Moto X Wood Back - Volume Buttons

Until 11:59 p.m. ET tonight, Motorola is holding a sale on its excellent Moto X, bringing the 16GB iteration down to just $299 without a contract. That's a pretty good deal in of itself, but when you consider you can still customize the device with Moto Maker, and that $299 price tag hardly seems like anything at all. We still have a pretty big soft spot in our hearts for the Moto X, and think it's an especially good device for first-time smartphone owners. Motorola suggests you buy one for mom ahead of Mother's Day.

Motorola's Moto X successor is just a few months away from being unveiled, so if you're looking for something a bit more powerful, you might as well wait. Some early hints have begun popping up regarding the supposed Moto X+1, suggesting we could see a beefed up processor, Full HD display and a 12-megapixel camera. While those specs are by no means official, they have turned up in benchmarks, so they're definitely worth keeping an eye on.

In addition to the 16GB model being on sale, Motorola also dropped the price of the 32GB iteration, to $324, while the Developer Edition is also $324. If you're looking for good hardware, smart software tweaks and an overall simple experience, the Moto X is still a worthy option in the smartphone market.