Chip Chick
It’s no secret that one of the things that excited us most at the Moto X launch was the Moto Maker announcement. Outside of cases, this is the first time that a smartphone manufacturer has offered consumers the opportunity to truly customize their phone with their own colors and style. Sure, companies like ColorWare have been colorizing gadgets for years now, but their services come at a premium cost. And what makes Moto Maker for the Moto X even more alluring, is the fact that it doesn’t cost an extra penny to order a custom Moto X. With Moto Maker, you can customize the back color, front color, accents, and you can also add a signature to the back of the phone. There are 18 back colors to choose from, 2 front colors to choose from (black or white), and 7 accent colors. The accent refers to the frame around the camera lens, and the anodized aluminum buttons on the side.
We chose yellow as the accent color, and it ended up being a very subtle effect, but still a welcome addition. As for the back color – yes, we designed a pink phone for ourselves. We just couldn’t resist adhering to THAT cliché. Besides, neon colors are all the rage lately, and we’re confident that Nicki Minaj would totally love to rock this phone. That said, we wish that the signature on the backside would be a bit more customizable, and we would like to have an option for it to be bigger, and perhaps to change the font type too. But this is a pretty minor gripe.
The Moto Maker user interface offers a 360 degree view, and the ability to zoom in. As you play with the available color combinations, this helps you make a sound decision before you commit to a permanent color scheme for the rest of your smartphone’s life. In addition to customizing the actual physical hardware of the device, Moto Maker also lets you customize the Power On experience with a name or greeting that pops up every time you turn on the phone. You can also customize the wallpaper on the phone out of the box, but we were underwhelmed by the current available selection of wallpapers.
But probably the most convenient customization option on Moto Maker, is the ability to sync your Google account right out of the box! So the minute your phone arrives, you are basically ready to go. That is a pretty convenient feature, especially if you’re as lazy as we are.
Did we mention you could also choose a black or white wall charger? Yep, if you are insistent that your wall charger be as color coordinated as possible – Moto Maker lets you choose at no extra cost. Moto Maker also lets you add optional accessories like cases, or matching SOL Republic headphones to your check out.
Final Thoughts
We would love to see even more color combinations made available on Moto Maker. We’re also looking forward to the wooden styling options that we spotted at the Moto X launch. In any case, Moto Maker is off to a great start. Between all of the color customization options, and the matching accessories from SOL Republic, the Moto X has turned out to be one of the most refreshing and fun phones of the year. You can check out our full review of Moto X here. Purchasing a designed by you Moto X from Moto Maker costs $199 with contract, and it is an exclusive with AT&T, for now. However, Motorola did just add an option to purchase a T-Mobile ready handset from Moto Maker, but it’s an unsubsidized handset, so you will be paying full price. And because Motorola is having the phone assembled in the U.S., they offer an estimated delivery date of just 4 days from when you design the phone, until it arrives on your door step. And finally, for a limited time, the device also come with a free Motorola Skip accessory.
The Good: Customization service doesn’t cost extra, lots of phone color choices and personalization options, the Moto Maker user interface is super easy to navigate and more style options are on their way.
The Bad: Wallpaper options are underwhelming, our phone did not come with a synced Google account, limited to AT&T for now.
