So we’ve got our first real glimpse at the internals of the new Moto X, thanks to the awesome team at iFixit. There isn’t a whole lot more that we can learn about the Moto X then we already know, but a tear down is always great fun. It may, however, give us some insight into the long-term durability of the Moto X, as well as the overall quality of the build.
One of the first things the folks at iFixit noticed is a small defect next to the SIM slot, it appears to be a small pen tip sized indentation. Maybe a manufacturing defect, or simply the result of a hasty handler when packaging the device, it is unclear. While it is never ideal to see defects come out of any manufacturer, it could easily be chalked up to being a result of the first run of phones, and Motorola/Google still ironing the kinks out of the assembly process. At any rate, hopefully this type of oversight does not get sent out to the general public, I would hate to have my custom designed Moto X, show up with a blemish such as this.
Moving on, once the clips holding the back of the phone together had been released, a substantial wad of glue was found inside the rear cover of the phone. This is not uncommon in the cell phone world, and is normally utilized to keep internal components (battery) in place. As well as adding a little extra padding to sensitive internal components, and make the device feel more solid overall than one just held together with clips. Other notable discoveries include, a woven rear cover not made of kevlar fibers that you can see right through, and the headphone jack being:
the most modular headphone jack we’ve (iFixit) ever seen.
iFixit also pauses for a moment to admire the great care and effort that went into designing the internals of the Moto X, due to the number of clips and contacts they found during the tear down.
Overall the Moto X was handed a repairability score of 7 out of 10, not the easiest to repair however anyone with some patience and a steady hand should not have an issue. As a whole I am impressed (minus the defect) with the build quality of the Moto X. Google definitely put lots of time, thought and effort into the design of this phone, and it shows.