Moto X4 Review

Source-

https://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/reviews/moto-x4-review-1779682?pfrom=gadgetstop

 Motorola’s Moto X  flagship Android smartphone had a certain charm, which made it well  received by pretty much everyone who used it. It was followed by the Moto X (Gen2) and the Moto X Style in the subsequent years, but we haven’t had a new Moto X phone since 2015. With Lenovo now in charge, the company introduced the Moto Z series as its new flagship series, leaving the fate of the X series in limbo.Fast forward to 2017, and Lenovo has now introduced the Moto X4  as a new mid-range smartphone, and quite possibly as fan service for  many users. This new model tries to capture the same essence of the  original Moto X, especially its compact form factor, but with some  modern touches. Priced at Rs. 21,000 or Rs. 23,000 depending on which  storage variant you choose, the new Moto X4 is positioned well, as the Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) (Review)  is the only smartphone with similar features at this price that comes  to mind. Let’s see if the Moto X4 is as good as it looks. 

 Moto X4 design and build quality

Lenovo has done an amazing  job with the design of the Moto X4. The combination of an outer  aluminium frame and glass back looks and feels extremely premium, and  the overall shape and size make it easy to hold. It lacks the  typical curved back of previous Moto X models, but it's comfortable  nonetheless. However, it’s on the heavier side for sure at 163 grams,  which you’ll feel when it's in your pocket. The disadvantages of the  glass back are that it attracts fingerprints very easily and makes the  phone really slippery. When the phone is placed on surfaces with even  the slightest incline, it will start sliding off.All the buttons  are placed on the right, but they’re quite tiny and it's tough to  distinguish between them by just touch. The power button has a slightly  different texture to it but due to its small size, and it’s not easy to  make out. The dual-SIM tray is placed on the top but it’s the hybrid  variety so you’ll have decide between a second SIM and a microSD card.  At the bottom of the phone, we have a USB Type-C port and the headphones  socket, but no speaker grille. That’s because the Moto X4 uses its  earpiece as the loudspeaker. 

 Lenovo hasn’t yet joined the herd when it comes to taller displays.  While this might be a sore point for some, the regular 16:9 screen is  still very good. Honestly, we didn’t really miss a taller one. It still  has relatively slim borders on the sides, and the ones on the top are  still slimmer than those of, say, the Google Pixel 2 (Review).  The 5.2-inch IPS display has very good brightness and produces a vivid  image, thanks to the saturated colours. There’s Gorilla Glass for  protection, and the full-HD resolution is acceptable at this price  point. The oleophobic coating also does a good job of keeping the  display smudge-free during everyday use.The camera bump on the  back juts out quite a bit but thankfully we didn't see any scuffs on it  during our review period. There’s no support for Moto Mods  here as that’s reserved for the Z series. Lenovo has placed the  fingerprint sensor in the capacitive home button, and it works well for  authentication. Navigation is handled by on-screen buttons but you can  switch to manoeuvring through the OS using just the Home button, using  gestures across the fingerprint reader. You can perform the usual  functions of opening the app switcher, going back, and even locking the  screen, solely with gestures. It’s useful as you canhides the on-screen  buttons, thereby giving you a bit more screen real estate. In the box,  Lenovo ships the Moto X4 with a charger, data cable, SIM eject tool,  instructions, and a headset.

Moto X4 specifications and software

In  terms of specifications, the Moto X4 is pretty well equipped to  handle most apps well enough. It uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 mobile  platform, which is very similar  to the 626 and 625 SoCs usually found in this segment. This chip has  eight ARM Cortex-A53 CPU cores with a maximum clock speed of 2.2GHz, so  benchmark numbers are similar too. In AnTuTu, we got 67,361 points, and  23fps in GFXbench. The Snapdragon 630 has some improvements like a  faster X12 LTE modem which supports a peak download speed of 600Mbps  (versus 300Mbps) and additional features such as the aptX codec for  high-quality audio streaming and Quick Charge 4.0. Lenovo sent us the  higher-end variant of the Moto X4, which has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of  storage, but you can opt for the 3GB plus 32GB combo if you want to save  some money. 

 Lenovo hasn’t yet joined the herd when it comes to taller displays.  While this might be a sore point for some, the regular 16:9 screen is  still very good. Honestly, we didn’t really miss a taller one. It still  has relatively slim borders on the sides, and the ones on the top are  still slimmer than those of, say, the Google Pixel 2 (Review).  The 5.2-inch IPS display has very good brightness and produces a vivid  image, thanks to the saturated colours. There’s Gorilla Glass for  protection, and the full-HD resolution is acceptable at this price  point. The oleophobic coating also does a good job of keeping the  display smudge-free during everyday use.The camera bump on the  back juts out quite a bit but thankfully we didn't see any scuffs on it  during our review period. There’s no support for Moto Mods  here as that’s reserved for the Z series. Lenovo has placed the  fingerprint sensor in the capacitive home button, and it works well for  authentication. Navigation is handled by on-screen buttons but you can  switch to manoeuvring through the OS using just the Home button, using  gestures across the fingerprint reader. You can perform the usual  functions of opening the app switcher, going back, and even locking the  screen, solely with gestures. It’s useful as you canhides the on-screen  buttons, thereby giving you a bit more screen real estate. In the box,  Lenovo ships the Moto X4 with a charger, data cable, SIM eject tool,  instructions, and a headset.

Moto X4 specifications and software

In  terms of specifications, the Moto X4 is pretty well equipped to  handle most apps well enough. It uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 mobile  platform, which is very similar  to the 626 and 625 SoCs usually found in this segment. This chip has  eight ARM Cortex-A53 CPU cores with a maximum clock speed of 2.2GHz, so  benchmark numbers are similar too. In AnTuTu, we got 67,361 points, and  23fps in GFXbench. The Snapdragon 630 has some improvements like a  faster X12 LTE modem which supports a peak download speed of 600Mbps  (versus 300Mbps) and additional features such as the aptX codec for  high-quality audio streaming and Quick Charge 4.0. Lenovo sent us the  higher-end variant of the Moto X4, which has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of  storage, but you can opt for the 3GB plus 32GB combo if you want to save  some money. 

 4G works well on both SIM slots (but only one at a time) and VoLTE is  also supported. You also get FM radio, NFC, USB-OTG, Bluetooth 5, and  dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac. Sensors include a gyroscope and compass along  with the usual proximity sensor, accelerometer and magnetometer. The  phone also has proper water resistance with an IP68 certification.Internationally, the Moto X4 ships with Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant, but in India, it’s missing. This is a bit odd considering that Aamzon’s Echo speakers are now official available here with most of Alexa’s Skills working just fine. However, at the time of the launch, Lenovo told  Gadgets 360 that the feature will only available once Amazon releases  the Moto Alexa app here. In the US, the Moto X4 is also sold as part of  Google’s Android One programme through Verizon.In  India, the Moto X4 ships with a near-stock version of Android 7.1.1,  with a planned Oreo update down the road. Everything is kept pretty much  close to stock here, save for the custom icon set and a suite of Moto  apps and gestures. There are also a bunch of preinstalled apps including  Outlook and LinkedIn, which strangely cannot be uninstalled. 

 The Moto app offers similar features to what we’ve seen on other  current Moto phones, such as gestures for activating the flashlight and  camera as well as Moto Display for a peek at your notifications, the  battery level and the time without having to wake the screen up. Lenovo  has added a Night Display feature, which is a blue light filter. You can  schedule this to kick in for a particular time period but there’s no  way to adjust the intensity, in case you want a stronger effect. Moto  Voice lets you launch apps and check you calendar appointments by using  the phrase ‘Show me’, and it works well. A list of supported commands  are provided. This feature works as advertised, even when the screen is  off. There's also a feature called 'Voice Security', which is supposed  to detect your voice specifically and allow commands when the phone is  locked, but we couldn't get this feature to work. A new addition  here is Moto Key, which lets you use the phone’s fingerprint sensor for  authentication when you log in to a Windows PC or on websites that  require a password. For this to work, you’ll need the Moto Key  application for Windows (sorry, no Mac support), which will establish a  connection between your PC and phone over Bluetooth. Through the setup  process, you’ll also have the option to install the Moto Key browser  extensions (only Internet Explorer and Chrome are supported for now).  Once everything is configured, the Moto Key extension will override your  browser’s default autosave function. Your fingerprint is required each  time you need to save your credentials for a website. Once saved, you’ll  see the Moto Key symbol in the password field and almost immediately,  get a prompt on your phone to authenticate using your fingerprint. It  sounds like a complicated process but it works pretty seamlessly once  set up. The same works for logging into Widows too. 

 The Moto X4 is the first phone to debut Tempow’s multi-speaker Bluetooth solution. Just like Samsung’s implementation in the S8  series, the Moto X4 has a feature called Wireless Sound System in the  Settings app, which lets you connect up to four Bluetooth devices at the  same time. These can be a mix of speakers and headsets. Once connected,  you can adjust the volume of each speaker or headset individually  through your phone. You even have the option for a stereo configuration  (left and right audio channel separation) but in order for this to work  properly, you will need to use the calibration feature in the app, else  the effect is not very good. We tried it on a host of different speakers  and it works pretty well. Remember that when this feature is on, you  will be disconnected from your other Bluetooth devices as the Tempow  Audio Profile (TAP) overrides all other connections.

Moto X4 performance, cameras, and battery life

Thanks  to stock Android, general performance is smooth without any hiccups. 4G  reception is good and the earpiece is plenty audible for calls even in  noisy environments. The compact size of this phone is great but the  slippery back makes single-handed use a little tricky at times. To make  life easier, the X4 does have a gesture which shrinks the display to  either of the bottom corners of the screen. We liked that the phone  doesn’t heat up too much, even when gaming. App performance is good and  we didn’t face any lag during multitasking. Heavier titles like Asphalt 8  and Dirt Xtreme ran smoothly.The display’s touch response is  very good and the we love the vividness of the screen, which is great  for viewing video content. The speaker gets decently loud, for both  voice calls and media files but of course, we miss having a proper  stereo effect. The bundled headset is of the in-ear variety and sounds  really good. The tonal signature is quite balanced and the silicone ear  tips offer good isolation from ambient noise. You can enable the ‘Talk  to me’ feature in Moto Voice, which announces incoming calls and texts  when you have a headset connected. You can also answer or reject a call  by voice commands alone. 

 Another big feature of the Moto X4 is its dual camera setup. It has a  12-megapixel primary camera with an f/2.0 aperture and PDAF, and an  8-megapixel secondary camera with a 120 degree field-of-view for  wide-angle shots. You can switch between sensors at any time with the  dedicated button in the viewfinder. The main sensor is quick to focus  during the day with fairly good detail for landscapes and macro shots.  We noticed that at times, under bright sunlight, the camera tends to  overexpose scenes, so you’ll need to manually dial down the exposure  using the ring around the focus reticule. Low-light image quality from  the main sensor is also a bit noisy.Wide-angle shots let you  capture more of the scene, but this is only useful for landscape shots  as it’s impossible to get clear closeups. The quality for images is  slightly inferior when taken with the secondary sensor as opposed to the  main one. This is most evident in low-light shots. Barrel distortion is  also unavoidable with the wide-angle lens. Auto HDR is present  but processing is not very quick. It works well in daylight but in low  light, it’s quite sluggish so its impossible to get clear shots when  you’re moving about.You can switch between sensors for video  recording but you need to do this before you hit the record button.  Video resolution goes up to 4K but there’s no stabilisation, so you  often end up with shaky footage even with slight movements. Continuous  autofocus is quite slow here. Other shooting modes include 1080p at  60fps, and slow-motion 720p at 120fps. Video shot in low light is a bit  noisy. 

 The Moto X4 has a bokeh mode but the effect isn’t very good even with  human subjects. Even after multiple tries, parts of our subjects' heads  and ears were also blurred out, which shows that the camera is not very  good with edge detection. You can adjust the level of blur before and  after taking shots, but the whole process feels very clunky. Spot colour  is a fun shooting mode and there’s a Professional mode too. The front  16-megapixel camera captures decently detailed selfies under good  lighting, and there’s a front-firing LED flash to help you out at night.  We found that the front flash messes up the white balance of shots most  of the time, so you're better off not using it unless you absolutely  have to.The Moto X4 has a feature called Smart Camera, which  tries to identify an object or landmark in the viewfinder. An icon pops  up in the viewfinder, and upon tapping it, the app captures a temporary  snapshot of the object or place in focus and tries to identify it. The  process takes a while, during which you cannot use the camera. It works  for simple objects well enough, but landmarks didn’t work, possibly  because we weren’t around any notable ones. 

 It also claims to be able to read addresses and phone numbers, but  this is more of a hit or miss. This feature is somewhat like Google  Lens, but works much slower and isn’t as accurate. Lenovo mentions other  beta features such as Selective Black & White and Background  Replacement on its website, which aren't currently present. Battery  life is good considering that we managed to get an entire day’s worth  of heavy usage from the 3000mAh battery. This was with gaming, lots  photo and video capturing, Web browsing, a few calls, and some GPS usage  though apps like Uber and Google Maps. We managed to run our HD test  video continuously for 11 hours and 33 minutes. Fast charging is  supported through Moto’s TurboPower feature. We managed to get a 50  percent charge in about half an hour, which is good.

Verdict

We’re  quite happy with what Lenovo has done with the Moto X4. It looks and  feels great, and has plenty of useful features such as the Moto suite of  gestures, and proper waterproofing. Between this and the Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) (Review),  we’d recommend the Moto X4 as it does have a slightly better camera,  even though the X4's camera itself isn't great. The main sensor isn’t  that bad and the wide-angle lens has its uses, but the sluggish HDR,  slow focus speeds in video and ineffective bokeh mode left us wanting  more.With a starting price of Rs. 21,000, the Moto X4 is a good  pick if you’re looking for good looks, decent performance and water  resistance in a compact body. If you need a better camera, then there’s  the Oppo F5 (Review) or for a bit more money, the Moto Z2 Play (Review).