Soon as the Moto X was announced, hardcore Android enthusiasts immediately asked if there would be a Google Edition. Well it turns out the prospects of an all stock Moto X seem unlikely, according to Leo Laporte from TWiT.
Leporte claims that Guy Kawasaki, a special adviser to the Motorola business unit of Google, confirmed to him that there wouldn’t be a Google Edition Moto X similar to what HTC and Samsung has done with their flagship devices. Rather, the Moto X being offered on all US carriers will be the same handset sold in the Play Store.
In all honesty, this shouldn’t deter anyone from buying this phone, as it still offers so many of the same aesthetics and features within the user interface that looks identical to what’s available on stock Android. Motorola did a great job in not destroying the look of Android with ridiculous changes to the software, in fact, they’ve managed to improve the operating system in some ways with it’s own innovation.
Selling the Moto X in the Google Play Store as is, is telling in many ways. For starters, it shows that Google must feel like it’s pretty much stock already, and judging how the software looks we can’t really disagree. It’s splitting hairs at this point. Secondly, it’s giving Motorola another selling platform to display itself on, albeit, on a janky online store like Google Play.
That being said, the Moto X as is-is still a good option for most. It may not attract the hardcore enthusiasts, but it grabs the attention of the average consumer — something Google has struggled with from day one with the Nexus brand of phones.