Customizable off-contract Moto X goes on sale, but it's still tied to AT&T

If you're in love with the customization options of the Moto X, but not so much in love with AT&T, you may now purchase a customized version of the smartphone without a contract, straight from Motorola.

Although AT&T began selling the Moto X last week, there was no way to customize the phone's colors, accessories and other features without signing up for a two-year contract. Now, customers can buy the phone directly from Motorola's Moto Maker site, at an off-contract price of $579.

Keep in mind that the off-contract version is still tied to AT&T. Although the phone should work on T-Mobile's network, you'd still have to ask AT&T to unlock the phone first, and AT&T only unlocks Android phones if you have an active account in good standing. You can't just buy the phone and immediately take it to another carrier. (An unlocked "Developer Edition" Moto X is forthcoming.)

Still, given that AT&T has a timed exclusive on Moto Maker customizations, this is your only option for the foreseeable future. Moto Maker allows you to customize the phone's colors, choose matching accessories, and pre-load the software with your Google account, a greeting, and wallpaper.

It's somewhat surprising that the off-contract Moto X costs so much, when the build cost is reportedly just $221, according to an estimate by IHS. That estimate includes $209 for components and $12 for manufacturing, with the U.S.-based assembly costing about $4 to $5 more per phone than devices assembled in Asia.

In May, Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside talked about the opportunities for Motorola to build “low-cost, high-quality” smartphones. “We can attack, and we can do things and challenge the business model that exists now in ways that our competitors can’t,” he said at the All Things D conference. And yet, at $200 on-contract and $579 off-contract, the price doesn't look much different from other high-end phones.

For more on the Moto X, check out TechHive's mostly-positive review.

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The Moto X's innards aren't as interesting as its customizable exterior, teardown shows

While the outside of Motorola's superb Moto X smartphone can come in all kinds of colors and materials, the innards are all the same—and fairly easy to repair.

In its teardown of the Moto X, iFixit gave the phone a repairability score of seven out of 10. That's a bit worse than Samsung's Galaxy S4, which earned eight points thanks to its removable battery, but the same as Apple's iPhone 5 and much better than the HTC One, which received just one point out of 10.

In particular, iFixit praised the Moto X's pressure contacts and cable connectors, which make it easier to replace modular components such as cameras, speakers, buttons and the headphone jack. The phone uses just one kind of screw (T3), and while the battery is technically non-removable, it's fairly easy to pull out once you've cracked open the outer casing.

iFixit

On the downside, the phone's digitizer is fused to the display, so both would need to be replaced in case of a cracked or damaged screen. The Moto X also uses a fair amount of adhesive on the back cover, so the process of removing the outer casing can be tricky.

The internals of the Moto X include some unique design flourishes, iFixit found. For instance, the vibration motor is soldered directly to the motherboard, and the midframe stays in place using a set of pins that stick out from the display bezel. (The Galaxy S4, by comparison, uses screws to hold the midframe together in place.) Most amusingly, the phone's NFC coils run a track around the battery, resembling old-school slot cars.

Aside from the repairability and unique design elements, iFixit's teardown didn't turn up any big secrets about the Moto X. That's no surprise, given that the phone's most noteworthy features are its software—such as the ability to turn on the camera by twisting the phone quickly—and its customization options. The phone is now available on AT&T and is coming soon to other carriers soon.

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