Ever since the first Moto X and Moto G were unveiled, it's been clear that Motorola decided to take Google's Nexus strategy -- of offering well-built, unlocked pure Android devices for a fraction of the cost of big brand names -- and run with it.

With the new third-generation Moto X Style (or Pure Edition in the U.S.), Motorola has reached a new pinnacle of balancing hardware, design, flexibility and solid performance.

Here's what we've learned after using the Moto X for a month.

Premium-Level Hardware

Display

The first thing about the Moto X Style that you'll notice is its screen. At 5.7-inches, it's a good deal larger than the second-gen Moto X's display, and Motorola dialed up the resolution this year to a full quad HD 1440 x 2560p, yielding a pixel density above 500 pixels per inch. And the IPS LCD displays brilliant colors.

This makes the Moto X's display a real competitor against big brands like the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 that cost hundreds of dollars more -- and it outright beats Apple's top-of-the-line phablet, the iPhone 6S Plus, which only comes with 1080p resolution.

Interestingly, while the display is half-an-inch larger than the 2014 Moto X, the side bezels on the Moto X Style have been thinned out so much that it's just as easy to use with one hand as its predecessor. The only thing Motorola skimped on, and it may simply have to do with manufacturing schedules, is the Gorilla Glass 3 protection, which is the same as on the 2014 Moto X.

Processor

Powering the device is a hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 system on a chip (SoC) running at 1.8GHz for the dual-core and 1.44GHz on the quad-core, along with an Adreno 418 GPU and 3GB RAM.

To be sure, the Snapdragon 808 is quite snappy, especially running pure Android without any UI layer to bog the SoC down. And it's likely Motorola wanted to avoid any heating issues that made the first incarnation of Qualcomm's 2015 flagship SoC, the Snapdragon 810, a no-go for many Android OEMs.

But it also means the Moto X won't be winning any benchmark competitions against Samsung's best 2015 flagships. It's not slow, it's just not the fastest processor possible. The only slight lag I've noticed so far is with messaging, and that could easily be the fault of Hangouts or Android's stock keyboard.

Like many of Motorola's other hardware choices, the Moto X Style's chipset is exactly enough to be within spitting distance of great.

Camera

Speaking of close to great, the Moto X Style's 21-megapixel camera won't likely outperform Samsung or Apple, and it doesn't come with any special tricks. But it's so much better than the herky-jerky shooter on the 2014 Moto X.

Besides upping the megapixel count, Motorola added phase detection autofocus, an f/2.0 aperture and a dual-tone flash.

Most importantly of all, the camera finally focuses quickly enough to pull out the device and snap a quick, clear picture. This was far from the case for the Moto X 2014 and Motorola knew it had to do something about it. Shutterbugs will be glad they did.

The only hitch is low-light pictures without flash, which will still take some adjustments with the Moto X Style's camera before you get a good picture.

As for the 5-megapixel front-facing camera, Motorola added a first-ever for smartphones: a dedicated LED flash on the front, for nighttime or indoor selfies. Its got a wide-angle lens as well, which is also perfect for selfies.

Storage

The Moto X Style comes with three internal storage options, ranging from a measly 16GB to 32GB and 64GB. Of course the storage amount you get depends on how much you want to spend, but the 32GB and 64GB options won't hit your wallet too hard.

My personal Moto X Style has the 64GB option, while the device supplied by Motorola had the baseline 16GB. If you're more than a casual smartphone user, upping the storage at least one tier is recommended.

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