Moto X turns up in Singapore, only in black

The Moto X is out in Singapore now, bringing a “pure” Android experience to folks who want the clean interface that Google Nexus devices offer.

Here only after being out in the United States for a few months, the Motorola phone comes without any of the bloatware common on other rivals, but does bring the company’s own enhancements.

These include a voice command technology that is customised to launch various applications. So, the phone learns from you, not the other way round.

Since Google has not shipped the past few Nexus phones, such as the current Nexus 6, directly to Singapore, the easiest way to get a “stock” Android interface here may be through the Moto X.

The phone will come with Android 5.0 “Lollipop”, which many top-end models such as Samsung’s Galaxy range, have yet to offer by way of software updates in Singapore.

The hardware on the Moto X isn’t shabby either. This is especially for an asking price of S$765, which is lower than the S$1,000 asked of top-end models such as Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4, for example.

The Moto X sports a 5.2-inch AMOLED screen featuring a Full HD resolution, which is less sharp than the Quad HD you find on the very best phones now. To be fair, that is also not clearly different on such a small screen for most users.

Under the phone’s metal frame, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor running at 2.5GHz is an able engine, and it is assisted by 2GB of RAM onboard.

What users will have to beware of, though, is the rather modest 16GB of storage with this Singapore model. Without a microSD card slot, you can’t easily pop in additional memory cards carrying your songs and videos.

The main camera is a 13-meg affair, while a front-camera offering 2-meg resolution and 1080p video isn’t shabby for a video call.

All in, the Moto X looks competitive. What it’s not, though, is the highly customised Android phone that it was hyped up as in its early days of development.

In Singapore, for example, you get the phone only in black. There’s none of the interesting real wood back covers that Motorola had offered in the US.

We’ll have more on the phone when we get a hands-on test with it. Stay tuned!