I find the release of the new Droids (Ultra-Max-Mini) within days of the Moto-X to be odd. My VZW contract excpired on 9/1, and having read/heard all the hype surrounding the X decided to stop by the local Verizon store to get a hands on perspective. Surprisingly, the store was not busy when I got there, so I was able to handle and look as much as I wanted. Certainly beauty, desire and in the case of cell phones, need is in the eye of the beholder. At first I was disappointed in the lack of an SD slot on any of these phones, but then I realized that I don't carry my life on my phone, and I had not come close to filling he SD card on my old Incredible2, and it only had 2GB of storage. I also don't believe that bigger is always better, and the Droid Ultra and Max just felt too big in my hand, as did the S4.I also considered the HTC One, but just didn't like the way it felt. So, that left the X and the Mini. Both are very similar. They have the same processor, memory, camera, VZW software, Google software and capabilities, and similar carbon-fiber bodies. The X has a 4.7" AMOLED screen, the Mini is 4.3", the Mini gets marginally better battery life, and the Mini has wireless charging. Oh, and 1 other difference, the mini is $99, half the price of the X. My bifocal needing eyes could not see a difference between the X and Mini screen clarity. So, to my eye, the 50% difference in price and wireless charging capabilities more than made up for the 18% difference in screen real estate. I opted for the Mini.
At less than 1 week of ownership, I am still in the 'honeymoon' stage and can't objectively say I love my phone. But, at this stage I have no regrets, and have yet to read anything that is causing any second thoughts. Of course, it remains to be seen if VZW will roll out Android updates faster on the X than they do on the mini. That would make me unhappy. But, given VZW's history, I think we will all be on 4.2.2 longer than we expect to be.
