Latest Motorola, now Lenovo, Moto G has grown in size, power and price, with a good screen, camera and microSD slot, but no NFC

The first Moto smartphone since Motorola was bought by Lenovo is an update of the budget superstar, the Moto G. Can the new fourth generation Moto G4 capture what was so good about the last three Moto G phones?



New design

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The plastic backs of the white and black variants - here the black is the Moto G4 and the white the Moto G4 Plus. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

Under Google the Motorola brand had a distinctive design that stretched from the cheap Moto E to the top-of-the-line Moto X.

The Moto G embodied that aesthetic with a cheerful look, rounded back and the surprisingly comfortable Motorola dimple on the back. Lenovo’s Moto G4 has pretty much dumped that winning design and looks a lot more generic as a result.

The front is one flat piece of glass. The sides are metallic-colour plastic. The rear is a tough-feeling vinyl or soft-touch plastic, depending on colour. The only remnants of the Motorola design is Moto’s M logo in the back and an oblong lump where the camera lens pokes through.

It’s not an ugly design, it feels solidly built, but is a bit thick at 9.8mm and looks a little bit just like everything else.

The screen has grown from 5in to 5.5in and is now full HD instead of 720p, which means it’s visibly crisper, while maintaining good viewing angles and colour reproduction making it one of the best displays on a device costing under £200.

The only difference between the Moto G4 and the G4 Plus is a fingerprint scanner on the front, which sits in a small, raised square at the bottom of the screen.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Moto G4 on the left in black, the Moto G4 Plus with fingerprint scanner on the right in white. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

Specifications

Screen: 5.5in full HD LCD (401ppi)

5.5in full HD LCD (401ppi) Processor: Octa-core Snapdragon 617

Octa-core Snapdragon 617 RAM: 2/3/4GB of RAM

2/3/4GB of RAM Storage: 16GB + microSD card

16GB + microSD card Operating system: Android 6.0.1

Android 6.0.1 Camera: 16MP/13MP rear camera, 5MP front-facing camera

16MP/13MP rear camera, 5MP front-facing camera Connectivity: LTE, Wi-Fin, Bluetooth 4.2 and GPS

LTE, Wi-Fin, Bluetooth 4.2 and GPS Dimensions: 153 x 76.6 x 9.8mm

153 x 76.6 x 9.8mm Weight: 155g

Enough power to get the job done and last a day doing it

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The dual-Sim version of the Moto G4 Plus with the back removed showing the two microSim slots and the microSD card slot for adding more storage. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

Both Moto G4s have the same octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor, and a choice of 2, 3 or 4GB of RAM, depending on which storage variant you pick.

I tested both the Moto G4 and G4 Plus with 16GB of storage and 2GB of RAM. Performance was excellent for both smartphones, with a snappy response and relatively smooth transitions between apps.

The Moto G4 isn’t on the same level as a top-end smartphone in terms of speed, but it gets the job done for most things without issue. It even coped pretty well with high intensity games such as Shooting Stars or Super Crossfighter.

Battery life was just over a day. With hundreds of push notifications, four hours Bluetooth music streaming, three hours using apps and browsing, as well as the odd photo and a quick game, the G4 lasted 26 hours. Standby time was excellent, dropping just 4% in 10 hours.

The Moto G4 also supports fast charging reaching 100% in just over 70 minutes if left to do its thing.

Dual-Sim versions of the Moto G4 are available from Motorola’s Moto Maker, which take micro Sims, but come with nano Sim adapters. A microSD card slot is also hidden under the removable back for adding more storage.

Pure Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The new Moto G4 has the same stripped-back pure Android experience that made the previous Motorola phones so popular. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

The design of the Moto G4 might have changed on the outside, but the software on the inside hasn’t. It’s the same stripped back “pure” Android experience that Motorola made so effective with the original Moto G.

Aside from a Moto app, which allows users to customise gestures such as a karate chop to turn on the torch or a quick couple of twists of the wrist to activate the camera, there’s no bloat to speak of. The Moto app also enables a quick notification display mode for when the phone’s screen is off, which allows users to tap and hold a small black and white icon of an app to see what it’s trying to tell them.

The rest of the Android 6.0 Marshmallow experience is refined and really doesn’t require manufacturers to make drastic changes, so Lenovo should be applauded for continuing where Motorola left off.

Fingerprint scanner

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The fingerprint scanner on the Moto G4 Plus is small but accurate. It doesn’t act as a home button, however. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

The Moto G4 Plus’s fingerprint scanner is interesting. As a way to unlock your smartphone it’s fast and accurate despite being relatively small. But it sticks out of the front of the phone instead of being flush, looking like an odd square button.

It also doesn’t operate like a home button, which means after your phone is unlocked tapping it does nothing - you have to use the on-screen navigation keys. It’s not bad, per se, just a bit unintuitive.

Cameras

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Moto camera app has been significantly improved and makes it easy to capture decent photos. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

The Moto G4 has a 13-megapixel camera on the back, while the Moto G4 Plus has a 16-megapixel camera.

The two cameras are very similar indeed. The G4 Plus produces very slightly better photos, with more detail and a more natural colour-balance, but the difference is difficult to see until you zoom right in. The Moto G4 Plus was slightly faster and more reliable when focusing.

I found both cameras produced good, if not spectacular photos in a mixture of lighting conditions. They won’t worry the best of the mid-range cameras, such as that on the Nexus 5X, but they are both a cut above the previous Moto Gs, and most will be pleased with the images they capture for the price.

The 5-megapixel selfie cameras on both phones produce decent photos that are a bit soft on detail at full resolution.

The Moto camera app has also improved, with plenty of manual control using intuitive and attractive sliders should you need it, but lacks RAW support. Lenovo is also throwing in two-years of Google Photos full resolution upload support with both smartphones, instead of being limited to 16-megapixel photos that are of slightly lower quality.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Moto dimple still hangs on in there on the back. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

Observations

With a 5.5in screen, the Moto G4 is certainly no longer a small phone

The back is removable, but the battery is not

The black variant is made of a nicer material and looks a lot better than the white

Motorola’s voice control feature is missing, but Google Now can be accessed whenever the screen is on or the phone is charging via “OK Google”

No NFC means no Android Pay (or one-touch Bluetooth pairing)

Price

The Motorola Moto G4 starts at £169 for 16GB of storage, while the Moto G4 Plus starts at £199 (£229 from Lenovo’s Motorola Moto Maker).

For comparison, Google’s 5.2in Nexus 5X is available for £220 with 32GB of storage and Huawei’s 5.5in Honor 5X is available for £170.

Verdict

The new Moto G4 has lost a bit of the charm that made the previous Moto Gs delightful and has grown considerably in size, but is a step up in terms of overall quality. It has a good screen, a day’s battery, decent performance and cameras, plus a microSD slot and dual Sim support if you need it.

The lack of NFC and therefore the lack of Android Pay is a disappointment, as is the fact it doesn’t come encrypted by default.

The biggest problem, however, is that the new Moto G is no longer quite as cheap as its predecessors. At £169 for the base level Moto G4 it is awfully close to some very good £200-ish smartphones. As you start adding storage it becomes even less of a deal. At £199 the Moto G4 Plus is an even harder sell particularly with Huawei’s Honor 5X costing just £170 and the practically-flagship Nexus 5X costing £220.

It’s likely to sell below asking price relatively soon, which will make the base Moto G4 a better proposition. There’s no doubt the Moto G4 is a good phone, but it used to be the case that you had to spend a lot more money to get a much better phone than the Moto G. Sadly, the Moto G4 is no longer a must-buy at its £169 asking price.

Pros: good performance, microSD slot, dual-Sim, good screen, optional fingerprint sensor, decent cameras, pure Android Cons: only a day’s battery, no longer a smaller phone, no longer that cheap, no NFC

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Moto G4 and G4 Plus both have microUSB connectors instead of the new reversible USB-C connector. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

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