Moto G4 Plus – Simple and Elegant (Review)
The Moto G first generation created a lasting impression in the mobile industry. It made a statement that powerful smartphones can be cost effective as well. Since the first generation of Moto G mobile, Motorola has been continually improving the G series and now we have the fourth generation of Moto G mobiles. The Moto G4 Plus was launched in multiple variants and in India, we have the Moto G4 Plus. Moto G4 Plus is available in 16 GB and 32 GB variants and in Black and White colors.
This the first mobile in the Moto G series since the complete takeover of Motorola by Lenovo. Moto G4 Plus offers considerable upgrade over its predecessors. Now it is much more closer to last year’s Moto X Play. The Moto G4 is priced at Rs 13499 for the 16 GB variant and Rs 14999 for the 32 GB variant. The price band between Rs 10000 and Rs 15000 is heavily crowded in India. Will the G4 Plus come out as a winner for Lenovo admist the tight competition?
Design
In terms of design, the first generation Moto G remains to be my favorite, owing to its elegant simplicity and ergonomic dimensions. The G4 Plus is the largest of the the Moto Gs and it has a 5.5 inch display. It is very thin and also flat at the back. The light weight and thin flush design of the Moto G4 plus makes it my second best favorite Moto G. The back is removable but the battery is not. It has a the camera module at the back with the Moto dimple below it. The control buttons are on the sides. The power button has a mild metal texture. The headphone jack is on the top and the micro USB ports is on the bottom.
The front has the speaker module built into the ear piece. The dual stereo speaker from G3 is now missing on the G4. Also lack of IPX7 water resistance is a regression from the G3. On the brighter side, the finger print sensor is a new addition in the Moto G series. It is on the front, below the display. It does not act as a home button and also the navigation buttons are on screen. The fingerprint sensor is fast, responsive and accurate. It is not a physical button and does not have any tactile feedback. It has a metal rim around it and otherwise it is flush with the surface.
The metal rim along the edges gives the Moto G4 a near-premium feel. The plastic back has a mild texture and it is of good quality. Overall the Moto G4 Plus continues to be traditionally simple and straight forward mobile. It is not a head turner and is not meant to be. It is a no-nonsense design with minimalism and functionality at its core.
Display
Moto G4 Plus has a 5.5 inch IPS display capable of full HD resolution. It is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The display is bright and vivid. It has good viewing angles, but sunlight readability is a challenge. The brightness and contrast are decent. The black levels are not deep, but that is noticed if you carefully look into it. The colors are naturally vivid and the display shows no banding across the gradients. Though the display is not AMOLED, it shows the notification on the black locked screen. On the slightest movement of the mobile, the notification pops up and it can be viewed by swiping up or dismissed by swiping down. The G4 Plus has a very good display.
Software
The Moto G4 Plus runs on Android 6.0.1 which is very close to stock Android experience. The only app that is added to the Android defaults is the Moto which help you control the gesture actions and the glance notifications. There is nothing fancy about the software experience on the Moto G4. It is plain, simple and straight forward Android experience. It feels like using a Nexus device. It gets all the goodness of the Android Marshmallow like the Battery optimization, app permission management, on-tap Google Now and unified memory management.
Hardware Performance
The Moto G4 Plus is powered by octa core Snapdragon 617 processor. It has 2/3 GB of RAM and 16/32 GB of internal storage, in that order of combination. The Moto G4 Plus is a mid-range mobile and it displays superior performance. Occassionaly some apps would freeze, but the system recovers from it immediately. Games or apps, the G4 plus handles anything that is thrown in it. It has a NenaMark 2 score of 59.7 which says that the mobile is capable of playing games at 60 fps without any stuttering or frame drops. Also the 3 GB variant is very handy when it comes to multi-tasking. I would recommend anyone to go for the 3 GB variant and it is worth the extra cost.
Camera
Moto G camera has always been impressive in its price range. From the 8 MP sensor in the first generation, the G4 now has a 16 MP sensor with f2.0 lens. It has hybrid auto-focus system which even the flagship slayers these days fail to settle for. With both Phase detection AF (PDAF) and Laser AF, focus happens on instantly. I have been using the G4 as my primary mobile for the past 1 week and never did I face any issue with focusing. The camera UI has also got a facelift. It now has the pro mode, which you a professional grade control over your shots. But I have mainly used the mobile on Auto mode, not that I cannot use the pro mode, but just that I wanted to get a feel of how the Auto mode would fare, as it is preferred by most.
Click to see more camera samples
The camera app is quick to load and time between two shots is very less. Under ample light conditions, the G4 can click amazingly detailed shots. The HDR mode is good to bring up the underexposed areas and tone down the over exposed areas in the same frame. Under challenging light conditions, the Moto G4 tries its best to suppress noise and bring out the details. The from facing 5 MP f/2.2 lens supports autofocus and has a impressive 100 degree wide angle of coverage. The mobile can shoot videos at 1080p/30fps. The footage is of good quality, but lack of OIS is evident. In total, the camera on the G4 plus is impressive and one of the best we have see in the Moto G series so far.
Battery
The Moto G4 Plus comes along with a Turbo Charger which can feed in a charge of upto 25 watts. Turbo charger usually ships with the premium Moto lineups, but the addition of Turbo charger with the Moto G4 box makes it a very sweet deal. In 5 minutes, i was able to get 20% charge and it took 1 hour for full charge. The G4 Plus has 3000 mAh battery. The battery life is average. With my normal usage which includes 30 mins of calls, occasional browsing, frequently checking WhatsApp and FB notifications, 1 hour of gaming it lasts for about 16 hours. With intense usage of 1 hours GPS navigation along with 30 min of calls and Whatsapp and FB, I get a screen on time of about 3 hours. I wouldn’t consider it a good battery life, if the mobile does not last for 24 hours. But with the included Turbo Charger, getting the mobile back on power is quick. Also the mobile does not come with data cable. The cable on the charger is fixed.
Verdict
When you pay Rs 15000 for the G4 plus, you get a sturdy device with clean and latest Android experience. The G4 offers the best camera in this price range. Though the size of the device has become large, it is still comfortable to use, owing to its thin and flat design. Turbo charge is very convenient and the device has a very good display. The perfomance of the Moto G4 plus is average, but it will take you through you day to day task, without any hiccups. The fingerprint scanner is uber fast. Snapdragon 617 does not heat up like the 615 and the device has managed to stay cool even while continuous gaming. The design is not a head turner and you may find it boring. I wish it had water proofing like the G3. Like the other Moto G mobiles, Moto G4 is one of the best mid range mobile out there in the market.
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