Preview: Motorola Moto X

Motorola has officially announced its Moto X Android phone, the first smartphone the company has produced since being bought by Google last year.

The Moto X is clearly being targeted at everyday, mainstream users, rather than consumers concerned about having the latest and greatest quad-core processors.

The highlight of the Moto X is the ability to completely customise its look. Users can chose from 18 backplate colours, a black or white front panel, and seven different colours for the buttons on the side, and the ring around the camera lens on the back.

Users can also engrave the back of the phone. The colour and engraving selections are made online using what the company calls "Moto Maker", though the customisation is initially exclusive to the AT&T network in the US.

Users can also pick between 16GB and 32GB of storage, but there's no microSD card slot to expand that memory.

The Motorola Moto X is constructed largely from matte plastics. The back curves outwards towards the middle of the phone, so the rear of the device bulges in the centre.

The Moto X is just 5.6mm thin at its thinnest point, but 10.4mm at its thickest point. The bezel surrounding the display is much thinner than most devices on the market, including the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One.

The Motorola Moto X has mid-range specifications. The 4.7in AMOLED screen has a 720p resolution of 1280x720 compared with the full HD screens of most competitors, while there's also a 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor and 2GB of RAM.

The Motorola Moto X runs an almost stock version of Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, but introduces two new features. Active notifications can display notifications on the screen without needing to unlock the device. The phone pulses when you miss a call or receive a message, and a small square on the screen will show an app icon.

There's also an active voice recognition system that uses an "Okay Google Now" command to create reminders, set alarms and use a number of other functions.

The Moto X includes a 10-megapixel rear facing camera that doubles as a full HD, 1080p video recorder, along with a front-facing 2-megapixel camera for video calls.

Tapping anywhere on the screen in the camera app immediately takes a photo, with focus and exposure adjusted automatically.

There's also the ability to hold the Moto X in one hand and twist your wrist three times to jump into the camera app when the phone is unlocked.

Motorola claims the Moto X's 2200mAh battery will last a full, 24 hour day with regular use and all features activated.

The Motorola Moto X will be available through all US carriers this month, but there's been no word on an Australian release.