Nexus 5 or Moto X

[MRU]

So you all know what I am like with my phone habits at this stage.

Basically camera is not important - ill use my Lumia to cover that base - but I need an android device basically for those services I still have on Android - a few apps I am missing and to test my own apps created for clients on android and in the playstore.


So....

I want a near stock or stock experience at this stage. I know the specs of both and fully informed of the differences between handsets, but ... ignoring all of that

WHICH WOULD YOU BUY ?

and for those who have experienced both devices WHICH DID YOU KEEP / PREFER ?


Both are going to cost me around €350. It's the most I want to pay, therefore not interested in other flagships coming out from manufacturers as they will be €250 more....

 

[JH-]

So you all know what I am like with my phone habits at this stage.

Basically camera is not important - ill use my Lumia to cover that base - but I need an android device basically for those services I still have on Android - a few apps I am missing and to test my own apps created for clients on android and in the playstore.


So....

I want a near stock or stock experience at this stage. I know the specs of both and fully informed of the differences between handsets, but ... ignoring all of that

WHICH WOULD YOU BUY ?

and for those who have experienced both devices WHICH DID YOU KEEP / PREFER ?


Both are going to cost me around €350. It's the most I want to pay, therefore not interested in other flagships coming out from manufacturers as they will be €250 more....

I completely preferred the Moto X. The Nexus just wasn't built as well in my opinion. Vibration, phone calls, speaker sound, and overall build quality was just better on the Moto. The performance difference was negligible and the only thing I missed from the Nexus was the wireless charging.

 

[gotluck]

If I had your Lumina I'd probably go for the MotoX. If this was a daily driver battle with no supporting device, tougher choice.

 

[MRU]

Yeah I am verging more towards the moto x, but only concern would be now moto is sold to Lenovo will it get updates ?

 

[PDFierro]

I don't own either, but have been looking at both. My only gripe with the Nexus 5 is that it has a very inconsistent battery, at least from what I've seen. Otherwise, I really prefer the Moto X for being a really solid phone and having a great design. Camera actually matters a great deal to me, but the Moto X camera looks completely fine to me. Not outstanding, but good enough.

My only concern is the longevity of the device. I want to use the Moto X for 1-1.5 years, but it seems to still be running smooth on KitKat. I think Lenovo is going to let Motorola continue what they were doing, as there is a X2 coming out later in the year.

They both look good to me. I think it's all about preferences.

 

[TacticalDesire]

I was faced with that choice a month ago and chose the Moto X for the following reasons.

Comfort in the hand
Touchless control
Battery Life (not great but still better than N5)
Motomaker

and although it wasn't a selling point at the time, active notifications ended up being a great feature as well.

I had a Nexus 4 as my daily driver prior to getting the Moto X. I'm overall extremely pleased with the device. Performance has been great and the small additions motorola has made are excellent. Much better than Samsung's "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" method and arguably better than Google's barebones approach.

 

[JH-]

The only issue I had with the X was the horrendous battery life it has when browsing over LTE

 

[MRU]

The only issue I had with the X was the horrendous battery life it has when browsing over LTE

No LTE here so that's not a problem

 

[Lloydbm41]

So you all know what I am like with my phone habits at this stage.

Basically camera is not important - ill use my Lumia to cover that base - but I need an android device basically for those services I still have on Android - a few apps I am missing and to test my own apps created for clients on android and in the playstore.


So....

I want a near stock or stock experience at this stage. I know the specs of both and fully informed of the differences between handsets, but ... ignoring all of that

WHICH WOULD YOU BUY ?

and for those who have experienced both devices WHICH DID YOU KEEP / PREFER ?


Both are going to cost me around €350. It's the most I want to pay, therefore not interested in other flagships coming out from manufacturers as they will be €250 more....

Can't really go wrong with with either one, as they are both great phones. I have both, but the Moto X is my go to phone over the Nexus 5. Really enjoy the unique features the Moto X has.

 

[MRU]

Can't really go wrong with with either one, as they are both great phones. I have both, but the Moto X is my go to phone over the Nexus 5. Really enjoy the unique features the Moto X has.

That's the problem deciding between them

Hard to see either in person here as neither is sold in shops or retail here. Colour wise moto x what's nicer black or white?

 

[Fernandez21]

I traded my Moto X for a Nexus 5, and for the most part I enjoy the Nexus more. It is faster, smoother, has a nicer screen, wireless charging, and the camera is better.

That being said, the Moto X has active display, touch less controls, and moto assist which I miss dearly, those features were awesome. The battery life was slightly better, the camera ui was nicer, the signal was better, and it felt much better in the hand.

The deal breaker for me was the Lenovo sale, as I feel Moto will lose some of what made it special under Google. Little things like the spotlight movies or changing the boot up animation for the holidays. Plus who knows how future updates will be handled. For those reasons I traded it for the Nexus.

Either phone is great right now, but if you plan on keeping the phone for more than year, the Nexus is probably the better choice since you know it will be supported and will get future updates. You don't know that about the Moto X.

As for the colors, I like the black front better, the Black rim blends in really nicely with the black glass that you can't see it, while on the white the rim really sticks out and I'm not a fan of that.

 

[PDFierro]

That's the problem deciding between them

Hard to see either in person here as neither is sold in shops or retail here. Colour wise moto x what's nicer black or white?

Pretty easy decision for me, and I haven't seen either in person. I guess you just need to weigh which of the aspects on each device is more important to you.

 

[MRU]

I traded my Moto X for a Nexus 5, and for the most part I enjoy the Nexus more. It is faster, smoother, has a nicer screen, wireless charging, and the camera is better.

That being said, the Moto X has active display, touch less controls, and moto assist which I miss dearly, those features were awesome. The battery life was slightly better, the camera ui was nicer, the signal was better, and it felt much better in the hand.

The deal breaker for me was the Lenovo sale, as I feel Moto will lose some of what made it special under Google. Little things like the spotlight movies or changing the boot up animation for the holidays. Plus who knows how future updates will be handled. For those reasons I traded it for the Nexus.

Either phone is great right now, but if you plan on keeping the phone for more than year, the Nexus is probably the better choice since you know it will be supported and will get future updates. You don't know that about the Moto X.

As for the colors, I like the black front better, the Black rim blends in really nicely with the black glass that you can't see it, while on the white the rim really sticks out and I'm not a fan of that.

Your thoughts and concerns are exactly why I decided to look at the nexus 5 into the mix. Yes the moto x is on 4.4.2 now, but what happens when 4.5 or 5 comes out?

 

[Saturn1217]

I have a Nexus 5 and my boyfriend has the moto x (which I recommended to him and helped him set up because he was coming from an old blackberry).

The moto x is a good phone.

The nexus 5 is my favorite smartphone so far and I wouldn't trade it for anything on the market right now.

I personally can feel the speed difference between the two. Especially when web browsing.

This may be specific to verizon but the moto x is still not truly a stock experience in the bad way. There are still nagging notifications that urge you to use this feature or that feature. It feels like a carrier phone rather than the Nexus 5 where everything is a clean slate and there aren't any surprises.

The active notifications are cool and so is the ability to open the camera with a flick of the wrist. But they aren't something I can't live without.

Everyone complains about the moto x camera. Honestly both are fine.

Everyone complains about the Nexus 5 speakers. I was just enjoying listening to some music this morning from those speakers while procrastinating going to work. I quite happy with the sound and volume (understanding that this is a cell phone we're dealing with).

Battery life has been good on both phones (but neither I nor my boyfriend are 4hr SOT+ kind of people)

 

[MRU]

@Saturn1217 thank you

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Check this thread out:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1678472/

Should be some helpful advice in there but a lot of the criticisms early in that thread levelled at the Nexus 5 (speaker volume, camera, etc) have either been eliminated all together or greater improved via software updates and the hardware revision.

My pick at this stage would be the Nexus 5, it is much more future proof. Id wait and see what Motorola does with the Moto X 2 as its pretty late in the Moto X lifecycle. By that stage we should also have Android 5 with ART so we can see how the Lenovo acquisition plays with the speed of updates to the current Moto X.

 

[MRU]

Check this thread out:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1678472/

Should be some helpful advice in there but a lot of the criticisms early in that thread levelled at the Nexus 5 (speaker volume, camera, etc) have either been eliminated all together or greater improved via software updates and the hardware revision.

My pick at this stage would be the Nexus 5, it is much more future proof. Id wait and see what Motorola does with the Moto X 2 as its pretty late in the Moto X lifecycle. By that stage we should also have Android 5 with ART so we can see how the Lenovo acquisition plays with the speed of updates to the current Moto X.

I need an android phone sooner rather than later sadly, and remember in Europe we only have just had the Moto X launched. There is no guarantee Moto X 2 will ever see European shores which is a problem waiting too...

 

[SlCKB0Y]

I need an android phone sooner rather than later sadly, and remember in Europe we only have just had the Moto X launched. There is no guarantee Moto X 2 will ever see European shores which is a problem waiting too...

We only just got it in Australia too. If they had done a world-wide launch I think it would have done very well.

How much is the Nexus 5 in Ireland?

 

[siurpeeman]

i had both, and it was easy for me to keep the moto x and sell off the nexus. it isn't obviously better, but using it day in day out, what won me over was the better battery, better speaker, better reception and call quality, the nice software additions like active display and touchless control. it feels great in the hand, and i can reach all four corners of the screen with my thumb. the screen itself isn't as good as the nexus' and it's not nearly as fast, but to me the pros of the moto x outweigh both its cons and the pros of the nexus.

 

[MRU]

We only just got it in Australia too. If they had done a world-wide launch I think it would have done very well.

How much is the Nexus 5 in Ireland?

It's not available in Ireland at all..... Despite Google being here.

I would have to import from UK or Germany from Amazon/Clove/Expansys etc.. Your talking €370-400 for the 16gb Nexus 5 to get one here.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

It's not available in Ireland at all..... Despite Google being here.

I would have to import from UK or Germany from Amazon/Clove/Expansys etc.. Your talking €370-400 for the 16gb Nexus 5 to get one here.

You should look into getting an Australian shipping forwarder to get it from the AU play store. $399 AU = €260 + shipping... or save the forwarding money and get an Australian friend to send it to you!

 

[MRU]

You should look into getting an Australian shipping forwarder to get it from the AU play store. $399 AU = €260 + shipping... or save the forwarding money and get an Australian friend to send it to you!

Big price difference indeed... Very tempting

 

[Mochi Hana]

I prefer the Moto X's small size, Motorola Assist, and active display. However, I do have and use a Nexus 5 on occasion. I like its screen better. It's a difficult decision for sure. Be sure to let us know which you go with.

 

[Lloydbm41]

That's the problem deciding between them

Hard to see either in person here as neither is sold in shops or retail here. Colour wise moto x what's nicer black or white?

I went with white and red accents through Moto Maker. Are they including Moto Maker in Europe? If not, I would go with Black. I have the white, but it tends to show dirt and grime pretty easily. It wipes off, but it is something to consider. If I could go back in time, I would order the black with red or metallic blue accents.

----------

It's not available in Ireland at all..... Despite Google being here.

I would have to import from UK or Germany from Amazon/Clove/Expansys etc.. Your talking €370-400 for the 16gb Nexus 5 to get one here.

I think you need to take holiday to the States, Canada or Australia. Much cheaper to buy electronics. I always saw Brits bringing back iPads, iPhones, and Android phones and tablets. 20% VAT is robbery.

 

[MRU]

20% VAT is robbery.

Uk has a bargain, it's 23% here lol...