Android By Russell Holly Jan. 1, 2014 11:00 am
As promised on stage during the announcement of the phone, Android 4.4.2 for the Moto G is here. Our initial impressions of the Moto G*were incredibly positive, so we knew it would be hard to improve this experience. Fortunately, Motorola delivered in a big way.
A common problem with low end or “budget” phones is that they actually get worse with software updates. The hardware in the phone could only barely handle the OS to begin with, and the update was either poorly optimized or bogged down the experience with new software.
Our experience with the Moto G was already really positive, and one of the big things Google focused on with Android 4.4 was support for lower end hardware, so there was good reason to expect a good experience to get better. Motorola delivered the update for the Moto G two weeks before their self imposed deadline, and as far as we can tell the update is flawless.
After spending the last few days with the Moto G running Android 4.4, any doubt I may have had that anyone could pick this phone up and enjoy it has melted away. The battery improved by at least an hour on average, and there are performance enhancements all over the place. Apps launch faster, and some of the sluggishness found with running multiple apps has vanished. Combined with the camera updates that address some of the exposure and focus speeds, this phone could easily compete with a high end phone. Considering how inexpensive this phone is, that’s more than a little impressive.
Motorola seems dedicated to keep the Moto G updated for now, and without a doubt the phone has left positive impressions all around the world. As we head into 2014, seeing the Moto G as the baseline for great phones should demonstrate just how exciting high end phones will be.
More: Hands on the Moto G…
More...
A common problem with low end or “budget” phones is that they actually get worse with software updates. The hardware in the phone could only barely handle the OS to begin with, and the update was either poorly optimized or bogged down the experience with new software.
Our experience with the Moto G was already really positive, and one of the big things Google focused on with Android 4.4 was support for lower end hardware, so there was good reason to expect a good experience to get better. Motorola delivered the update for the Moto G two weeks before their self imposed deadline, and as far as we can tell the update is flawless.
After spending the last few days with the Moto G running Android 4.4, any doubt I may have had that anyone could pick this phone up and enjoy it has melted away. The battery improved by at least an hour on average, and there are performance enhancements all over the place. Apps launch faster, and some of the sluggishness found with running multiple apps has vanished. Combined with the camera updates that address some of the exposure and focus speeds, this phone could easily compete with a high end phone. Considering how inexpensive this phone is, that’s more than a little impressive.
Motorola seems dedicated to keep the Moto G updated for now, and without a doubt the phone has left positive impressions all around the world. As we head into 2014, seeing the Moto G as the baseline for great phones should demonstrate just how exciting high end phones will be.
More: Hands on the Moto G…
More...
