Motorola’s flagship Moto X drops to $400 without contract

By Mike Flacy January 1, 2014

moto x now priced 399 without contract motorola maker header 2 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Detailed within a post on the Official Motorola Blog earlier today, the company has reduced the unlocked version of the Moto X to a $400 price point. Fairly close to the $350 special Motorola ran on the base model of the Moto X during the 2013 holiday shopping season, the smartphone was originally released at $580 during August 2013 and fell to $500 during November 2013. While the 16GB model is now $400, the 32GB model can be purchased for $450. Adding the unique bamboo backing still comes at a premium though, basically adding an additional $100 to the cost of the phone.

Anyone interested in the Moto X can still buy the phone under contract at a $100 price point, but will be locked into a two-year agreement with Verizon, AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile. Of course, the main advantage to owning an unlocked phone is the ability to use it on any carrier and switch at any time. This price change brings the Moto X into a more competitive position with the Google Nexus 5, although the Nexus 5 is still $50 less, both for the 16GB and 32GB models.

Moto X front home — Image used with permission by copyright holder

As stated in the blog post, Motorola senior VP of product management Rick Osterloh said “Today several wireless carriers offer good month-to-month or prepaid service plans that cost much less than the contract plans that come with subsidized devices. Combine one of those plans with our new $399 everyday pricing and you could save hundreds of dollars over two years while keeping the freedom to change service providers when you feel like it.”

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The well-reviewed Moto X sports a 4.7-inch screen at 720p resolution, touchless voice control, a 10-megapixel rear facing camera, a 2200mah battery and runs Android 4.4 KitKat. If you are interested in reading more about the smartphone, please read our Moto X review here.

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