MOTO G5 PLUS VS REDMI NOTE 4: COLLISION OF THE THORNS

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Motorola is a legendary phone maker whereas Xiaomi is one of the most popular newcomers. Both the companies make best in class handsets, especially Motorola’s Moto G series and Xiaomi’s Redmi series.

Today, we are going to talk about Motorola’s latest offering Moto G5 Plus which we will be comparing with Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 4. Both are budget handsets and packs almost similar specifications. So, who will win?? Let’s find out in this article.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE : Moto g5 Plus vs Redmi note 4 Comparison

Motorola has completely changed the look and feel of newcomer. It boasts full metal body. It is even thinner and smaller than the Moto G4 Plus. It is worth noting that despite of boasting metal build, the newcomer is thinner than the Redmi Note 4. On the back, camera and LED flash are placed together inside a round-shaped glass, much like the Moto Z. Unfortunately, due to all-metal body, it doesn’t provide you better grip. You will need to use some back cover.

Talking about Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, it is heavier than the Moto G5 Plus but that’s okay because it has a bigger screen and body. Look and feel of Redmi Note 4 is tempting. Xiaomi has minimized the size of upper and lower portion, making it smaller than all of the previous Redmi series phones. The 2.5D curved glass of this phone looks beautiful. Coming to the back of the device, you will find camera along with dual LED flash and fingerprint sensor. Much like the Moto G5 Plus, the Redmi Note 4 also doesn’t provide you better grip. You would like to use some back cover.

Talking about who is winner, it’s Moto G5 Plus for its smaller and light-weighed body.

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DISPLAY

Moto G5 Plus features a 5.2 inch IPS LCD Capacitive display with full-HD resolution and ~424 pixel per inch pixel density; whereas the Redmi Note 4 has a bigger 5.5 inch IPS LCD Capacitive touchscreen display with full-HD resolution and ~401 pixel per inch pixel density.

Both smartphones’ display is crisp and sharp. Watching videos is fun, while playing games is also pleasurable. I didn’t find any issue in auto brightness. Both smartphones don’t reflect much in direct sunlight however, Moto G5 Plus offers a better display in direct sunlight.

One more thing I would like to mention that Moto G5 Plus’ display is covered by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3; while this feature is missing on Redmi Note 4. In this section, both smartphones impress us well but the crown ultimately goes to Moto G5 Plus.

USER INTERFACE

Xiaomi’s MIUI is a highly customized android operating system. The Redmi Note 4 comes with latest MIUI v8.1 which packs countless features. It’s not simple but also not that confusing after one gets used to it. Some of its key features include three-finger screenshot – just swipe down three fingers simultaneously on the screen and it will take a screenshot. Not only this, if you want to take a screenshot of any webpage that doesn’t fit in your screen, you can choose the scroll screenshot feature, which will then start scrolling and take the screenshot of the whole page.

The MIUI has inbuilt app lock feature, infrared remote for televisions, music systems and other electronic appliances. It comes with countless free themes that can completely change the look and feel of your Redmi Note 4. Quick toggles and notifications of the smartphone can be accessed by swiping down from the top of the screen and is customizable. It also has ‘Dual App’ Profile (by turning on this feature, you can clone any app to use different profiles)

The Moto G5 Plus, on the other hand, packs simple and smooth user interface. Running on Android 7.0 Nougat, the Moto G5 Plus comes with multiple gestures like “chop to switch between front and rear camera”, “shake to turn on or off flashlight” and “press the power button twice to open camera from lock screen”. The neat and clean user interface of this smartphone make it easy to use. The Android isn’t highly customized so people with less technical knowledge can also operate these handsets easily.

Undoubtedly, the crown in this section goes to Redmi Note 4 for its highly customized Android, countless themes and cool features.

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PERFORMANCE

Both the Moto G5 Plus and Redmi Note 4 are powered by an octa-core (with Cortex-A53 CPU cores) processor running at 2.0GHz of clocked processing speed, embedded into Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 625 SoC. Both smartphones come with Adreno 506 Graphics Processing Unit and 2/3/4 gigs of RAM. We have Moto G5 Plus’ 4GB RAM unit and Redmi Note 4’s 3GB RAM unit.

Graphics rendering on the both smartphones is remarkable. Both handsets handled the graphics flawlessly. The performance of both smartphones is almost similar. There were no issues whatsoever playing Asphalt 8, Modern Combat: Blackout and Shadowrun Dragonfall.

Because both smartphones have metal body, they started heating in about 30 minutes when I was playing Modern Combat. In about 45-50 minutes, both heated at a considerable level. One thing was good that none of them hanged and ran smoothly.

Unfortunately, I lost considerable juice from Moto G5 Plus; whereas the Redmi Note 4’s battery didn’t leave me. In this section no one is winner, both have managed to impress us equally.

Below are the screenshots of PCMark. We tested both devices on PCMark and as expected, both scored almost similar. However, the Redmi Note 4 lacks at data manipulation which means you can feel occasional stutter while loading the heavy data files including excel or some graphs.

We can’t give you accurate PCMark result of Moto G5 Plus as it is new and PCMark would take some time to collect enough testing data to reveal average scores.

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CAMERA (PRIMARY)

The Moto G5 Plus features a 12 megapixels autofocus camera with dual-LED flash and f/1.7 aperture, while the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 boasts a 13 megapixels camera with dual-LED flash and f/2.0 aperture.

Motorola has surprised us with Moto G5 Plus’ camera. It has done tremendous work in the improvement. With f/1.7 lens aperture, you’ll enjoy the depth of field. Pictures taken from Moto G5 Plus’ camera are crisp and sharp. It shows realistic colors. It also has “pro-mode” which allows you to tweak the camera setting at an extent level and produce DSLR-like images. Basically, the camera of Moto G5 Plus sets the bar for this budget segment. Low light images are also impressive.

The Redmi Note 4, on the other hand, also has a great camera. Offering pretty cool Bokeh effect, the camera of Redmi Note 4 produces amazing photos in any lighting conditions. However, low light images are little bit granier and blurry than the Moto G5 Plus.

Talking about video quality, the Moto G5 Plus is able to record 4k Ultra-HD videos whereas Redmi Note 4’s video quality is limited to full-HD. Slow-motion recording on both handsets work like charm.

The Moto G5 Plus wins in this section.

CAMERA (SECONDARY)

Talking about the selfie camera, both the Moto G5 Plus and Redmi Note 4 have 5 megapixels cameras but with different aperture. The Moto G5 Plus has f/2.2 lens aperture, while the Redmi Note 4 comes with f/2.0 lens aperture.

Although the Moto G5 Plus has wide aperture, pictures aren’t as impressive as Redmi Note 4. Photos clicked from Moto G5 Plus’ front camera is satisfactory. It produces okay-type images in low light conditions. Day-light images are good.

Talking about Redmi Note 4, it produces better images than Moto G5 Plus, both in day-light and low-light conditions. Video quality on the both handsets are identical. Both can record full-HD videos.

The Redmi Note 4 is winner in this section.

BATTERY

The Moto G5 Plus packs a 3000 mAh Li-lon battery whereas the Redmi Note 4 comes with a bigger 4100 mAh Li-Polymer battery.

Talking about the Moto G5 Plus first, its battery doesn’t last long if you’re playing games. So, it’s a big NO for gamers. During normal usage, the handset last for around 24 hour. Talking about Redmi Note 4, its battery is a real friend. It lasts longer than Moto G5 Plus. Whether you’re playing heavy games or watching movies, its battery won’t leave you alone.

There is a huge difference between charging time. The Moto G5 Plus (comes with Turbo Charging technology) takes almost 1 hour to completely charge the battery; whereas the Redmi Note 4 takes more than 2 hours to juice up its battery. Well, it has a bigger battery so we can expect it to take time. But what’s unfortunate is it doesn’t have fast charging technology.

30 Minutes – 62% (Moto G4 Plus), 22% (Redmi Note 4)
60 Minutes – 100% (Moto G4 Plus), 45% (Redmi Note 4)

Though the Redmi Note 4 takes time to charge, the crown still goes to Redmi Note 4. However, Moto G5 Plus is also a good option. Unfortunately, the sooner it gets charged, the sooner it gets discharged.

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SOUND QUALITY

Both the Moto G5 Plus and Redmi Note 4 have an average onboard acoustics and the sound quality is more or less the same as most smartphones however, Redmi Note 4’s speaker sound is louder than the Moto G5 Plus. Clarity in the sound of both smartphones is equally good.

The Redmi Note 4 doesn’t come with earphones whereas Moto G5 Plus does. But unfortunately, earphones provided with Moto G5 Plus is just good for keeping them wrapped in the box.

In this section, both are equally good.

FINGERPRINT SENSOR

Motorola has done improvements in Moto G5 Plus’ fingerprint sensor. It is now bigger and more responsive. It opens the lock in just a blink. The Redmi Note 4, on the other hands, also has a responsive fingerprint sensor however, it isn’t as fast as Moto G5 Plus. The crown undoubtedly goes to Moto G5 Plus.

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CONCLUSION – WHICH ONE TO BUY?

Both the Moto G5 Plus and Redmi Note 4 are best buy for their price. If you don’t have budget issue, you can go for Moto G5 Plus. However, we feel that it is slightly overpriced. And if you have limited budget, you should go for Redmi Note 4. It is a complete package for INR 11k.

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