Sara: How The Moto X Stacks Up Against The Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One

With the release of the highly anticipated Moto X smartphone today, we can finally take a look at how the new handset stacks up against other smartphones on the market. We?re pitting the Moto X against a few of the hottest flagship Android smartphones out there today, the HTC One and Samsung?s Galaxy S4. Both smartphones have been available for a few months now, and have been selling like hotcakes. Can the Moto X break the stride of these two powerhouses? Let?s take a look.

Coming in with a 4.7 inch 720p display, 2GB of RAM and a 10MP rear-facing camera, the device clearly falls into the mid-range smartphone tier. The processor used in the sleek device is a dual-core Snapdragon S4 Pro from Qualcomm, running on Motorola?s new X8 architecture. Don?t let the ?eight-core? claim?fool you however; although there are eight cores, the device only uses two of them for processing, with the others being utilized for language processing and contextual computing. The device will come in 16GB and 32GB varients.

Clearly, the HTC One and the Galaxy S4 out power the Moto X in computing power, with both devices running on Qualcomm?s Snapdragon 600 processor, which utilizes ?four cores. The HTC One clocks in at 1.7GHz and the Galaxy S4 at 1.9GHz. The HTC One and the Galaxy S4 both offer larger batteries, although that doesn?t necessarily mean that they will outperform the Moto X in terms of battery life.

The Moto X?s camera is decent, touting a 10MP rear-facing shooter and a 2MP front facing camera, but the One and the S4 beat the Moto X here too. The S4?s ?13MP rear-facing camera ?and the HTC One?s Ultrapixel camera are top-notch, and include software to help the devices take amazing pictures. From what we?ve heard the Moto X?s camera interface is surprisingly lacking features and software.

What about pricing? Well, that?s where it gets tricky for Motorola. All devices carry a price tag of $199.99 with a new two-year contract, and many carriers and retailers are offering deals on the HTC One and Galaxy S4, sometimes as low as $99.?With the Moto X priced in this range, it would behoove new customers to choose the One or the S4 over the Moto X.

While the Moto X?s spec sheet is clearly inferior to the other flagship phones, Motorola is focusing on battery life, affordability and ease of use with the Moto X. Motorola is hoping that a near stock Android experience will make the device responsive and easy to use. The HTC One and Galaxy S4 both rely on a huge chunk of manufacturer software to operate, which Motorola is avoiding with the Moto X.

The Moto X will be launching on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular and Verizon later this summer for $199.99. We?ll let you know as soon as a concrete release date pops up.

So, what are your thoughts on the Moto X? Would you take it over the HTC One or Samsung Galaxy S4?