We suspect this comes from Motorola’s time being owned by Google, something that has allowed the company first hand experience as to how an Android phone should look and feel, which means there’s no bloat here, and Motorola’s apps are basically downloaded from the Play Store, helping to keep the phone up to date.
Granted, this isn’t Marshmallow, but it sure looks like it, with the Google Now-based launcher updated to look like it is, offering four frequently used apps at the top of the app menu, which itself now scrolls up and down to help you quickly find what you want.
Google Now and its location based suggestions are also here on the left most screen, and you can always say “OK Google” to kickstart it from the home screen.
When your phone isn’t in use and on standby, but you decide to pick it up, you’ll even find Motorola’s Active Display kicking in, allowing you to quickly get a glance of what’s new in your mobile world, touching an icon on the screen to get a sneak preview without actually switching the phone’s screen on again.
This helps the battery life, which isn’t amazeballs, but is definitely acceptable, yielding a solid day regardless of if Bluetooth is on or off.
In fact, our tests revealed that Motorola’s X Style had no problem with either, as the 3000mAh battery pushed on through powering that massive display and the 4G LTE modem through a solid day of activities.
The 4G modem is worth talking about too, because while the Category 6 technology isn’t totally new, we haven’t seen many phones get close to the full potential of Category 6’s 300Mbps download limits.
And yet this one does, because in our tests, we found over 200Mbps was easily found across Sydney’s CBD on the Telstra 4GX network, though our average was closer to 70 to 140Mbps, providing a pretty sizeable download speed if you really need quick downloads.
Motorola also doesn’t do too badly in the camera department, and while we’re not totally sold on the whole idea of gestures to switch on the camera, it is, at least, another thing that separates the phone from other phones out there.
Back to the camera, though, because in daylight, the 21 megapixel shooter with phase detection auto-focus shines, yielding excellent colours, solid brightness, and even a big of detail when you need it.
From what we can tell, this is basically the same camera from the X Play, and that means while the daytime imagery is good, the low-light image capturing leaves something to be desired.
Basically, be happy there’s a flash on the back, because when the lights go down, the X Style doesn’t exactly fill you with confidence, with images that go blurry quite easily at the first sign of darkness, and little detail.
In essence, the camera is good provided it isn’t being used between the hours 7 PM and 5 AM, just in case you thought you’d go out and take photos of the night sky.
In fact, beyond the mediocre low light performance, there isn’t much that bothers us about the X Style, with Motorola even providing a microSD card slot in a really cool way, fitting it to the same slot as the nanoSIM you have to use.
Rather, about the only thing we really are fussed with is the lack of something in the name, because while it says “style” in its moniker, it is, in fact, a fairly ordinary looking phone, with Motorola taking the G and the X Play and making this model a wee longer and a hair thinner, but that’s about it.
Show it to your friends and it won’t exude style; rather, it will look and feel like another Motorola, and in some ways, it feels so close to the Motorola G, that you’ll wonder if Moto’s mid-priced phone is really just a smaller version of the X Style.
It’s not, by the way, so don’t fret, and the heart of this phone handles its roar quite nicely, but overall, the Moto X Style still comes off feeling like a bit of an ordinary device. It doesn’t even have the water resistance of its Moto G sibling.
And look, it’s possible we’ve been spoiled by the hint that Motorola is crafting a wood-backed version of this phone and we just didn’t get to see it, but we’re more willing to bet that it has less in common with the texture and finish on the back than say a design and thickness that feels more like it needed updating a few years ago instead.
We’ve heard people describe it as a blank canvas, though, so it might be stylish in that way to some, though we think it pales in comparison to the sense of style Samsung’s Galaxy S6 Edge and Note 5 offer, and looks downright clunky when put up next to the thin sleek sexiness that is Apple’s iPhone 6S and 6S Plus.
Perhaps wood will change it, but we’re not so sure.
Convince us this is stylish, Motorola. We dare you.
Conclusion
We’re not so sure if the “style” name quite matches what Motorola is offering, but there’s no denying that the Moto X is a great phone, if not one that’s a wee bit ordinary, or at least ordinary looking.
Offering an excellent screen, a speedy performance, plenty of storage, and a camera that loads up very fast when you flick your wrist, Motorola’s X Style is worth checking out if none of the other flagships have inspired you thus far, and you totally dig an expandable canvas to start your journey with.
Or you like wood, because, you know, there’s that side of things as well.
