The design formula of Moto M is confirmed by the success of many generations of smartphones from various manufacturers. This is an attractive phone, and not just a tool to perform the required tasks. Of course, this required serious hardware of a good average level.
Smartphone Overview Motorola M XT1663
User reviews call the MediaTek P10 processor installed in the phone, like the P15 of the Indian version of the model, verified by the CPU. There are no problems with a lack of memory, and a 5.5-inch display provides fullHD-quality image. There are 16-megapixel main and 8-megapixel front cameras. Other features include a fingerprint sensor and water-repellent nanocovering. True, the case is not waterproof, but it is better than nothing.
There are some design limitations of the Motorola M XT1663 smartphone. Negative feedback from owners is caused by the lack of NFC support, which makes it impossible to use Android Pay, as well as the presence of a hybrid slot that can either satisfy users with multiple SIM cards, or those who need more memory. If the queries are higher, then you should look for something else.
Design
The dimensions of the Moto M, equal to 151.4 x 75.4 x 7.9 mm, roughly correspond to a standard 5.5-inch smartphone in the mid-price range without claims to the lack of frames. The 5.5 ”Galaxy S7 Edge is already just 2.8 mm shorter by 0.5 mm.
With a weight of 163 g, the phablet is 10 g lighter than the 5.5 ”Redmi Note 4 and Pro models, but the plastic G4 and G4 Plus weighing 155 g weigh less than a pocket.
Although the concept of the design of the phone has already been repeated many times, the owners call the Motorola M XT1663 smartphone in reviews quite attractive. The metal back with antenna bands at the top and bottom has become the standard design of models that claim to be premium, while maintaining good signal reception.
Lenovo's development team has added a few touches that make the model look like all modern mobile phones. If the Moto Z is distinguished by a noticeable circular protrusion of the lens, then the Moto M is more like Moto G with its elongated bulge. Nearby is a fingerprint scanner. Unlike the front-end implementation of the Moto Z, this solution seems more natural, even if the sensor is out of reach when the phone is on the table. This is the first Moto model with a rear fingerprint sensor.
Above the display are standard elements: a speaker in the center, proximity and light sensors on the right, along with a selfie camera. Indication LED is also present - it is hidden on the left under the frame.
Not entirely innovative, but shiny chamfers around the perimeter immediately cause a feeling that the model belongs to high-end devices. The smartphone is too thin to be easily taken from the table, but on the other hand, this makes it prettier and more refined.
On the left is the nanoSIM and microSD card slot. Its hybrid nature makes the phone less flexible than a 3-card solution.
The power button is located on the right, high enough so that it can be pressed with the thumb. This makes the textured surface of the switch useless, since you do not need to search for it, but it is still nice. The volume key is located above the power button.
USB Type-C is now in trend, and the Moto M keeps up to date - a symmetrical and more versatile port is located in the center of the bottom panel. Slots were made on both sides of the case, but the speaker is placed only on the right. At the top are a 3.5 mm audio jack and a secondary microphone.
The sophisticated look of the Moto M is enhanced by its superior tactile sensations. This does not mean that the phone will lie securely in your hand, as the matte finish is rather slippery. But it hides prints much better than a glass panel.
Screen
The Moto M comes with a 5.5-inch FullHD IPS display. More to wish for in this price segment is not necessary. Subpixel layout - standard RGB with an equal number of elements for each primary color.
The screen of the Motorola M XT1663 smartphone, according to customer reviews, is not very bright - these are typical for AMOLED 425 nit. And automatic mode does not fix it. The more affordable G4 and G4 Plus are much better in this regard. In terms of contrast, the G4 also has a slight advantage, but the 1400: 1 Moto M seems like a pretty decent value.
Screen sharpness in direct sunlight in perfect order. Although it does not reach the Moto Z Play AMOLED panel in this indicator, it surpasses the G4 and G4 Plus.
The phone’s display is not very accurate in color reproduction. Of course, not to the extent that this becomes a problem - the average DeltaE = 5.9 is within reasonable limits, given that the Z Play DeltaE = 5.3. The Moto G4 Plus has an average DeltaE = 4.3 and a maximum of 7.4. This once again confirms that cheap models suffer from a wider spread of color.
Communication
By default, the device supports 2 SIM cards, and the second slot is used in conjunction with a microSD card. Therefore, all 3 cards cannot be installed. Only one SIM is connected to LTE networks.
Local communication is provided by 2-band Wi-Fi a / b / g / n / ac and Bluetooth 4.1 LE. The Moto G4 is equipped with version 4.2, which should minimize interference in LTE networks, but the Z Play is also equipped with the 4.1 standard, so this has almost no effect on the price. There is GPS, but NFC is not.
The smartphone is equipped with an FM radio that many will enjoy.
USB Toure-C is for recharging and wired data transfer, and also supports USB OTG with a Type-C adapter.
Battery life
The Moto M is powered by a 3050 mAh battery. This might seem unacceptable for a 5.5-inch FullHD device with a P10 processor, but the Orro F1 Plus does a good job with the same configuration with a 200 mAh smaller battery.
Smartphone Motorola M XT1663, according to reviews, in all tests the duration of work shows mediocre results, starting with 15 hours of voice calls on a 3G network. Z Play runs 2 times longer, while other models based on P10 (Meizu M3 Note and F1 Plus) surpassed Moto M by 6 hours.
The result does not improve when browsing the web over Wi-Fi, where the phone barely reaches the 7-hour mark. Meizu M3 Note and G4 Plus can last more than 11 hours, while the Orro F1 Plus lasts 1 hour longer.
Battery troubles continue during video playback - the operating time does not reach 8 hours. The remaining smartphones operate for 11-12 hours.
Mediocre results in individual tests inevitably lead to a low 55-hour overall endurance rating.
Interface
The model comes with a close-to-original version of the Android Marshmallow OS. According to reviews, the Motorola M XT1663 smartphone does not offer Moto Z features such as screen gestures and notifications.
The lock screen is a clean Android. Date and time, notifications, voice search shortcuts and cameras are displayed.
After logging in, the Google Now launch page opens. On the left are the corresponding information cards, and on the right are the usual home screens. Scrolling up calls up the Now on tap application, which has become clearer and smarter than before.
There is also a regular application box - Moto M did not fall prey to the common practice of replacing it with a single-level interface.
At the first swipe, messages are displayed in the notification area, and at the second, the quick settings panel appears. The latter can be opened immediately by performing a gesture with two fingers. This is a popular Android Vanilla setting - many phones, including those that have their own user interface, do not change it.
Performance
The smartphone runs on the MediaTek Helio P10 chipset, and in India - on the P15. However, these CPUs differ little, the difference is only in the clock frequency. The 8 cores of A53 in P10 are limited to 1.95 GHz, and the P15 processor can run at 2.2 GHz. GPU Mali-T860MP2 also has a frequency difference - from 700 to 800 MHz and P15.
CPU operation is supported by 3 or 4 GB RAM.
In the single-core part of the GeekBench 4 test, the Motorola M XT1663 smartphone, according to reviews, surpasses Meizu M3 Max (with Helio P10 CPU) and G4 Plus (S617) with 771 points. One A53 core in comparison with the same clock speed of the Snapdragon 625 configuration shows a higher result, but can not be compared with the powerful A72 Helio X20 Redmi Note 4 and Note Pro cores.
The Snapdragon 617 in the G4 Plus shows signs of aging and has difficulty keeping up with the rest in multi-core tests. Moto M with 2921 points is better than Meizu M3 Max (2625 points), so the model has become one of the best implementations of the P10.
Oppo R9s is not the best phone with the S625. Zenfone 3 compensates for this by defeating Redmi Pro, which does not fully utilize the power of its 10 cores.
In the Antutu test (51,831 points), the characteristics of the Motorola M XT1663 smartphone, according to the owners, do not provide high performance, but the model is still the best implementation of the P10. There is a fairly wide gap between the MediaTek processor and the S625, and the Qualcomm chip has a clear advantage. The S650 and Helio X20 are clearly in the big leagues.
In general, users are satisfied with the performance of the smartphone, which squeezes everything possible out of their hardware. The P10 chipset is not heavy duty, but is among the best. You should not expect miracles from him in 3D games, nor should you be upset about this. Mobile games pretty well adapt to the computing capabilities of the processor, so you can be sure that there will be no problems with any of the available games.
Speaker
The Moto M below has only one speaker, but it gives out enough decibels (64.5 dB of voice, 72 dB of ringtone). Most competitors are inferior to this model in this indicator.
Instant messaging and input
Moto M comes preloaded with the Google Messenger SMS application, which works similarly to other similar programs. You can touch the photo and send it in seconds or send short sound recordings, emoji, etc.
Input is done using the standard keyboard. It is fast, accurate, reliable and has many configuration options. The user can enable one-handed mode, adjust the height of the keyboard, change the layout, long press the on-screen buttons to enter additional characters, change the theme. You can type, slide on the keyboard with your finger, or dictate with your voice.
Other software
The Moto M OS has only a few applications other than the standard Google suite. Perhaps the only noteworthy program is the file manager, which sorts them by access time or by category and supports batch processing. There is also a standard calculator with an advanced actions panel. The calendar is conveniently synchronized with user data, highlighting birthdays and holidays. In addition, the package includes Google Docs and spreadsheets, so working with documents is provided without installing additional software.
Gallery
The Google Photos app replaces the image gallery, just like in Z Play. However, unlike the more premium offers, the Moto M does not come with a free cloud photo storage.
The pinch zoom resizes thumbnails, and the search box works fantastically. If you enter a date, place, name or just the general content of the photo you are looking for (for example, “pool”), then a search over the entire multi-year database will be carried out in a few seconds. The more pictures accumulate over time, the more accurate the result.
Sometimes Google Photos decides to merge photos into a thematic album. Or applies automatic filters. The results vary in quality, but are usually pretty good, given the lack of effort. Of course, all these functions can be started manually. In editing mode, you can choose to automatically correct color and contrast, align the photo or add filters.
There is no separate application for watching videos, but you can take advantage of the capabilities of Google Photos. This is quite enough for videos shot on the phone’s camera, but for “advanced” functions (for example, subtitles) you need something else.
Audio player
Play Music works as a universal music player, but also allows you to listen to streaming. Google provides online access to 35 million songs and allows you to listen to your favorite albums offline. In addition, the application allows you to upload MP3 files (up to 50 thousand) to the company's servers, and then listen to them through the application online.
If the owner of the phone prefers to use his local music library, then Play Music will help download tracks from a PC or USB drive.
The equalizer supports Dolby Atmos branding and has presets for various musical styles, as well as other sound enhancement algorithms.
Radio
One of the best features of non-flagship models is the presence of an FM radio. He is here too. The application can automatically scan all available stations and store them in memory, but it is not able to read RDS data, so you need to enter the name of the station yourself. You can record broadcasts.
Audio quality
Smartphone Motorola M XT1663 J JH reviews praised for its impressively clean output with active amplification. But even in this case, the volume is below average.
And after connecting the headphones, it falls even more. This is a very quiet device, so you won’t be able to listen to music through large high-impedance headphones.
The clarity of the sound remains pretty good, but crosstalk and intermodulation distortion, although quite soft, does occur.
Photography
Moto M comes with a 16MP main camera with f / 2.0 aperture. Do not be fooled that its sensor corresponds to Z Play. The pixels here are tiny - only 1 micron, while the Z Play has a size of 1.3 microns. This may not be so much in absolute terms, but the performance difference is huge. In addition, there is autofocus with phase detection, as in large cameras, and a dual LED flash.
Typically, camera applications on devices from the same manufacturer are similar, only more functional in expensive models. But in the case of Moto M, this is not so. Lenovo offers 2 programs that are distributed across devices without brand distinction.
Nevertheless, there is nothing wrong with the software itself, except that the camera switch is located high in the corner and it is difficult to reach it if you hold the phone with one hand. You can activate HDR and flash mode, adjust white balance and ISO.
Photo quality of the Motorola M XT1663 smartphone user reviews are considered decent, but they are not without originality. Pictures have a pronounced shift to warm colors. Auto exposure tends to slightly underestimate photographs. Perhaps this was done to combat the consequences of the small size of solar cells and to preserve bright areas, but it is difficult to argue with physics, and the dynamic range is small.
However, the level of detail is quite high, especially for objects such as foliage. Noise is also present, and there is quite a lot of it, even with basic ISO and bright lighting.
HDR mode gives quite dramatic results. Warm colors go away and the images have a strong cool hue. Some details of the bright areas can be saved, but this is not very noticeable.
Panoramic photos of the smartphone Motorola M XT1663, according to owners, are also not impressive. At a height of about 1300 pixels, they lack resolution, and stitching problems are easy to spot.
Front-camera
The Moto M selfie camera has a resolution of 8 megapixels and a relative aperture of f / 2.0. The diameter of the pixels is 1.12 microns, which is larger than the main one.
Reviews on the Motorola M XT1663 smartphone indicate that self-portraits abound in detail, the skin color is true, and the fixed focal length is well-chosen, so the mug does not blur when the camera is at arm's length. You might think that this is true for all front-facing cameras with fixed focus, but this is not so.
Of course, there is an image enhancement function. It eliminates stains, brightens the skin and whitens teeth.
Video camera
Moto M records video in 1080 p resolution at 30 fps. You should not expect more in this segment, especially since the P10 chipset can not cope with large numbers. Video is encoded at a bit rate of just under 17 Mbps, and audio is 128 Kbps in stereo. Unfortunately, few people will like the video, because the level of detail is low, and the colors are faded.
Conclusion
Smartphone Motorola M XT1663, according to people, managed to declare itself. The cold sensation of metal at your fingertips makes you feel like the owner of an expensive model. But metal cases leaked even to the lowest price segments of the market, and high build quality can be found at a more affordable price. This is a stable mid-range phone, and it is difficult to find an area in which it really surpasses other models or is much inferior to them. Perhaps the Motorola M XT1663's smartphone camera needs major improvements. Review of reviews allows us to conclude that although the resolution of the image sensor is excellent, it is difficult to get good pictures. Also, users would like to increase battery life. The 55-hour rating clearly demonstrates overall poor performance.
According to real reviews, the Motorola M XT1663 smartphone is hardly an outstanding representative of the middle price range. But those who are looking for a beautiful mid-range mobile phone at a reasonable price that goes well with a specific priority list should pay attention to this model.