, some of the quickest charging I’ve seen on a phone, gobs of speed and fantastic software in Motorola’s nearly stock take on Android. There are of course some tradeoffs, but overall it’s the best smartphone Motorola’s ever made and the best phone at this price. It also has one feature most higher-priced rivals can’t match: It’ll run on any U.S. carrier’s network.”

Basically, the general consensus seems to be that Motorola has essentially built the best smartphone they have up until this point, and, without a doubt, it’s a great device for the price that Motorola’s asking. There are some tradeoffs, but Motorola’s going in the right direction.

Do you plan on picking up one of Motorola’s new Moto X devices?

[image via Engadget]