Ever since it was unveiled at the start of August, we’ve been waiting for the wood-backed Moto X to be released. The pre-production models we tested were only white or black and then shortly after that everyone was able to build custom, but still plastic-backed, phones with Moto Maker. Those units, unfortunately, could not yet partake in the material that everyone was most excited for: the four different varieties of wood that would be used to construct the Moto X’s backplate. Today that (partially) changes, because the “Moto X with Bamboo” is available.
You can go to Motorola’s site right now and order a Moto X with a bamboo back (Update: Not exactly… they already sold out). The option is known as the “Natural” back color. For the pleasure of holding that non-plastic back plate you’ll have to pay an extra $100 and you’ll be hit with a shipping delay. The bamboo back is an online exclusive, so don’t expect to see these in stores any time soon.
Right now the delay for a bamboo phone is a hefty 20 days, where you can have a custom Moto X — in something approaching any of 2000 different color combinations — in just 7 days. This seems to be in keeping with the challenges Motorola has faced with releasing the wood backs for the Moto X. The phone was announced on August 1st and it was on sale by early September, but the wood back won’t be officially landing until mid-January. That’s a 4-month delay, or something like a third of the likely lifetime of the smartphone (assuming some sort of Moto X2 goes on sale next year).
The Moto X was expected to be available with bamboo, rosewood,*teak, and ebony backs, but just the bamboo has made it to production so far. There is no word from Motorola on the availability of the other woods, or if they will every hit production.
As far as aesthetic-based delays go, this is nothing compared to epic delays Apple faced with releasing the white iPhone 4. Back in 2010 Apple had troubles with color matching and light leakage, where Motorola is likely having issues with manufacturing and possibly with radio transmission through the different types of wood.
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