 The Moto X is what Android was always supposed to be. Inexpensive hardware, good design, and clean, fast software. But the Moto X has also always been the worst of Android. Bad cameras and mediocre battery life. Now there's a new Moto X. It's called the Pure Edition, or Style in some countries. It's cheap at $399 and it works on every carrier in the US. And Motorola says that this time, the camera is amazing. Is this the Moto X that finally lives up to its promises? The Moto X Pure Edition looks a lot like last year's Moto X, just bigger. It has the same curved shape, same metal frame, same front-facing speakers, and same customizable design, like the walnut wood back on our review unit. The only noticeable difference is the rear camera housing, which feels more like a change for the sake of changing something rather than having any real purpose. But where the new Moto X is different is in its size. It's now a big phone, with a 5.7 inch display. But it doesn't feel as big as it looks. Like the Galaxy Note 5, the X Pure is a big phone that gives you a giant display, but doesn't feel totally unwieldy to use and actually fits in my pants pocket. It feels significantly smaller than the Nexus 6, despite having nearly as large of a display. The size of the display is about the only thing the X Pure has in common with the Note 5, however. The X is a well-built phone, but it doesn't feel nearly as premium as the Note, and it becomes readily apparent which is the more expensive device when you pick them up. The 5.7 inch Quad HD display on the X is not only bigger than before, it's also got a lot more resolution. It's also an LCD instead of an AMOLED panel, and the colors and blacks aren't quite as impressive as they used to be. It's by no means a bad screen, but it's still far from eye-popping or class-leading. The X Pure has an upgraded processor in the form of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 808, paired with 3GB of RAM. It's a powerful chip, but it's not quite top of the line, and though there aren't really any performance issues of Note with the X, it doesn't feel as snappy fast as other high-end Android phones this year. It's perfectly fine for the vast majority of people, but if you want the best of the best, this isn't it. That can also be said for Motorola's new 21 megapixel camera. It's far better than the mediocre cameras on prior Moto phones, but despite Motorola's claim, it's not the best in the field. It takes perfectly adequate pictures in good lighting, though it has a tendency to make them overly sharpened and aggressively digital in appearance. In low lighting, the X misses focus more than the LG G4 or Galaxy Note 5, and the images exhibit softness and a good amount of noise reduction. You also shouldn't bother with the new LED flash on the front camera, which produce unnatural lighting and put spots in my eyes. A bright light shined two feet away from your eyes is exactly as terrible as it sounds. Battery life has also been a pain point for the Moto X line in the past, but the new X's 3000 mAh battery is strong enough to get me through a busy day without issue. I'd love for it to last even longer, especially given the size of the X Pure Edition, but it's better than it used to be and par for the course at this point. The X doesn't have wireless charging, but it does have quick charging and can rapidly refuel using Motorola's included charger. Motorola's approach to software hasn't changed here, and the new X's version of Android 5.1 Lollipop is about as close to what Google intended as one can get outside of the Nexus line. The few pre-installed apps that do come with the phone consist of Motorola's helpers. There's Moto Display, Assist, Motion and Voice controls, and the Migrate app to help move things over from your old phone. And since Motorola is only selling this direct and through a handful of retailers, there won't be any carrier apps on it, regardless of which SIM you put inside of it. The Moto X Pure may be the top of Motorola's range, but the reality is that it's a really good mid-range phone with an attractive, but appropriate mid-range price. It's not really a flagship, whatever that actually means at this point, and it's not as good as an iPhone 6 Plus or Galaxy Note 5. But to do better than the Moto X, you have to be willing to spend a lot more money, and it's not clear that investment is worth it for most people to just get a slightly better camera and maybe slightly better feeling device. As it turns out, in 2015, a really good mid-range smartphone is also a really good overall smartphone, and the Moto X Pure Edition is the best mid-range smartphone you can get.
 The Moto X is what Android was always supposed to be.
 Inexpensive hardware, good design, and clean, fast software.
 But the Moto X has also always been the worst of Android.
 Bad cameras and mediocre battery life.
 Now there's a new Moto X.
 It's called the Pure Edition, or Style in some countries.
 It's cheap at $399 and it works on every carrier in the US.
 And Motorola says that this time, the camera is amazing.
 Is this the Moto X that finally lives up to its promises?
 The Moto X Pure Edition looks a lot like last year's Moto X, just bigger.
 It has the same curved shape, same metal frame, same front-facing speakers, and same customizable
 design, like the walnut wood back on our review unit.
 The only noticeable difference is the rear camera housing, which feels more like a change
 for the sake of changing something rather than having any real purpose.
 But where the new Moto X is different is in its size.
 It's now a big phone, with a 5.7 inch display.
 But it doesn't feel as big as it looks.
 Like the Galaxy Note 5, the X Pure is a big phone that gives you a giant display, but
 doesn't feel totally unwieldy to use and actually fits in my pants pocket.
 It feels significantly smaller than the Nexus 6, despite having nearly as large of a display.
 The size of the display is about the only thing the X Pure has in common with the Note
 5, however.
 The X is a well-built phone, but it doesn't feel nearly as premium as the Note, and it
 becomes readily apparent which is the more expensive device when you pick them up.
 The 5.7 inch Quad HD display on the X is not only bigger than before, it's also got a
 lot more resolution.
 It's also an LCD instead of an AMOLED panel, and the colors and blacks aren't quite as
 impressive as they used to be.
 It's by no means a bad screen, but it's still far from eye-popping or class-leading.
 The X Pure has an upgraded processor in the form of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 808, paired
 with 3GB of RAM.
 It's a powerful chip, but it's not quite top of the line, and though there aren't
 really any performance issues of Note with the X, it doesn't feel as snappy fast as
 other high-end Android phones this year.
 It's perfectly fine for the vast majority of people, but if you want the best of the
 best, this isn't it.
 That can also be said for Motorola's new 21 megapixel camera.
 It's far better than the mediocre cameras on prior Moto phones, but despite Motorola's
 claim, it's not the best in the field.
 It takes perfectly adequate pictures in good lighting, though it has a tendency to make
 them overly sharpened and aggressively digital in appearance.
 In low lighting, the X misses focus more than the LG G4 or Galaxy Note 5, and the images
 exhibit softness and a good amount of noise reduction.
 You also shouldn't bother with the new LED flash on the front camera, which produce unnatural
 lighting and put spots in my eyes.
 A bright light shined two feet away from your eyes is exactly as terrible as it sounds.
 Battery life has also been a pain point for the Moto X line in the past, but the new X's
 3000 mAh battery is strong enough to get me through a busy day without issue.
 I'd love for it to last even longer, especially given the size of the X Pure Edition, but
 it's better than it used to be and par for the course at this point.
 The X doesn't have wireless charging, but it does have quick charging and can rapidly
 refuel using Motorola's included charger.
 Motorola's approach to software hasn't changed here, and the new X's version of
 Android 5.1 Lollipop is about as close to what Google intended as one can get outside
 of the Nexus line.
 The few pre-installed apps that do come with the phone consist of Motorola's helpers.
 There's Moto Display, Assist, Motion and Voice controls, and the Migrate app to help
 move things over from your old phone.
 And since Motorola is only selling this direct and through a handful of retailers, there
 won't be any carrier apps on it, regardless of which SIM you put inside of it.
 The Moto X Pure may be the top of Motorola's range, but the reality is that it's a really
 good mid-range phone with an attractive, but appropriate mid-range price.
 It's not really a flagship, whatever that actually means at this point, and it's not
 as good as an iPhone 6 Plus or Galaxy Note 5.
 But to do better than the Moto X, you have to be willing to spend a lot more money, and
 it's not clear that investment is worth it for most people to just get a slightly better
 camera and maybe slightly better feeling device.
 As it turns out, in 2015, a really good mid-range smartphone is also a really good overall smartphone,
 and the Moto X Pure Edition is the best mid-range smartphone you can get.