MOTO G4 PLUS Stylish design, great camera

Moto G4 Plus is fast and feature-packed with a solid user experience

THE Chinese device maker Lenovo might be retiring the Motorola brand in favour of the shorter “Moto”, however Moto G remains one of their most consistent performers in the India market. According to Moto officials, India is their second biggest market for the series after Brazil.

Moto G has always been the smartphone that offered strong performance, decent specs, all at a reasonable price. Now, with Moto G4 Plus, the company is bumping up the specs; offering 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage version, along with a better 16 MP camera. While the lower-end Moto G4 is not yet out in India, the higher-end Moto G4 Plus is available on Amazon.

Starting at R13,499, Moto G4 Plus launches at a time when this price band is growing fast, and the competition is getting tougher. Can it still be the mid-budget phone that sets the bar? Here’s our review:

SPECIFICATIONS

What is good?

A bigger full HD display is what you’ll get with Moto G4 Plus, something that was long due on the series. Moto delivers well on this, as the display works well in sunlight, and is crisp and vivid. You don’t need the brightness at maximum, and in my case I used it at 50% and that was good enough. But yes, the Moto G4 Plus’ display is prone to fingerprint smudges, so do keep that in mind.

Personally, I like a pure Android experience and in case of the Moto G4 Plus it comes with the power of Android M and features like Google Now on Tap (works like a charm) and better battery optimisation. HD gaming, multi-tasking, your binge video-watching session, none of it should be a problem on this phone. I would say this is one of the best mid-budget phones for gaming right now. Call quality and audio playback Estimated street price: is also quite good, better than what most budget phones offer.

While most users won’t be trying out the Moto G4 Plus in a professional setting, there’s no doubt that the G4 Plus has a very good camera, at least for its budget pricing. The low-light performance has definitely improved, and the HDR mode is capable of delivering some stunning results. The camera is fast, there’s virtually, no shutter-lag and it can even handle pinks, reds, better than most budget phones. On the battery front Moto G4 Plus is shipping with a Turbo charger and promising six hours of battery life with just 15 minutes of charge. I charged it for 15-20 minutes, (battery was at 0%) and it managed to stay on for the rest of the evening.

What is not that good?

I am not saying the fingerprint scanner is not accurate, but I had a rough start with it. At one point I was locked out the phone and it didn’t accept the PIN I nor mally use. So I had to do a factory reset. But since then scanner has worked fine, although it does have some misses at times. I keep confusing that button for a home button, when it doesn’t do anything else. At some point it feels like a design flaw to me, and I feel Moto could have gone for a less ugly-looking button.

My other complaint would be that Moto G4 Plus’ Turbo charger doesn’t ship with a removable USB-cable. For a lot of users, that might be a problem, especially if you are looking to transfer data, and find yourself hunting for a separate cable to plug into the PC.

Should you buy?

Moto G series changed the way we look at mid-budget smartphones. The G3, G2 were all great phones and continue to be; Moto G4 Plus on the other hand improves on the camera bit, and quite drastically. Given the pricing, this camera is exceptional.

Sure it’s more expensive than Redmi Note 3 (a smartphone I have liked and reviewed) and Le 1s for its 32 GB space, but feels more solid. There are plenty of people who look for a budget phone with a great camera and in my opinion Moto G4 Plus is the answer. Buy this if you want a great mid-budget smartphone camera, although Moto G3 users might not feel the need to upgrade.