Lenovo unveiled the new Moto G4 series. I say series because there are now three variants of the Moto G4. Sounds crazy right? Right. So we have the Moto G4, the Moto G4 Play and the Moto G4 Plus. Pretty straightforward. For obvious reasons, I’ll be omitting the “Moto” when I refer to these devices. The differentiation factor between the three is actually some specs and some differences in features. Now, I used the Moto G 1st Gen as my primary device for a few months and I loved it! It was inexpensive, snappy, and did pretty much everything I needed from a smartphone (except for the camera). So, each time the Moto G is updated, I’m one of those who excitedly looks at how Motorola has further refined and improved the already fantastic Moto G. This year, however, I really don’t see what Lenovo-owned Motorola is trying to do with the Moto G lineup.
In my opinion, the Moto G was all about building a premium device at a really affordable price without any major compromises. It was a beautiful idea and it was very successful. But what Motorola has done is to segment the Moto G4 into three devices each falling in a different price range. This might seem like a move that enables even more people to afford it. But instead, you now have a confusion. You have 3 perfectly capable devices with only 1 or 2 differentiating features but with significantly different prices. This is quite in contrast to the three previous generations where all the user had to do was select the storage he/she needed. It was simple because you had ONE device that was affordable, capable, had a nice build and was customisable. Really nice and easy. I really don’t see the point of this sort of segmentation. They’ve screwed up what was a really attractive option in the mid-range section.
Now, coming to the numbers, what are the differences between the three devices? The G4 Play is smaller than the other two having a 5.0” screen with a resolution of 720 x 1280 and a pixel density of 294 ppi. The G4 and the G4 Plus share an identical 5.5” display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and a pixel density of 401 ppi. All three devices come with 2 GB of RAM. However, you have the option of a variant of the G4 Plus with 4 GB of RAM. There are differences in the processors and graphics too. While the G4 Play has Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 410 quad-core processor with 450 MHz Adreno 306 GPU, the other two have the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 617 octa-core processor with 550 MHz Adreno 405 GPU. The G4 Plus comes with a much better camera and a fingerprint sensor which can be used to unlock your phone. I’m not a person who loves comparing specs of devices especially budget-friendly ones because thats not what these devices are all about. So, here are the links to the specs:
G4 Play: https://www.motorola.com/us/products/moto-g-play
G4: https://www.motorola.in/products/moto-g
G4 Plus: https://www.motorola.com/us/products/moto-g-plus
Conclusion:
The three devices are decent updates in terms of the specs and the camera. So, if you are looking for a budget option, you have three! But, as a Moto G enthusiast, there is a significant change behind the ideology of Moto G and I cannot accept that. *End of Rant*
Also read about another Motorola launch here.
