Motorola Moto X4 review (updated): Standout midrange Android phone is even cheaper

Replace Summer season, 2018

When the unique Moto X4 launched in December 2017, we had been impressed with its dependable efficiency, water resistance and cheap value.

Six months later, it stays simply as aggressive towards different mid-range telephones, if no more so given its value has dropped considerably. On Google’s Challenge Fi, now you can nab it for $249, and Motorola presently sells it for $299, £200 and AU$599. (Sadly, it is out of inventory at Amazon, which out of those three distributors used to promote it for the most cost effective).

These deep reductions solely work in direction of the Moto X4’s profit, since there hasn’t been a strong, widely-available various for the reason that telephone’s launch. Certain, there’s the Moto G6 — an affordable Motorola telephone that launched this 12 months and prices $249 too (or £186 and AU$320, transformed). However it has a slower processor and a digital camera setup that is a half-step under the X4. As well as, on condition that the brand new OnePlus 6 is costlier than its predecessor at $529 and £469 (in Australia that converts to AU$702), the worth differential between the Moto X4 and the OnePlus 6 is even higher, making the previous a fair larger steal than it was earlier than.  

Take a look at CNET’s best smartphones for extra info on aggressive merchandise.  

The unique overview of the Moto X4 was posted on December 20, 2017. It’s principally unchanged and follows under.

Motorola’s high-end phones pack punch, however entry-level and midprice Android gadgets are the place this phonemaker actually shines. With the Moto X4, the corporate has one other midrange winner that offers you some fairly nice and software program methods for an inexpensive value (see under, it will get a bit sophisticated).

The Moto X4 sits a tier above the Moto G5 Plus ($230 at Amazon.com), our favourite price range telephone, and under the Moto Z2, which has magnetic attachments for equipment like an prolonged battery pack. (It prices about the identical because the Z2 Play, which additionally works with the identical add-ons.) What I like in regards to the Moto X4 is its water resistant design, twin rear cameras, expandable reminiscence and boatload of software program options at a cheap value. It lacks a super-fast processor and the power to customise the telephone’s colours, which was one in all my favourite issues about Moto X phones from 2014.

You should purchase the Moto X4 unlocked from Motorola.com, Google (with Project Fi service), or unlocked from Amazon with Prime adverts. Within the US, costs range from $300 to $400 unlocked, however you must also maintain an eye fixed out for offers and value cuts in your space. Within the UK, the Moto X4 begins at £349, and it prices AU$699 in Australia.

Whereas it isn’t as quick as a Moto Z2 telephone or the OnePlus 5T ($505 at Amazon.com) (one other Android favourite that is an ideal top-tier worth), it beats out different handsets within the value vary. The Alcatel Idol 5S ($250 at Amazon.com), for instance, has a notably shorter battery life, and the HTC U11 Life ($390 at Amazon.com), though strikingly stunning and in addition waterproof, would not have a headphone jack. Becoming proper between entry-level and top-tier, the Moto X4 settles into its newfound midrange dwelling fairly comfortably, and has the correct specs and the correct efficiency, for the correct value.

Glossy design and water resistant, too

Although sadly it is now not customizable like Moto Xs of 12 months’s previous, the Moto X4 is a pretty, sleek-looking telephone. It is available in black and silver and it seems to be so shiny that it jogs my memory of the liquid-metal model of T-1000 in “Terminator.” Talking of liquid, the telephone’s rated IP68 for water-resistance, that means it might survive in about three ft of water (one meter) for as much as 30 minutes. I dunked it in a five-gallon bucket for 28 minutes — 3 times — and it stored working simply nice.

Again to the telephone’s seems to be, that glossiness does lead to loads of fingerprint and smudges. And in comparison with different premium telephones, the Moto X4 is on the thicker aspect and feels further chunky. The bulging, watch-dial-like design across the digital camera lenses additionally provides extra thickness to the again. One other gripe I’ve is the fingerprint reader. Although it is helpful for unlocking the telephone and authorizing funds with NFC and Android Pay, maddeningly,  it sits under the bezel. And whereas others could not have as onerous of a time adjusting, it made me reflexively and repeatedly faucet the sensor considering it was the house button. It was a behavior I needed to unlearn.

As well as, one in all our Moto X4s managed to get two lengthy scratches on the front-top bezel, which was an actual bummer. I did not drop the telephone, but it surely doubtless received scratched in my bag. That is nothing a display cowl cannot deal with, however when you prefer to go au pure, be warned that I’ve tossed many telephones into my bag with none subject, but the Moto X4 ended up getting nicked.

Plenty of software program goodies, a number of assistants

When you purchase the Moto X4 from Motorola and Amazon, you will get a cool new function known as Moto Key (sadly, this does not come within the Google Fi model). This allows you to use your fingerprint to unlock third-party apps and gadgets like Twitter, Fb and your PC laptop computer. When you signal out of your accounts on a regular basis, you will undoubtedly this convenient. It does take a beat to unlock, but it surely’s extra handy than typing out your username and password every time. You may also join as much as 4 Bluetooth gadgets directly, so you possibly can hook up a stereo setup or hearken to music on wi-fi headphones with one other buddy.

An onboard Alexa app (additionally lacking from the Google Fi model) will launch Amazon’s digital assistant. To ask in regards to the newest information, sports activities rating or climate, you possibly can launch Alexa from the lockscreen by saying the “Alexa” wake phrase. When you have an Alexa smart home speaker, you possibly can management it with the Moto X4 as nicely. When you do not like Alexa, you need to use Moto’s personal voice-control function (which may launch apps and open the climate or your calendar) or Google Assistant, which additionally comes on the telephone. I counsel sticking to only one to offer your head a break.