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Google’s $179 Moto G puts every single cheap Android phone to shame

arstechnica.com

81–90 of 265 posts

Re: Google’s $179 Moto G puts every single cheap Android phone to shame

#81
post #28
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just the regular "NSA/Google is evil/wake up people" troll. Ignore and carry on.

Nah, this one is credible: http://www.beneaththewaves.net/Projects/Motorola_Is_Listenin...

This is pre Google acquisition, pre Google models.

Re: Google’s $179 Moto G puts every single cheap Android phone to shame

#83

Right move to target market in India and China , its way affordable than Iphone 5C and comes with the brand name too.

Unfair to compare Iphone 5c with Moto G. Iphone 5c vs Moto X is a more meaningful comparison.

We're comparing entry level but quality phones. 5c is Apple's entry level phone at $549. Moto G is Motorola's at $179. There are lots of cheaper Androids as well as Androids that match the 5c in CPU and screen for less money as well as deals you can get on refurbished/last years phones from both companies, but we're specifically comparing what a new entry level phone is.

Re: Google’s $179 Moto G puts every single cheap Android phone to shame

#84

Google is making a big play on smartphone for everyone model. Now if they could get carriers to agree to cheaper data model, their hand would be really strong. To some extent this favors T-Mobile and other no-discount/cheaper plans carriers.

They don't need to. You can get an unlimited data + 100 minute no contract plan from t-mobile for $30/month.

Re: Google’s $179 Moto G puts every single cheap Android phone to shame

#85
post #65
post #62

That price point is now full of phones with 1920x1080 5" screens; 1280x720 is very much "last year". The camera specs are beaten roundly by my year old $200 phone. The physical design is almost identical to said year old phone (which is to say it looks pretty much like the Galaxy SIII). And said phone also has removable battery, dual SIMs, and support for a 32GB SD card. This might put ever single "cheap" Android pho…

>That price point is now full of phones with 1920x1080 5" screens; 1280x720 is very much "last year". The camera specs are beaten roundly by my year old $200 phone. The physical design is almost identical to said year old phone (which is to say it looks pretty much like the Galaxy SIII). I think you missed the fact that that's the non-contract no subsidy price... Your $200 dollar phone was probably 500 or 600 off con…

You are jumping to (wrong) conclusions. My $200 phone was without contract. .

Here's a few examples of current Chinese phones in the Moto G's price range or below:

2GB RAM, Quad Core MTK CPU, 5" screen, 12.8 megapixel camera down to $121: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Full-1-1-i9500-MTK6589-S4-Pho...

MTK based Galaxy S4 clone for http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Mtk6589t-S4-1-1-Perfect-Galax...

Note 3 clone for ~$190: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/3200mAh-battery-Galaxy-N9000-...

Most of these phones are very good quality and the main "problem" to be aware of is that the MTK SoC's are not the fastests alternative. Then again, neither is the one in the Moto G.

Re: Google’s $179 Moto G puts every single cheap Android phone to shame

#86
post #65
post #62

That price point is now full of phones with 1920x1080 5" screens; 1280x720 is very much "last year". The camera specs are beaten roundly by my year old $200 phone. The physical design is almost identical to said year old phone (which is to say it looks pretty much like the Galaxy SIII). And said phone also has removable battery, dual SIMs, and support for a 32GB SD card. This might put ever single "cheap" Android pho…

>That price point is now full of phones with 1920x1080 5" screens; 1280x720 is very much "last year". The camera specs are beaten roundly by my year old $200 phone. The physical design is almost identical to said year old phone (which is to say it looks pretty much like the Galaxy SIII). I think you missed the fact that that's the non-contract no subsidy price... Your $200 dollar phone was probably 500 or 600 off con…

That, or he has non-branded phone straight from china. You can find quite some interesting things on dealextreme or similar site, if you're feeling adventurous.

Re: Google’s $179 Moto G puts every single cheap Android phone to shame

#88
post #86
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>That price point is now full of phones with 1920x1080 5" screens; 1280x720 is very much "last year". The camera specs are beaten roundly by my year old $200 phone. The physical design is almost identical to said year old phone (which is to say it looks pretty much like the Galaxy SIII). I think you missed the fact that that's the non-contract no subsidy price... Your $200 dollar phone was probably 500 or 600 off con…

That, or he has non-branded phone straight from china. You can find quite some interesting things on dealextreme or similar site, if you're feeling adventurous.

Well, unknown-in-the-West brand. It's a Star phone bought off Amazon Marketplace.

Could have gotten it even cheaper straight from China, but didn't feel quite adventurous enough to order direct and not have a local distributor to deal with at that point. My next phone probably will be.

Re: Google’s $179 Moto G puts every single cheap Android phone to shame

#89
post #5

If Google's plan is to leave the high-end of smartphones to its Android "partners" and stake out the low end with Motorola, that seems pretty smart. Its partners get to keep the high-margin hardware business that Google doesn't need anyway, Google puts a floor on how bad the low-end phones can be and still make it to market. And yeah, Google isn't in the position of competing with companies that it needs.

I'm not so sure they will just "leave the high-end market" to the rest, but they may try changing things up at the high-end, such as with highly customizable "ARA" phones:

http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/7/5185768/dennis-woodside-in...

Re: Google’s $179 Moto G puts every single cheap Android phone to shame

#90

It looks great, but as I've mentioned here before, I have some concerns about the cost. It's a great short term boon to consumers getting a device of this high quality at this price point, but the margins have to be razor thing on it, so how do they make money for R&D? What about Company X? What do they do, slice prices to match to keep market share or hope they retain a profit share? If they slash where do they get…

You can see this with Jolla- interesting new entrant, aims to provide a less monolithic, more hackable device, built on the Nokia N9, which was widely acclaimed. But it's double the price of the Moto G, with equivalent or even slightly worse specs.

If Google is selling its handsets at or near cost, and relying on the long-term value of advertising and data, then it will be almost impossible for anyone without the same revenue streams to engage in serious competition.

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