Motorola is back with a brand new flash of smart phone. It has a familiar name, but the new Moto X promises to be everything last year's device was and more.

The new Moto X, available later this month, is priced at $99 with a contract or $499 unlocked.

It's instantly recognizable to last year's model, but virtually everything has been improved this time around - to the design, to the materials and specs inside the phone.

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Last year's phone had a 720p 4.7 inch display, but this year Motorola has stepped up to a 5.2 inch full 1080p panel. It's bigger, brighter, sharper and just overall better than last year's screen.

Colors are bight and punchy, and viewing angles are great. It's also easy to see outdoors under the sunlight.

Above and below the screen are new grills for the earpiece and speaker now in front of the phone. It's not the dual speaker stereo setup like the HDC-1, but the front speaker is loud and easy to hear.

Along the entire edge of the Moto X is an all-new metal band, which not only looks great, but is also used to enhance reception and signal quality. This feature is a major improvement to last year's plastic.

The back of the phone has the same slopped curve as other Motorola phones, making it comfortable to hold. It's thinner at the edge, and the trademark dimpled finger rest is much larger and more prominent.

Motorola is offering customized options for the back of the phone including a variety of new colored leathers and even backs with a bamboo finish.

Above the finger rest is a new 13-megapixel camera with a dual LED flash and a mock ring flash configuration.

That's the hardware story. It looks familiar, but has been improved in a number of ways, making it an attractive and comfortable phone to use despite its much bigger display.

The Moto X is shipping with Android 4.4 KitKat, and Motorola has promised it will be updated to Android L when that's released. Like last year, this is about as pure an Android experience as you can get outside of Google's own Nexus devices.  

TagsMotorola, Moto X, Hardware review, HDC-1, smart phone