The king of budget phones – Moto G – is back with the fourth generation Moto G4 and an even better Moto G4 Plus.
Being a budget phone, Lenovo equipped the device with some of the best possible hardware specs with the pricing aspect in mind. However, it will not be an easy sail for the Moto G4 Plus, especially now that the Google Nexus 5X price has dropped further from its initial release price thanks to the fact that refreshed versions are just around the corner.
To help you decide which between these two is the go-to smartphone here is a head-to-head comparison of the specs, features as well as prices of the 2016 Moto G4 Plus and last year’s LG Nexus 5X.
Design and display
Design and display are where we start. Where the Moto G4 Plus features a metallic frame and with a rear panel that comes with a rubberized feel, the Google Nexus 5X comes with a polycarbonate body. The G4 Plus is larger in size than the Nexus 5X thanks to its height of 153mm and thickness of 9.8mm as compared to the 147mm and 7.9mm of the 5X. This also means that the G4 Plus is heavier than the 5X, with the former weighing 155g compared to the latter’s 136g.
As noted, the Moto G4 Plus is larger in size and hence it has a 5.5-inch Full HD screen with a pixel density of 401ppi. On the other hand, the smaller Nexus 5X has a 5.2-inch Full HD screen with a pixel density of 423ppi. Both units’ screens have Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3 protection on board.
Processing power, software, and storage
Here, the Moto G4 Plus seems to be lagging behind with its mid-range Snapdragon 617 SoC. However, the unit gets better in terms of RAM as it features three variants of 2GB, 3GB, and 4GB. These three units also differ in storage options with the base model offering 16GB while the top end model has 64GB. All three variants have room for a microSD card of up to 128GB.
On the contrary, the LG Nexus 5X has a better Snapdragon 808 SoC and a decent RAM of 2GB, however, it lags behind on storage options as it only offers 16GB and 32GB of non-expandable storage options.
A look at the software part brings out more similarities than differences. Both the Moto G4 Plus and Nexus 5X come with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box, but the latter runs on the stock version as opposed to the former, which is slightly modified to fit the OEM’s preferences.
Camera, battery life, pricing and other features
Lenovo planted a 16MP rear snapper on the Moto G4 Plus and included features such as PDAF, laser autofocus, and dual-LED flash. The front panel has a decent 5MP selfie shooter. As for the Nexus 5X, you get 12.3MP on the rear camera with features such as dual-LED flash and laser autofocus on board while the front-facing camera is the same as the G4 Plus.
The larger G4 Plus comes with a similarly larger battery unit of 3000mAh as compared to the 2700mAh available on the Nexus 5X. You will also get things like a USB Type-C on the 5X, but the G4 Plus still relies on the more popular microUSB 2.0. However, both devices have a fingerprint scanner.
As for the pricing of the Moto G4 Plus, you will get the base model for about $200 while the 32GB variant will cost $22 more. This is way cheaper than the $329 and $349 needed to buy a new LG Nexus 5X with 16GB and 32GB respectively.