Today, we have two budget smartphones, one coming from a renowned “top specs for less money” manufacturer, Xiaomi, and the other from a famous Motorola, now under Lenovo umbrella. Both Moto G4 Plus and the Redmi 3s Prime offer the best money-features ratio, packing large screens, solid hardware, nice cameras, and quality built chassis. Let’s see which one is a better choice.
Dimensions, Design
The Redmi 3s Prime doesn’t offer very much in terms of “wow” effect, or an exciting design. It uses a tried out design philosophy, with three soft keys under the screen, minimalistic backside with an only fingerprint scanner, camera and a speaker grill giving some spirit to it, and a large screen dominating the front. The phone looks nice, though, not phenomenal but attractive enough to quickly become fond of its design. It measures 139.3 x 69.6 x 8.5 mm, solid dimensions for a 5-inch device.
The Moto G4 Plus also won’t catch many looks, but the phone does have a certain kind of attractiveness. The front side is dominated by the screen and a large rectangular Home Button (serving also as a fingerprint scanner). The back is reserved for a recognizable Motorola logo as well as for the main camera. The phone measures 153 x 76.6 x 9.8 mm thanks for its large, 5.5-inch display, not a leviathan, but not a compact device either.
Hardware, Display
Both models are powered by Qualcomm’s processors. The Redmi 3 packs a Snapdragon 430 (Octa-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 coupled with Adreno 505) while the Moto G4 Plus is powered by more potent Snapdragon 617 (4×1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4×1.2 GHz Cortex-A53 and Adreno 405 GPU). The chipsets used are of a relatively same power, with the latter having more graphical supremacy and a bit higher computational performance (430 can score around 42,000 points in AnTuTu, while 617 can go up to 46,000). The Redmi 3s Prime comes equipped with 3 gigs of RAM and 32 gigabytes of internal storage (expandable); The Moto G4 plus is available in more flavors than one. You can pick between 3 versions – 2GB/16GB; 3GB/32GB and 4GB/64GB. Internal storage is expandable, via dedicated SD card slot.
The display found on the Redmi 3s Prime counts 5 inches; a 720p resolution is a bit low, but since we talk about a budget phone, 720p on 5 inches is just right (294 ppi pixel density). Motorola is characterized by a large, 5.5-inch 1080p IPS LCD (the same matrix is used on the Redmi 3s Prime) display. 400 ppi pixel density guarantees high sharpness and IPS matrix offers natural colors and extreme viewing angles.
Camera
The main camera sensor found on the Redmi 3s Prime counts 13 MP (f/2.0); it supports phase detection autofocus, HDR, and a LED flash. The main camera is capable of recording 1080p@30fps videos. The selfie snapper has 5 MP (f/2.2) and can record 1080p videos.
The Moto G4 Plus comes with a high resolution 16 MP (f/2.0) main camera. It supports phase detection & laser autofocus, Auto-HDR, and a dual-LED flash. The camera is capable of capturing 1080p@30fps videos. The front-facing camera offers 5 MP (f/2.2).
Battery, Software
The Redmi 3s comes with a monstrous 4100 mAh battery and runs under Android Marshmallow. The Moto G4 Plus is stuffed with a 3000 mAh battery and also comes with Android Marshmallow. Knowing how quickly Motorola ships new Android versions for its devices we are sure that the Moto G4 Plus will get Android Nougat in the next couple of months.
Conclusion
The choice comes down to just a couple of questions. Do you need a large screen; do you want a huge battery; and which manufacturer you prefer? It’s easy – if wanting a large screen, go for the Moto G4 Plus; if liking long battery life more, pick a Redmi 3s Prime. Xiaomi’s model can be found for Rs 8,499 ($127), while the Moto G4 Plus has Rs 13,499 ($203) price tag (32 GB version).