REVIEW: MOTOROLA MOTO G4 PLUS
Wednesday, May 18, 2016Since the first generation Moto G launched in 2013, Motorola has come a long way in terms of quality, design and credibility. Competitively priced and well-rounded smartphones have helped the company gain a stronghold in the flourishing Indian market.
But that's all in the past, now it's time for the fourth generation of Motorola's G series - Moto G4 and G4 Plus to enter the smartphone arena. Launched recently, the duo is set to compete against the likes of Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) and Lenovo ZUK Z1.
The Moto G4 Plus seems to tick all the right boxes when it comes to raw specifications, at least on paper. But is it any good in terms of real-world performance?
We used the dual-sim smartphone to see how it stacked up against the competition. Here's our detailed review, of the brand new Motorola Moto G4 Plus
Design and display
Moto G4 Plus is a really slim device, with a not so impressive silver plastic frame and white rear panel. The textured back panel feels good in the hand but doesn't make for a firm hold. The volume rocker and the power button are located on the right, whereas the micro USB port is at the bottom. The top edge is home to the 3.5mm audio jack. Moto G4 Plus supports dual-sim functionality and despite being thinner than previous devices in the G series, packs a sizeable 3,000mAh battery.
The front panel is largely dominated by the 5.5-inch Full HD display of 1,080x1,920 pixels resolution. However, the most noticeable addition is the fingerprint sensor, which proved to be surprisingly responsive during our tests.
As for the display itself, it's quite good. Colour saturation is pretty accurate and makes watching videos and playing games an engaging experience. Viewing angles aren't too shabby either. The G4 Plus's display is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
Above the display lie the mono speaker, 5MP front-facing camera and the usual array of sensors. The speaker's audio output is decent, but definitely not as impressive as that from the dual front-firing speakers on the second generation Moto G. Imagine watching a movie in IMAX quality, but the sound only comes from one side; that's exactly how it sounds.
The back consists of a 16MP camera with dual-tone LED flash and laser focus. A rather flimsy back panel can be easily pried off to reveal dual micro-sim slots and a microSD card slot. That said, the battery on the G4 Plus cannot be removed.
Overall, the fit and finish of the Moto G4 Plus is not bad, but it certainly could've been a bit better.
camera
Lenovo, which owns the Moto brand, has immensely highlighted the camera performance of its latest phone -- Moto G4 Plus. But how good it actually is? According to a report, damn good! In fact so good that theoretically the Moto G4 Plus has a better camera than one in the iPhone 6S, which is Apple's latest and greatest iPhone.
The report by DxO, which benchmarks camera hardware and performance, states that the Moto G4 Plus camera scores 84 points in its tests. In comparison, in the same tests the iPhone 6S had scored 82 points. Although, the iPhone 6S Plus, which has optical stabilisation that iPhone 6S lacks, and the Nexus 6P too score 84 points.
Currently the leader-board at the DxO website is dominated by HTC 10 and the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge that have 88 points each. The DxO report for the Moto G4 Plus has not been yet made public. Although, Motorola did show the numbers while launching the phones at an event in New Delhi.
While the Moto G4 Plus scores high in DxO benchmarks, keep in mind that DxO has a very particular way to test cameras. It focuses more on the hardware and raw capabilities of the phone, including aspects like edge-to-edge sharpness, noise behaviour and micro-contrast etc in ideal conditions. While all of this matters in the real-world use, a lot also depends on how a user utilises the functionality provided in the phone's camera. Similarly, software, especially in challenging conditions, plays an important role.
While reviewing the Moto G4 Plus we did find the camera in it very good. It clicks fantastically detailed images that have good colours. Although, it doesn't handle the HDR or very challenging lighting conditions as well as the Nexus phones, which have better image sensor. It's exposure too can do with some fine-tuning because it trumps the iPhone 6S in benchmarks, in real world the iPhone 6S is more consistent.
Yet, it is important to see all of this with some context. The phones that we are comparing here with the Moto G4 Plus are all very expensive phones. The Moto G4 Plus costs just 25 per cent of what Apple asks for the iPhone 6S. The fact that it can even compete with the latest iPhone, in an area where Apple is traditionally strong, highlights how hard Motorola -- or Lenovo, if you prefer -- has worked on the camera of its new mainstream phone.
Moto G4 Plus comes with an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 chipset coupled with 3GB of RAM. The device runs on the latest Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow and comes with 32GB of internal storage which can be expanded up to 128GB via microSD card. However, there is a 2 GB RAM plus 16 GB model available, too.
performance
During our test, the phone handled the day to day tasks really well. Opening multiple apps and randomly switching between them wasn't a problem at all. The phone handled intensive games pretty easily too. However, it did heat up a little after an hour or two of continuous gaming.
Moto G4 Plus is a 4G capable smartphone and it latched on to the networks fairly easily during our tests. Overall, call quality was great, even in areas of problematic coverage such as elevators. Other connectivity options include VoLTE, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.
Let's talk a bit about the cameras now. Even though the G4 Plus's 16MP rear camera and 5MP front-facing shooter seem good on paper, they didn't really live up to our expectations. There was noticeable distortion while taking pictures and low light images turned out to be just average. We have seen better images from similar priced devices. Having said that, the laser focus proved to be really fast and the camera focused on an object as soon as we pointed at it. Phase detection and auto focus helped further.
In a nutshell, Moto G4 Plus's cameras would be more than adequate for the majority of users.
As far as battery life is concerned, the Moto G4 Plus's 3,000 mAh battery easily lasted us about a day of moderate to heavy usage. Thanks to Turbo Charging, all you need to do is plug in the charger for about 15 minutes and you're good to go for at least 6 hours.
The new Moto G4 Plus is an absolute delight. It is one of the best budget friendly smartphones in the market you can get. The design is somewhat good and new added features work exceptionally well.
However, not everything is outstanding with the G4 Plus. Motorola has done away with a few useful features that were present in its predecessors, most important being water-resistance (which we absolutely adored)
Nevertheless, at Rs 14,999, the Moto G4 Plus is a value-for-money smartphone. But, that doesn't mean there aren't any alternatives out there. The recently launched Lenovo ZUK Z1 gives you a powerful (though dated) Snapdragon 801 processor paired with 3GB RAM at the same price. You can also consider the 3GB/32GB variant of Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, which includes a hefty 4,000 mAh battery.
Let's talk a bit about the cameras now. Even though the G4 Plus's 16MP rear camera and 5MP front-facing shooter seem good on paper, they didn't really live up to our expectations. There was noticeable distortion while taking pictures and low light images turned out to be just average. We have seen better images from similar priced devices. Having said that, the laser focus proved to be really fast and the camera focused on an object as soon as we pointed at it. Phase detection and auto focus helped further.
In a nutshell, Moto G4 Plus's cameras would be more than adequate for the majority of users.
As far as battery life is concerned, the Moto G4 Plus's 3,000 mAh battery easily lasted us about a day of moderate to heavy usage. Thanks to Turbo Charging, all you need to do is plug in the charger for about 15 minutes and you're good to go for at least 6 hours.
The new Moto G4 Plus is an absolute delight. It is one of the best budget friendly smartphones in the market you can get. The design is somewhat good and new added features work exceptionally well.
However, not everything is outstanding with the G4 Plus. Motorola has done away with a few useful features that were present in its predecessors, most important being water-resistance (which we absolutely adored)
Nevertheless, at Rs 14,999, the Moto G4 Plus is a value-for-money smartphone. But, that doesn't mean there aren't any alternatives out there. The recently launched Lenovo ZUK Z1 gives you a powerful (though dated) Snapdragon 801 processor paired with 3GB RAM at the same price. You can also consider the 3GB/32GB variant of Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, which includes a hefty 4,000 mAh battery.
KEY SPECS
Display
5.50-inchProcessor
1.5GHzFront Camera
5-megapixelResolution
1080x1920 pixelsRAM
4GB/3GB/2GBOS
Android 6.0.1Storage
64GB/32GB/16GBRear Camera
16-megapixelBattery capacity
3000mAh
Motorola Moto G4 plus detailed specifications
| NETWORK | Technology | GSM / HSPA / LTE |
|---|
| LAUNCH | Announced | 2016, May 17 |
|---|---|---|
| Status | launched |
| BODY | Dimensions | 153 x 76.6 x 9.8 mm (6.02 x 3.02 x 0.39 in) |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 155 g (5.47 oz) | |
| SIM | Micro-SIM |
| DISPLAY | Type | IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 5.5 inches (~71.2% screen-to-body ratio) | |
| Resolution | 1080 x 1920 pixels (~401 ppi pixel density) | |
| Multitouch | Yes | |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 3 |
| PLATFORM | OS | Android OS, v6.0.1 (Marshmallow) |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | Qualcomm MSM8952 Snapdragon 617 | |
| CPU | Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53 | |
| GPU | Adreno 405 |
| MEMORY | Card slot | microSD, up to 128 GB (dedicated slot) |
|---|---|---|
| Internal | 16 GB, 2 GB RAM or 32 GB, 3 GB RAM or 64 GB, 4 GB RAM |
| CAMERA | Primary | 16 MP, f/2.0, phase detection & laser autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash |
|---|---|---|
| Features | Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, panorama, auto-HDR | |
| Video | 1080p@30fps, HDR | |
| Secondary | 5 MP, f/2.2, auto-HDR |
| SOUND | Alert types | Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones |
|---|---|---|
| Loudspeaker | Yes | |
| 3.5mm jack | Yes |
| COMMS | WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
|---|---|---|
| Bluetooth | v4.1, A2DP, LE | |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS | |
| Radio | FM radio | |
| USB | microUSB v2.0, USB Host |
| FEATURES | Sensors | Fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity |
|---|---|---|
| Messaging | SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM | |
| Browser | HTML5 | |
| Java | No | |
| - Fast battery charging - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - MP3/AAC+/WAV/Flac player - MP4/H.264 player - Photo/video editor - Document viewer |
| BATTERY | Non-removable Li-Ion 3000 mAh battery |
|---|
| MISC | Colors | Black, White |
|---|
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