Superphone Round-Up: Samsung, HTC, LG and More

Motorola X

Motorola’s X smartphone has received a good amount of buzz in the media over the past few months. This phone has hardware specifications that are on par with or slightly behind today’s top phones. Although it may not have the highest end hardware on some levels, the Motorola X has a few features that will deliver a user experience unlike other phones.

More specifically, the X comes with Natural Language and Gesture control engines. By saying, “OK Google Now,” the phone will respond to your demands. After using a training process, the phone will respond to you and you alone. The phone features three microphones to enable better vocal recognition.

To enable the always on voice control functionality and other unique features of the Motorola X while still promising good battery life, Motorola has developed a proprietary system architecture known as the X8 Mobile Computing System. This system includes four graphics processor cores, two application processor cores, and two low-power cores. The Motorola X8 Mobile Computing System contains a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4Pro processor (1.7GHz Dual-Core Krait CPU, Quad-Core Adreno 320 GPU), a natural language processor, and a contextual computing processor.

The Motorola X has a number of other unique software features as well. For example, the Quick Capture feature helps ensure you never miss an important photo moment—simply twist your wrist and the camera will be open and ready to capture images. The Motorola X will also feature Smart Actions which enables the phone to be contextually aware and anticipate a user’s needs.

Motorola is giving AT&T customers the ability to customize their Motorola X using Moto Maker. With Moto Maker, you can select the colors of the phone including the front, back, and accents as well as customize the wallpaper and add a name or short message to the back of the phone. Motorola promises the phone will be assembled in the USA and shipped to you in four days or less. Currently, the Moto Maker customization option is an AT&T exclusive. However, it’s likely other US carriers will get the option in the future.

We’re anxious to get our hands on a Motorola X to see if it lives up to the hype. Certainly the phone’s experiential features like voice control have the potential to make this phone stand out among the crowd.

Nokia Lumia 1020

Users who are serious about getting a top-notch camera in their smartphone will want to consider Nokia’s Lumia 1020. This phone features 41 megapixels of resolution—far beyond what you’d see in any typical smartphone.

On the hardware front, the Lumia 1020 features a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage. Although these are adequate specifications for a device running on Windows Phone 8, they’re very similar to previous Lumia devices. The camera found on the Lumia 1020 is what really sets this phone apart.

In addition to a 41 megapixel sensor, the Lumia 1020’s camera features optical image stabilization, a f/2.2 6-element lens, and a LED + Xenon flash combination. The Pro Camera lens gives shutterbugs the ability to adjust white balance, ISO, exposure, and other manual controls. During our tests with this phone, we were impressed by the quality of images captured in a variety of environments.

LG G2

LG's upcoming G2 is also a worthy mention. Although this phone isn’t available for purchase yet, it may very well be worth waiting for, especially if you want the largest Android flagship phone available. This phone will feature a large, 5.2-inch IPS display with a 1080p resolution at 423 pixels per inch. You’ll also find a 2.26GHz Snapdragon 800 processor inside this phone. In terms of graphics, the G2 will feature an Adreno GPU clocked at 450MHz (compared to 400MHz in other popular phones of today).

Other noteworthy features of the G2 include a 3,000mAh battery and a 13 megapixel rear camera. Unique software features include KnockON (tap the phone’s display twice to power on the phone), QuickMemo note-taking software, Answer Me (automatically answers a call when the phone is put to your face), Slide Aside for better multi-tasking, and Guest Mode.

LG hasn’t revealed pricing for the G2. The phone is expected to be available through all four major US carriers in the next two months.