Moto G4 Plus. Best $300 phone?

By many accounts I am addicted to smartphones. This addiction has led me to be quite critical of the devices. Smartphones have become multifaceted, releasing at various price points aimed at different target audiences. My favorite type of smartphone is the budget kind. However, it is really hard to find a “good” budget smartphone. Budget, being the key word, is quite subjective. Nowadays, what is considered cheap may actually provide quality. This is where the Moto 4 Plus enters the picture. There are eight categories that I take in account when reviewing a smartphone: Design, performance, battery life, screen resolution, speaker, features, camera and affordability. Let’s take a look at the Moto G4 Plus.

Design: The first thing that you will notice with this year’s Moto G iteration is the size. Housed in a plastic frame with rounded corners is a 5.5 in. Full HD screen. This is a noticeable upgrade from the 5 in. 720p display shown on the Moto G3. This can be viewed as an improvement to those who like larger screens, but may leave some folks dismayed. For those with smaller hands, one-handed use is virtually impossible. My hands are large and sometimes even I find it difficult to operate one-handed. However, this is not a deal breaker. The curved back accented with a rubbery texture leaves the phone feeling great in the hand. Although it is not quite as grippy as last year’s model, it doesn’t feel like it’s going to slip out of the hand. The volume rocker and power button are pretty tactile and offer good feedback. It could be a little more “clicky” but it is more than adequate. Overall, the hardware is on par with last year’s model. It is definitely nothing to write home about but is far from cheap feeling.
Score: 8/10
Performance: The Moto G5 Plus is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor clocked at 1.5 GHz with an Adreno 405 GPU. This is pretty standard for Android phones at this price point. The version that I am reviewing is the 64 GB ROM /4 GB RAM version. Therefore, this phone should perform very well. However the phone performance is mediocre, to say the least. Although it is running stock Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 with Moto enhancements, animations appear choppy at times. There have been many occasions where the UI would freeze when trying to navigate the home screens. This isn’t a deal breaker by any means, but it is definitely an annoyance. Heavy gaming, and processor intensive tasks, negatively impact performance. It will handle Angry Birds, Candy Crush Saga and Pokémon Go pretty well. Asphalt 8 and Mortal Kombat X can see some dropped frames. Again, this is more of an annoyance than a deal breaker. I would suggest the 16 GB ROM /2 GB RAM model because there is not much of a noticeable difference in performance between the two variants.
Score: 7/10
Battery Life: The Moto G4 Plus is powered by a 3,000 mAh battery. Heavy usage, I can see about 4 hours of screen on time. That is pretty exceptional given the specs. I have never needed to reach for the charging cable during the day. However, if you are an extreme power user and you find yourself needing to charge up during the day, the included turbo charger works very well. You can expect up to 6 hours of power in 15 min. of charging. It is definitely one of the fastest charging phones available.
Score: 9/10
Screen Resolution: The screen resolution of the Moto G4 Plus is 5.5” 1080p Full HD (1920 x 1080) LCD display. This is a pixel density of 401 ppi. The screen looks great but the colors do look a little washed out. Although the colors appear natural looking, I do wish Lenovo would have included an AMOLED display, in which the blacks truly stick out. This really comes down to preference though. I don’t mind having my colors a little more saturated. Viewing angles in sunlight is just ok. It is enough to make out what is on the screen but doesn’t make for the most pleasant viewing experience outdoors. Overall, the screen is definitely adequate for most people.

                                Score: 8/10

Speakers: The Moto G4 Plus comes equipped with a front facing speaker, albeit just on the top. However, it is loud. I have not noticed any sound distortion and the clarity has been superb. Listening to music and watching videos has been pleasant experiences. To get a true stereo experience, Lenovo should have made dual front facing speakers. Overall, the sound is top notch, even if it is just one speaker.
Score: 9/10
Features: Notable features are fundamental to a smartphone design. However, some features may detract from the overall appeal of the phone. However, that is not the case with the Moto G4 Plus. The phone still incorporates the wrist twist to open the camera and “chop” to turn on the flashlight. These features, although not new, are very well executed and appreciated. I find myself using them more than I had imagined. If you love to take pictures, that simple wrist twist is very convenient. Unlike the Moto G3, the Moto G4 Plus is not water resistant. It does, however, have Nano-coating that repels water. I have used it in the rain a few times and it has held up nicely without hindering the functionality of the phone. I do like Moto Display. If you take the phone out of your pocket, the ambient sensors will display the time and any notification. Some people may prefer a notification light, but I think this works just fine for me. One feature that most new smartphones lack is the ability to expand storage. The Moto G4 Plus allows for up to 128 MB of expandable storage. For those who have an extensive music and video library, this will be a welcomed feature. The biggest addition to the Moto G4 Plus is the fingerprint scanner. Not only can you log into your phone more securely, but you can do it at a very quick pace. The scanner is definitely faster than that of the Nexus 5x, Nexus 6P and the IPhone 6. As an added bonus, the fingerprint scanner can recognize your fingerprint from any angle! This is by far the standout feature of this phone.
Score: 9/10
Camera: The Moto G4 Plus comes equipped with a 16 MP rear-facing camera and a 5 MP front-facing camera. The rear-facing camera includes an f / 2.0 aperture lens, laser auto-focus, phase detect auto-focus (PDAF), and 1080p HD video recording at 30 fps. The front-facing camera includes an f /2.2 aperture wide-angle lens. Although pictures turn out nice, when compared to the Samsung Galaxy S7 and IPhone 6s, the pictures are dull and somewhat grainy. However, for the price point, it is hard to argue the quality.

Front-Facing Camera
Rear-Facing Camera

                                Score: 8/10

Affordability: This can be argued as the most important aspect when buying a new phone. Does the price justify the quality of the phone? For $300, the 64 GB ROM/ 4 GB RAM version is a steal. If you opt to buy the 16 GB ROM/ 2 GB version it will be $50 cheaper. So for $250, the phone is an even better deal! As of this writing, however, there are a few phones that can rival the price and performance of the Moto G4 Plus. These phones include: OnePlus 2 ($269 on Amazon), BLU Energy XL ($299 on Amazon), and Nexus 5x ($267 on Amazon). So there are some other choices for phones. Again this comes down to preferences. If you place importance on storage and secure log in, the Moto G4 Plus is an exceptional buy that I highly recommend. For full specs please check out https://www.motorola.com/us/products/moto-g-plus

I hope you enjoyed this review. Please upvote if you found this review to be helpful. Stay tuned for other phone reviews!