Well, of all things\u2026Motorola has announced that the Moto G, its low-cost companion to the Moto X, will be available in the United States in time for Christmas. \u00a0This is the slightly downscaled version: 4.5\u201d screen instead of 4.7\u201d, IPS LCD display instead of fancy AMOLED, 1 GB of RAM not 2, none of the fancy co-processors of the Moto X (and accompanying services that go with them), an old-school \u201cswap colorful backplates\u201d rather than the American-made custom-built approach, 5 MP camera with 720p video capture rather than 10 MP with 1080p, and available in 8 or 16 GB storage rather than 16 or 32.<\/p>\n
But.<\/p>\n
The Moto G costs $179 for the 8GB model or $199 for the 16. \u00a0Unlocked. Off-contract.<\/em><\/p>\n Read that sentence again. \u00a0Now again. \u00a0Now again.<\/p>\n Previously, I said that the Moto X was the most innovative and significant new smartphone since the original iPhone. But now I wonder if this might be it. \u00a0 The 16GB Moto X launched for $199 on contract. \u00a0The 16 GB Moto G is yours for keeps for the same money and no obligation.<\/p>\n Think about it – this is a phone whose specs and performance should pretty much be on par with the iPhone 4S, which remains out there as the free-with-contract offering. \u00a0The screen is just as good and larger, there\u2019s twice the RAM, the camera is a step backward but that\u2019s the case with Android almost across the board. \u00a0Get the US version if you won\u2019t be globetrotting, and you can switch back and forth between T-Mobile and AIO almost at will. \u00a0In fact, with the oft-quoted AIO deal for $55 a month, the 8 GB model and two years of prepaid service with unlimited voice\/text and 2 GB of data per month\u2026will cost you a grand total of $1500.<\/p>\n There are some tradeoffs with the Moto G, mostly involving the camera (the one thing that gives me pause, because I shoot a lot more pictures than I used to before my first iPhone 4), but here\u2019s the thing: there has never, never, never<\/em> been a phone of this caliber available at this price point. \u00a0Ever. \u00a0You want an unlocked iPhone 4S? \u00a0$450 for the 8 GB model. Over double what the 8 GB Moto G will cost.<\/p>\n More than one reviewer is saying that this is what the iPhone 5C should have been, and honestly that\u2019s what I expected of the 5C: the guts of an iPhone 4S with a Lightning connector and a 4-inch screen. \u00a0But the Moto G not only hits the sweet spot, it creates a whole new sweet spot: the single best $200 smartphone in the world, full stop. \u00a0Manufacturers like ZTE and Huawei have to be soiling themselves at this point – right now, frankly, this is literally the only prepaid phone worth buying. \u00a0Unless the early reviews from the UK – where it\u2019s been out for two weeks already – are wildly off base, this is a phone that Moto could have sold for a lot more; it\u2019s on a par with the Nexus 4 that was $350 until a month ago, and unless you really want a 5-inch screen and LTE, it renders the Nexus 5 an overpriced bauble.<\/p>\n No gimmicks. \u00a0No gargantuan screens or stylus tricks or use-it-once-and-forget-it\u2019s-there bullshit (looking right at you, Samsung). \u00a0Just a clean, simple, straightforward Android phone. \u00a0The phrase gets battered to the point of meaningless, but I\u2019m going to use it anyway: this is game-changing.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Well, of all things\u2026Motorola has announced that the Moto G, its low-cost companion to the Moto X, will be available in the United States in time for Christmas. \u00a0This is the slightly downscaled version: 4.5\u201d screen instead of 4.7\u201d, IPS LCD display instead of fancy AMOLED, 1 GB of RAM not 2, none of the … <\/p>\n