I just don't understand the concept of putting the speaker on the side where it easily gets covered. Tbh, the back makes more sense - the placement on the 2013 Moto X, whilst on the back, wasn't easily coverable with the hand.
I'd say it is marginally better then the back. Hopefully I won't need to cup round the back of the phone to be able to hear Youtube Videos. The problem with the front, is it makes the phone much bigger to house the speakers which was one of the main reasons why I didn't get a HTC phone last time.