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Meet the mighty Moto X (pictures)

The new Moto X boasts an elegant and attractive design plus all the power and tricks Motorola and Google can muster.

Brian Bennett
Brian Bennett is a former senior writer for the home and outdoor section at CNET.
Sarah Mitroff Managing Editor
Sarah Mitroff is a Managing Editor for CNET, overseeing our health, fitness and wellness section. Throughout her career, she's written about mobile tech, consumer tech, business and startups for Wired, MacWorld, PCWorld, and VentureBeat.
Expertise Tech, Health, Lifestyle
Brian Bennett
Sarah Mitroff
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The Moto X

The highly anticipated Moto X is the first flagship smartphone from Motorola since Google purchased the handset maker in 2012.

The device was unveiled August 1, 2013, at an event in New York City, though leaks about the device had been flowing for a few weeks before the announcement. Most of the rumors turned out to be true, especially the details that you can customize the device.

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Thin and trim

The Moto X has a curved back and is between 0.22 inch to 0.40 inch thick. It weighs 130 grams or 0.29 pound.

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4.7-inch screen

The Moto X packs a 4.7-inch 720p (1,280x720 pixels) OLED screen.

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10-megapixel camera

The Moto X comes with a 10-megapixel rear camera with a LED flash that can shoot 1080p video. There's also a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.

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Smudge-free back cover

The back of the device comes in black or white and has a textured finish that doesn't show smudges.

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Internal specs

Behind the back cover, there's a specially formed 2,200mAh embedded battery that Motorola claims will last 24 hours on a single charge. The phone has Motorola's proprietary X8 chipset with a 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and 16GB of internal storage.

The Moto X is running Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2.

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Moto X for $199

The 16GB version of the Moto X will be available on five carriers -- AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, and U.S. Cellular -- $199.

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Charging port

The bottom of the phone has a Micro-USB charging port.

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Top of the Moto X

On top of the phone there's a headphone jack.

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SIM card slot

There's a SIM card slot on one side of the Moto X.

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Volume and power button

On the right side, you'll find the volume rocker and power/lock button.

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Textured back

It's easy to see the bumpy textured back on the Moto X here. Motorola says the back is made of a composite material.

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Thin all around

The top and bottom edges look thick in photos, but they are really less than half an inch thick.

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Look at that curve

When it's lying flat on a table, you can really see the Moto X's curvy body.

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Curved to fit your hand

The curved shape makes the phone easy to hold.

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Top bezel

Here you can see the headset speaker, front camera, and light sensor.

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Curvier than the rest

You can see that the Moto X's design stands out against those of the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4.

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Smaller than the rest, too

The Moto X is smaller than the HTC One and the Samsung Galaxy S4. Its screen resolution is also lower than most other devices with 4-inch screens.

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Pick a color

The Moto X ships with a black or white back, but you can customize the device with custom hues, patterns, and engravings crafted to order at Motorola's new Texas factory.

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Hot pink and neon green

The color choices vary from hot pink and neon green to more understated choices.

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Wood backs, too

If you don't want a color, you can also pick a completely different texture for the back of the Moto X, like bamboo, shown here. These are still in the testing phase and not available just yet.

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Dark wood concept

Motorola is testing backs made of wood, including bamboo, teak, ebony, and rosewood, to be released later this year.

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Motorola voice commands

Just like on the new Verizon and Motorola Droids, the Moto X will have an always-on microphone ready to listen to your voice commands.

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Google Now

When you use the voice commands to search, the phone will launch Google Now.

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Ships with Android Jelly Bean

The Moto X will ship with Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2, but hopefully will get a taste of Jelly Bean 4.3 before too long.

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