[Q] Moisture indicators? Weak, buzzy vibrate? Verify hardware variant?

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Demur

Member
Jul 16, 2013
17
0
Hello,

I purchased a used Moto G US and I'm trying to evaluate its condition. With the back off I don't see any obvious moisture / water damage indicators, don't see anything about it in the manual, and haven't been able to find anything about it via search engine. Are there some kind of moisture indicators I can check on this phone?

When I first started using it, I thought the vibration motor might be broken, because vibration feels weak and buzzy. I haven't used a lot of smart phones, but the ones I have used have more substantial and satisfying vibration, like a Samsung Galaxy S3 (SGH-T999). I've done some searching, and it sounds like Moto G's have a reputation for crappy vibration, right? So maybe this is "normal" for this model.

Is there some way to verify what hardware variant the phone is? It's supposed to be a GSM 8 GB, but I want to make sure before I accept it. How could I tell if a given Moto G is a US GSM, global GSM, CDMA, or some other variant? I called Motorola to ask them, and it took forever for the guy just to stop trying to talk to me about the Android version. Then he said if I gave him the IMEI number he could tell me what hardware version it is, so I did, then he comes back and tells me the warranty country for it is Brazil and I'll have to call Brazil. WTF?
 

chairsz

Senior Member
Aug 31, 2011
228
28
Darkside
Hello,

I purchased a used Moto G US and I'm trying to evaluate its condition. With the back off I don't see any obvious moisture / water damage indicators, don't see anything about it in the manual, and haven't been able to find anything about it via search engine. Are there some kind of moisture indicators I can check on this phone?

When I first started using it, I thought the vibration motor might be broken, because vibration feels weak and buzzy. I haven't used a lot of smart phones, but the ones I have used have more substantial and satisfying vibration, like a Samsung Galaxy S3 (SGH-T999). I've done some searching, and it sounds like Moto G's have a reputation for crappy vibration, right? So maybe this is "normal" for this model.

Is there some way to verify what hardware variant the phone is? It's supposed to be a GSM 8 GB, but I want to make sure before I accept it. How could I tell if a given Moto G is a US GSM, global GSM, CDMA, or some other variant? I called Motorola to ask them, and it took forever for the guy just to stop trying to talk to me about the Android version. Then he said if I gave him the IMEI number he could tell me what hardware version it is, so I did, then he comes back and tells me the warranty country for it is Brazil and I'll have to call Brazil. WTF?

if you can boot the phone and go into the settings/scroll all the way down then about phone your system version can be verified or checked against these official stock motorola moto g firmwares. http://sbf.droid-developers.org/phone.php?device=14

btw im a x1032 8gig single sim version with virgin mobile canada/bell canada so my firmware would be the first 1 4.4.2

dual sim motorola moto g's are normally x1033 (this would obviously be easy to discover once you take off back cover and notice 2 sim slots.

also you should just head over to the faq section cause most of this is already answered.
 

Demur

Member
Jul 16, 2013
17
0
Thanks for your reply.

if you can boot the phone and go into the settings/scroll all the way down then about phone your system version can be verified or checked against these official stock motorola moto g firmwares. http://sbf.droid-developers.org/phone.php?device=14

Thanks for the link, but I'm not sure what to make of it:

A) It doesn't seem to identify hardware versions, e.g. US GSM, global GSM.

B) Even if it did link firmware versions to hardware versions, is that a reliable way to substantiate the hardware version or could someone load the firmware from a different version of the phone on a version that it's not native to?

dual sim motorola moto g's are normally x1033 (this would obviously be easy to discover once you take off back cover and notice 2 sim slots.

This phone has one obvious SIM slot that's labeled "SIM 1", and another location that looks like it might be space reserved for a SIM slot that in this phone is filled with a piece of plastic that doesn't appear to be removeable. In a single SIM Moto G, would the slot be labeled "SIM 1"?

also you should just head over to the faq section cause most of this is already answered.

Can you please provide a link to what you're referring to? I looked at this FAQ thread and I don't see any of the info I asked about.