Moto X vs Nexus 5

Talk about high end devices and it is really hard to pick something. Each device claims of something that the others don’t.Almost all the mid-range and high end devices flaunt of impressive hardware specs. It has become more of a hardware war between the brands as they try to mock each other. They keep competing for the maximum number of cores and highest clock speeds. The Google Nexus 5 is one such device who blows the competition out of steam when it comes to specs. It offers a powerful hardware at a price that others are not able to match. So it clearly is a powerful player here.

On the other hand, there is the Motorola flagship device Moto X which was launched internationally last year but has recently made it to our shores. Thankfully it doesn’t join the war of numbers like other smartphones. Instead it works towards improving the overall usage experience for the customer. It has got some really smart features that you won’t find on other smartphones. It has also been designed very well and the dimensions are well in control. They also offer a lot of customisation options so that you can make your device the way you like it. As the device is here now, you might be wondering what you should buy. We try to help you by comparing Nexus 5 and Moto X.

Design :

The Nexus 5 has got a slightly curved back and a nice design. The back has a soft feel to it and Nexus is written across it when held in landscape. The borders around the display are minimal and the device is light. The device isn’t very flashy but it looks nice and you would like the design. Unlike most 5 inch devices, this one can actually be used with a single hand, thanks to its weight. While the Nexus 5 is good, the Moto X is better. It has just the perfect size to fit in your hand and the curved back aids handling. There is also an option to get one with wooden back which looks and feels even better. Just like the nexus 5, there are hardly any borders which make it even smaller than the Nexus 4 despite having the same display size.

Display :

The display of Nexus 5 is gorgeous. It has a 5 inch full HD IPS LCD display. The colours are lively and very true to real. The viewing angles are good as well and are limited by the reflectivity of the screen. A large high resolution display means that it is power hungry and yes it is indeed. It is an entirely different story with the Moto X. it has a slightly smaller display measuring 4.7 inches. It is an AMOLED display with 720p resolution. While the results aren’t as good as the display on Nexus 5, they aren’t bad either. This display replicates colour very well and being an AMOLED, it isn’t very power hungry. But this one would obviously go to the Nexus 5. Full HD IPS display takes the cake here.

Hardware :

If you like to read the brochure before buying a device, you would end up picking the Nexus 5. In benchmark tests, it would not just beat the Moto X but humiliate it. Moto X runs on a relatively older chipset and has a dual core processor with a maximum clock speed of 1.7 GHz. It has an Adreno 320 GPU and at 2 GB, it has more than enough RAM for anything you might want to run on the device. The Nexus 5 runs on Snapdragon 800 chipset with the quad core processor running at a maximum clock speed of 2.26 GHz. It has got the same amount of RAM but runs a newer Adreno 330 GPU. Again it is hard for the Moto X to catch up here.

Camera :

As we mentioned camera, we can see Moto X standing at a corner of the ring with an evil smile on its face. This is because Moto X has got a camera which is not only better than the one on Nexus 5 but also better when compared to various other high end android devices. It has a 10 megapixel clear pixel camera. This ‘clear pixel’ is something similar to what we saw on the HTC One. The pixel size is larger as compared to other cameras which results in better low light photography. It also helps you shoot better colours and more details. The Nexus 5 has got a decent 8 megapixel camera and while it is good, it is just not good enough.

Software :

Both the devices run the latest version of android OS that is 4.4 KitKat. While the Nexus runs absolutely unadulterated vanilla android, the Moto is slightly different. Even though the software changes are not really visible, they have been integrated very well into the device. The Moto X supports touchless controls which can be used to perform various operations without actually touching the device.there are other software changes as well.  So this is one field where the Nexus 5 would have to stand hands crossed and watch Moto X deliver the hit.

Verdict :

It is really very hard to draw a verdict here. We love both these devices and they cater to very different people. Moto X is a device which has been made to improve the overall usage experience of the consumer. It really is the device for you if you aren’t bothered by the numbers and just need a nice smartphone with good looks and good camera.

But if you need something that is insanely fast, has got a superb display and has good value, Nexus 5 might be the device for you. It is powerful than many of the high end devices, enough to multitask between games with ease. You will also be able to find a custom rom or other software mods with ease on a nexus and you will be the first one to use when an android version comes out. So you really need to figure out your requirements to select a device.