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Motorola schools Android P on how to make swipe navigation good
Motorola schools Android P on how to make swipe navigation good
Google's upcoming Android P software has nothing on the humble Motorola Moto Z3 Play, Moto G6 and Motorola's other phones for 2018, for one simple reason. You can swipe left to go back.
Android P, now in its third and final beta, is Google's vision of the next version of its Android operating system. This is the software that will eventually run on most Android phones around the world. Android P embraces swipe gestures over the traditional three button navigation we've seen since the very beginning of Android phones. With Android P, a slider control lets you swipe right to open your recent apps and press it once to go Home.
But if you want to go Back, you have to press a separate Back button to do so. Android P's Back button supports apps that require it, and it only appears when you can actually use it. Otherwise it doesn't show up.
This change is interesting and important because Android P will bring Android phonemakers a unified look and feel that they can riff on. Android P will also be the basis of 2018's Google Pixel phones, and of phones that run the more "pure" Android One operating system, which is about as Googly as you can get without being a Google phone.
Google's Android P swiping navigation lags behind Apple's novel iPhone X gestures by about a year. Those gestures -- added because Apple completely removed the iconic home button from the iPhone X's face to maximize screen size -- will no doubt be expanded to additional iPhone and iPad models as the iPhone X-style design moves further through Apple's line, as rumored.
Now as Google attempts to catch up to the iPhone in screen navigation and support for the notch screen design, a wave of Android phones will shift to adopt gesture navigation, too.
But while Google hammered out what it wanted to do, phonemakers like Motorola, OnePlus, Xiaomi and others have already dreamed up their own formats for gesture navigation. Motorola's option, which it calls one-handed navigation, relies on a single virtual button that has an elegance and economy of movement that Android P's software lacks.
You can swipe right on Android P, but you can't swipe left.
James Martin/CNET
Gesture navigation helps free screen space of unnecessary digital and physical buttons. Swiping to get around can also feel more natural and fluid than hunting for buttons.
But although Google's design works, in the strictest sense of the word, phones like the Moto Z3 Play manage to pack everything you want to do into a single onscreen slider button.
In comparison, the placement of Android P's back button on the left of the phone, next to a home button you can slide right, adds up to a clunky, asymmetrical experience.
On the Moto Z3 Play, the actions look like this:
Short press - Home
Long press - Launch Google Assistant
Swipe left - Back
Swipe right - Recent apps
Google Product Manager Allen Huang recently addressed the Android team's position on Reddit:
HOME and BACK are so central to Android navigation (both the system and the apps) - that ensuring the dependability of them via buttons with enough space led us to the current design. All that said - we really value both the aesthetic and functional appeal of a smaller nav bar / more gross-gesture navigation and are continuing to explore opportunities to bring that in.
It sounds like the Android P Back button could still get the heave-ho.
Once upon a time, Google owned Motorola. I used to credit that association with Motorola phones' long history of smart software additions. But Team Motorola, which is now owned by Lenovo, has proven it has its own ideas. It's clear that Google still has much it can learn about software from the hardware brand it once brought into its fold.
This story first posted July 31, 2018 and updated Aug 1.
Read now: Apple iOS 12 versus Google Android P: Guess who's winning now
Read next: Google: We'll officially name Android P 'soon'
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Motorola schools Android P on how to make swipe navigation good
Motorola schools Android P on how to make swipe navigation good
Google's upcoming Android P software has nothing on the humble Motorola Moto Z3 Play, Moto G6 and Motorola's other phones for 2018, for one simple reason. You can swipe left to go back.
Android P, now in its third and final beta, is Google's vision of the next version of its Android operating system. This is the software that will eventually run on most Android phones around the world. Android P embraces swipe gestures over the traditional three button navigation we've seen since the very beginning of Android phones. With Android P, a slider control lets you swipe right to open your recent apps and press it once to go Home.
But if you want to go Back, you have to press a separate Back button to do so. Android P's Back button supports apps that require it, and it only appears when you can actually use it. Otherwise it doesn't show up.
This change is interesting and important because Android P will bring Android phonemakers a unified look and feel that they can riff on. Android P will also be the basis of 2018's Google Pixel phones, and of phones that run the more "pure" Android One operating system, which is about as Googly as you can get without being a Google phone.
Google's Android P swiping navigation lags behind Apple's novel iPhone X gestures by about a year. Those gestures -- added because Apple completely removed the iconic home button from the iPhone X's face to maximize screen size -- will no doubt be expanded to additional iPhone and iPad models as the iPhone X-style design moves further through Apple's line, as rumored.
Now as Google attempts to catch up to the iPhone in screen navigation and support for the notch screen design, a wave of Android phones will shift to adopt gesture navigation, too.
But while Google hammered out what it wanted to do, phonemakers like Motorola, OnePlus, Xiaomi and others have already dreamed up their own formats for gesture navigation. Motorola's option, which it calls one-handed navigation, relies on a single virtual button that has an elegance and economy of movement that Android P's software lacks.
You can swipe right on Android P, but you can't swipe left.
James Martin/CNET
Gesture navigation helps free screen space of unnecessary digital and physical buttons. Swiping to get around can also feel more natural and fluid than hunting for buttons.
But although Google's design works, in the strictest sense of the word, phones like the Moto Z3 Play manage to pack everything you want to do into a single onscreen slider button.
In comparison, the placement of Android P's back button on the left of the phone, next to a home button you can slide right, adds up to a clunky, asymmetrical experience.
On the Moto Z3 Play, the actions look like this:
Short press - Home
Long press - Launch Google Assistant
Swipe left - Back
Swipe right - Recent apps
Google Product Manager Allen Huang recently addressed the Android team's position on Reddit:
HOME and BACK are so central to Android navigation (both the system and the apps) - that ensuring the dependability of them via buttons with enough space led us to the current design. All that said - we really value both the aesthetic and functional appeal of a smaller nav bar / more gross-gesture navigation and are continuing to explore opportunities to bring that in.
It sounds like the Android P Back button could still get the heave-ho.
Once upon a time, Google owned Motorola. I used to credit that association with Motorola phones' long history of smart software additions. But Team Motorola, which is now owned by Lenovo, has proven it has its own ideas. It's clear that Google still has much it can learn about software from the hardware brand it once brought into its fold.
This story first posted July 31, 2018 and updated Aug 1.
Read now: Apple iOS 12 versus Google Android P: Guess who's winning now
Read next: Google: We'll officially name Android P 'soon'
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Motorola Moto X Play review: A brilliant, customisable phone at a low price
Motorola Moto X Play review: A brilliant, customisable phone at a low price
Motorola has defined itself in recent years by sticking to cheap-but-awesome phones that focus on customisable designs and dependable performance rather than envelope-pushing features. The Moto X Play is no exception.
This 5.5-inch phone handset rocks a full HD display, a great 21-megapixel camera, a meaty processor and a version of the Android Lollipop operating system that's free of the painful bloatware most companies insist on installing. Add a splash-proof body that protects the internals from all kinds of spilled drinks, and the option to wildly customise the colours of the phone to suit your exacting tastes and you've got yourself one hell of a smartphone.
The cherry on the top of this already delicious dessert is the affordable price. In the UK, you can pick up the Play directly from Motorola (building it yourself using the Moto Maker tool) for £280, with 16GB of storage. The Play launched in August in 55 countries, although the US was not one of them just yet -- there, Motorola is instead pushing the larger Moto X Pure Edition (called the Moto X Style outside of the US). For reference, its £280 price converts to about $435.
In Australia, the X Play is a Vodafone exclusive, but is only available in black. You'll pay AU$5 per month on the AU$40 plan over two years (minimum cost is AU$1,080). Motorola has mooted the idea of a version coming direct to retail at a later stage, possibly for AU$569, but says this is "to be confirmed."
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
The Moto X Play sits in the middle of Moto's new lineup of handsets, which includes the cheap and cheerful Moto G at the bottom, and the more premium Moto X Pure/Style at the top. The latter is slightly bigger at 5.7 inches, but packs a higher-resolution display and a more powerful processor, and you can have it wrapped in luxurious leather or various types of wood.
Design
148 by 75 by 10mm (5.8 by 2.9 by 0.4 inches)
169 grams (6 ounces)
Customisable colours
Water-resistant
The name Play suits this Moto X model as it looks like the more rough-and-ready sibling of its higher-end X Style. Instead of that phone's leather and wood panelling, the Play's back skin is made from rubberised plastic, with a tyre-tread style pattern. Together with the waterproofing, which I'll come to in a moment, it feels like a phone that's built for a tougher life than simply sitting inside a jacket pocket.
Not that it doesn't look good. My review model of the Play came in the most plain colours available: black and grey, which looks arguably more professional than fun. Using Motorola's Moto Maker online tool, however, it's hugely customisable. There are 14 different colours available for the back panel, with seven colours to choose from for the metal accents. Mix in the choice of a black or white front and the option to add laser engraving to the back for free, and it's possible to tweak your own phone very much to your own tastes.
The resistance to water is a welcome new feature for the Moto X series. The Play isn't designed to be fully submersible, so it's not the phone to take with you on a scuba diving trip -- for that, check out the new Sony Xperia Z5 . What the Play's waterproofing is for is to protect it from spilled drinks in the pub, rain showers or an accidental fall in the toilet. I knocked several cups of water over the phone and it's still working perfectly. It certainly adds a little peace of mind to know that your phone can shake off spills.
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
It's not the most compact of phones around, measuring 148mm long and 75mm wide, but it's not so chunky as to be cumbersome to use. It slides neatly into your pocket and its 169 gram weight shouldn't drag your jeans down. You'll find the power and volume buttons, the 3.5mm headphone jack and the Micro-USB port around the edges of the phone, with the SIM card and microSD card slots underneath the back cover. You won't find features like a fingerprint scanner or heart rate monitor, so if that's a deal-breaker for you, you'll need to expand your budget and look toward the Galaxy S6.
The phone is available with either 16 or 32GB of storage space. It's worth opting for the higher-capacity model if you download a lot of big apps -- particularly as it's not a huge amount of extra storage. You can fill up 16GB pretty quickly, and will soon have to rely on popping in external storage cards to store your files.
Display
5.5 inches
1,920x1,080-pixel resolution
The 5.5-inch display has a full HD (1,920x1,080-pixel) resolution, resulting in a pixel density of 400 pixels per inch. Sure, that's fewer pixels than you'll find on phones like the Galaxy S6 or the LG G4, but it's more than sufficient to make icons and text look crisp and high-resolution photos look good too. It's not a quad-HD display, but for this price, you can't really expect anything more. If you want extra pixels, the 5.7-inch Moto X Style is the phone for you.
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
It's a bright display, making it easy to read under the cloudy skies of an average London summer. I wish I could report on how easy it is to use in bright Tuscan sunshine, but all I can say is that it's off to a good start. Colours are vibrant as well, without being too overpowering, making it a great screen for basically anything you'll want to put on it.
Android software and processor performance
Android 5.1.1 Lollipop
Near-stock Android with minimal Motorola additions
1.7GHz octa-core processor
2GB RAM
The Moto X Play runs on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, and Motorola is one of the few companies that doesn't apply its own skin over the top. What you're left with then is pure vanilla Android that's free of all the manufacturer-made nonsense that plagues Sony and Samsung's phones.
Benchmark test comparison
Motorola Moto X Play8,0702,143Motorola Moto G (Late 2015)4,4731,609Motorola Moto X Style (Pure)19,7253,528Huawei Honor 6 Plus14,2702,866
3DMark Ice Storm (Unlimited)
Geekbench 3 (Multi-core)
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance
Vanilla Android is simple to use and swift to navigate around. What helps is the 1.7GHz octa-core processor stuffed inside the Play's rubbery shell, which is more than capable of handling all your everyday essentials. Apps load quickly, as does the camera, and gaming works well. Angry Birds 2 plays perfectly smoothly, and more demanding titles like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas play without any issue as well.
In performance the phone is certainly no slouch. It achieved a multi-score score of 2,143 on the Geekbench 3 test, putting it above the new Moto G (1,600), although predictably falls short of top-end phones like the Galaxy S6 (4,608). It scored 8,070 on the 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited graphics test, again putting it above the Moto G (4,473) and below the Moto X Style (19,725).
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Motorola has thrown in some of its own bits and bobs too. Beyond the Migrate tool, which will help you transfer all your data from your old phone to the new one, you'll find the same voice control features found on the previous Moto X. You can teach the phone to wake up when you say a chosen phrase (mine was "Oi, phone geezer, listen up"). You then can perform searches, open apps or even send messages, without needing to touch the phone at all. I haven't really felt the need to use it, but I can see it being handy if you're baking, for example, and don't want to prod at a phone with sticky cake fingers. When I used it, I was impressed at how easily it recognised my commands.
Camera
21-megapixel rear camera
Dual-tone LED flash
5-megapixel front-facing camera
Around the back of the phone is a 21-megapixel camera, which is a huge number of megapixels to find on a phone of this price. It's also a big step up from the 13-megapixel camera seen on the previous Moto X. It's not just about the resolution either, as the Play is capable of taking some great shots.
Motorola Moto X Play camera test, outdoor (click image to see full size)Andrew Hoyle/CNET
This park scene is very well exposed, with a great balance between the bright sky and shadowy areas in the trees.
Motorola Moto X Play camera test, outdoor (click image to see full size)Andrew Hoyle/CNET
The exposure is again spot-on in this scene, with rich, vibrant colours too. The high resolution of the sensor also means there's a ton of detail on the leaves when viewed at full screen.
Motorola Moto X Play camera test, outdoor (click image to see full size)Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Colours are extremely rich in this brightly lit shot of a flower.
Motorola Moto X Play camera test, low-light (click image to see full size)Andrew Hoyle/CNET
In low light, the camera still does a fair job of getting the shot. This scene has come out bright enough to be seen properly and there's not too much noise in the shot either. The colours are rather more muted than I'd like to see though.
Motorola Moto X Play camera test with flash (click image to see full size)Andrew Hoyle/CNET
With the flash on, colours once again pop, and it's achieved an extremely crisp focus on the scene. The flash is not so powerful as to wash everything out.
Motorola Moto X Play front-facing camera test (click image to see full size)Andrew Hoyle/CNET
The 5-megapixel camera on the front also is well-equipped to capture great shots. Even if the person in the shots would perhaps rather be behind the camera than in front of it.
The camera app itself is simple and clean, hiding the settings on a wheel that you swipe in on the screen to view. It's quick and easy to switch between shooting modes or to select video, so you won't miss capturing the adorable moment when you balance a tiny cowboy hat on your dog. You'll also find features like a burst mode, panorama mode, HDR mode and a slow-motion video function too.
Battery
3,630mAh non-removable battery
Motorola reckons you can get up to two days of use from its generous battery, which is an impressive boast, and one that I'd say is about accurate. During our battery tests for continuous video playback, it lasted an impressive 15 hours and 45 minutes on average. As such, if you spend all day gaming or streaming video with the screen brightness set to maximum then you shouldn't expect to have power left in the evening, but if you're even reasonably careful, you'll easily get a whole day of use from it.
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Keeping the brightness down will be the biggest help to extending battery life, and keeping Wi-Fi and GPS off will help too. If you're cautious with use then you'll be able to whizz past the first day and get through much of the second day too. As with all smartphones though, I'd always recommend giving it a full charge overnight. The battery isn't removable, so you can't swap it out for a fresh one when it finally does conk out.
Conclusion
With its bright, bold display, powerful processor, great camera and water-resistant design, the Motorola Moto X Play isn't just a great phone for the price, it's a great phone, full stop. It's got everything you should expect from a high-end device, and the ability to customise its look is just the icing on the cake.
If you want a splash more luxury, you might want to opt for the Moto X Style (or Pure), with its customisable leather or wood back. But at £399 or $399, you're shelling out a lot more cash than those extra features justify. That's why, if you're after an affordable high-performing phone to tackle all your everyday tasks, the Moto X Play is a brilliant choice. It's a better value for your money, which is why it snags a slightly higher rating than we gave the X Pure Edition.
There's really very little that even comes close to the Play's value. The HTC One M8s has a full HD display, similar power and a slick-feeling metal chassis, but it mimics the look of last year's flagship phone and costs more at £350 SIM-free ($545 or AU$755 converted, but it still isn't on sale in the US or Australia). The Huawei Honor 6 also has a good screen, its camera performs well and it's similarly priced, but its heavily customised software is far less pleasant to use. The Moto X Play is undoubtedly the phone to go for at this price.
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Moto G Stylus 5G Review: Great Specs For $500 But Limited Software Updates
Moto G Stylus 5G Review: Great Specs For $500 But Limited Software Updates
Motorola's Moto G Stylus 5G has everything you want from a sub-$500 phone at first glance. At $500 (which roughly converts to £320 and AU$560) it has higher-end features normally found on more expensive phones, including a 6.8-inch screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and a 50-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization. You also get a built-in stylus, a feature that Samsung is now only providing for its luxe $1,200 Galaxy S22 Ultra. The phone has great battery life to boot. It all sounds great for the money, but there are some important details to keep in mind if you go with this phone.
Motorola sells the Stylus 5G unlocked with a roomy 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. It also includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 chip, which is generally more powerful than the MediaTek one included in the $300 4G-only Moto G Stylus from earlier this year. Its 5G support includes sub-6 and C-band frequencies. A Verizon version will also support millimeter-wave 5G.
All this makes the phone fit right in with midrange rivals such as the $450 Galaxy A53 and last year's $449 Pixel 5A with 5G. But unlike Samsung and Google, which both commit to years of software updates, Motorola only promises one major software update to its G line of phones. This means that while the Stylus 5G is shipping right now with Android 12 and will eventually get Android 13, you'll only receive three years of security updates instead of any additional feature upgrades.
Motorola says this could be a perk, offering stability and consistency with its menus and interface. But even if you buy a cheaper phone, you shouldn't have to sacrifice updates because you probably want it to last as long as possible.
This makes the Moto G Stylus 5G worth considering if you want to hold onto the phone for two or three years, but it's a tougher sell if you want a phone that'll be viable for longer. It has many of the best Android 12 features, including the option to customize menus to your favorite color, and a long-lasting battery. And if a stylus is important to you on top of that, this phone could be the best pick for you.
The Moto G Stylus 5G has a few different apps optimized for the stylus.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
Tall phone with a big battery
The Moto G Stylus 5G is a tall and thin phone, making it easy to hold and even text with one hand. I'm normally a fan of phones with screens longer than 6.5 inches because it's easier to watch videos and read. But the shape of the phone leaves its top half exposed, which would make it easier for a thief to snatch if you're not paying attention.
I can alleviate this by using the stylus and the phone's handwriting recognition keyboard instead, which gets me a better grip on the body. Yet that comes at the expense of speed and accuracy compared to touch typing and autocorrect. Putting the phone in a case paired with a PopSocket, or something similar, could also help with that safety concern.
Otherwise the screen is great for watching and reading content, especially since it provides the option to boost the refresh rate up to 120Hz. Motorola also provides options for using a dynamic refresh rate depending on how you're using the phone or a 60Hz option, both of which consume less power on the battery.
The Moto G Stylus 5G has a 5,000-mAh battery.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
Yet with a beefy 5,000-mAh battery inside, the phone easily made it through a few full days of heavy usage with 120Hz on at all times. I watch a lot of YouTube, play games, take video calls, capture photos and videos and even on my longest day it still had 30 to 50% capacity when I was ready to go to bed. I averaged just over 3 hours of screen time each day but with less intensive usage patterns I'm sure the phone could easily last well into a second day.
Geekbench 5 Single Core
Moto G Stylus 5G (2022)
Moto G Stylus 5G (2021)
Note:
Higher scores are better
Geekbench 5 Multicore
Moto G Stylus 5G (2022)
Moto G Stylus 5G (2021)
Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
Note:
Higher scores are better
While all that extra power is great, it's worth noting that the Stylus 5G does charge more slowly than rival phones. You get a power adapter -- something that's disappearing from most phone boxes lately -- but it's a 10W charger with a USB-A to USB-C cable. Motorola said that you can use a different power adapter with the phone, but the maximum speed it can charge is 15W. By comparison the Galaxy A53 also has a 5,000-mAh battery and can charge at up to 25W, but you need to buy a power adapter separately. When I ran the Stylus 5G down to 0%, it took roughly 2.5 hours to charge it up to 95% using the included charger.
Shockingly, there's a headphone jack included, something that's practically nonexistent for phones in this price range. Motorola includes Dolby Atmos, which can be applied to specific headphones and speakers that you connect.
The stylus inside the Moto G Stylus 5G.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
Stylus features are nice, but lack impact
The Moto G Stylus 5G includes a stylus, but the best thing about it is its dedicated slot in the phone. When you remove the stylus, you'll see a menu of shortcuts including an option to take a screenshot to annotate, take a note or open a coloring book app.
Motorola is also launching a Live Message feature, which lets you create an animated drawing and send it out through a favorite messaging app. I was easily able to make these, and send them to friends the way I'd send a GIF. My friends found the animations amusing but this isn't something I'd do every day.
The stylus is neat, but it's hard for me to imagine using it on a regular basis. If you need to sign a digital document, it's now easy to get that done with a service like DocuSign, Microsoft Office or Google Docs. Unless you absolutely need a stylus, you'd be better off considering the sub-$500 phones that don't include one.
The Moto G Stylus 5G has a 50-megapixel main camera, an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera and a 2-megapixel depth sensor camera.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
Stable photography
The biggest improvement on the Moto G Stylus 5G over last year's version is with the inclusion of optical image stabilization. This reduces hand shake while taking photos, helping prevent motion blur.
The main 50-megapixel camera on the back of the phone is accompanied by an 8-megapixel ultrawide and a 2-megapixel depth sensor camera. On the front is a 16-megapixel selfie camera.
I took the phone to a dog park, where I needed to move quickly to get photos of the puppies. I shot plenty of great dog photos, including of my friend's dog Mel who got particularly aggressive with a football toy.
Photo taken on the Moto G Stylus 5G.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
Mel, the dog pictured here, wouldn't let any other dog near this football. Photo taken on the Moto G Stylus 5G.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
I also took the phone to a Korean barbecue restaurant as well as to a karaoke night, where I used the phone's Night mode to help capture more detail in darker indoor settings. It captured all of the details of the meal, but at the theater the results were more saturated. There's a noticeable blur on objects that were farther away.
Night mode on the Moto G Stylus 5G.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
Night mode on the Moto G Stylus 5G.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
Photo taken on the Moto G Stylus 5G's front-facing camera.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
The front-facing camera also captured a lot of detail while I made faces at the camera.
Video isn't the phone's strong suit. You can choose between 30 and 60 frames per second, but otherwise it's limited to 1080p for capture. Last year's Stylus 5G includes 4K video recording, so I was surprised that feature didn't stick around.
The footage I took at the dog park was OK, but wasn't particularly detailed even in good lighting. I wouldn't expect to capture anything more than short video clips that could be shared with friends or family.
Limited software support hurts an otherwise good phone
Even though the phone's stylus, good photography, larger screen and higher refresh rate all recommend it, it's hard for me to ignore Motorola's commitment to just one major Android update.
I used a Moto Z2 Play as my personal phone back in 2018. When it developed bugs, the slower software updates meant I couldn't be confident those issues would be resolved.
Motorola pledges security updates for three years, which will at least make sure the Stylus 5G isn't vulnerable to most malicious threats. But Samsung pledged to support Galaxy A phones for four years while Google gave the Pixel 6 three years of software updates and five years of security updates. Motorola is woefully behind in comparison.
Unless you crave the stylus and want a phone for $500 or less, I suggest waiting a few more weeks until after Google I/O. It's rumored Google will announce a cheaper Pixel 6A, possibly in the $450 to $500 price range. Motorola's $400 Moto G 5G, sans stylus, will also launch in the coming weeks. Once those phones are released, we'll have a better overall idea which is the best phone in this price range.
Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2022) vs. Samsung Galaxy A53 5G, Google Pixel 5A with 5G, Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G (2021)
