The fingerprint scanner on the front ruins the look with the bottom bezel... They should have placed it on the back. Otherwise seem like pretty good phones for the price. Hopefully Moto keeps them updated instead of what they've been doing with their last few devices.
Seems a pretty simple thing to just pick it up and unlock. If it is a place you frequent such as work or home, you can set it up to automatically unlock.
I have the ZTE ZMax Pro, which is a very similar phone to the G4 Plus, but the fingerprint sensor is on the back. I almost always pick up the phone to do anything with it, and having the fingerprint sensor on the back is natural. However it does also have numerous secondary unlock methods, several of which work without picking up the phone. Presumably the G4 Plus has similar features.
When the 5X and 6P first came out, Anandtech always tested them with HDR+ enabled, but after 6 months or so, they decided that Google should stop being lazy and improve their image processing when not using HDR+ mode, so they started testing without HDR+ mode enabled.
Yes you should use HDR+. I have since stopped using it in reviews because it's not acceptable to take 1-2 seconds per shot for processing to get a usable image, and because HDR+ introduces exposure problems of its own. The quality of Google's normal processing is several years behind the best smartphones, and they need to do better.
I'd advise against Motorola phones now that they are under Lenovo since the camera module on my Moto Z Force has suddenly worsened after a glitch when switching from regular Photo mode to Professional in which parts of the frame displayed exhibited what looked like broken LCD with top half in green and heavy artifacting and the bottom in red with heavy artifacting. Switching modes got it out of that but now photos taken in lower light settings are worse than my HTC One M8 which wasn't the case befor and Moto is slow to respond to my issue.
Yeah, since the "We will not update the Moto E 2015" controversy (8 month old popular smartphone) , Motorola lost all of the confidence I had in the company and I won't be suggesting one of their devices to anyone, ever.
It is a fair point - there are very few good small phones, you've got the Sony Z? compact and that's about it. This has just released itself right into the mass of cheap chinese phones some of which are better.
Tbh the original moto g nailed it - small phone with replaceable back for compact folding cover, good screen, good performance, good battery life. My son still has one, it still works, the screen still has 0 scratches due to great cover, the battery life is still acceptable. The subsequent moto g'd all got bigger, slower, worse battery life, etc. Whoever is in charge just doesn't have a clue imo.
All motorola had to do was produce something the same as the original moto g for 2016 and it would have had the whole market between cheap n nasty and the sony Z? compact. Been really popular with people who want a compact phone but don't want to spend a fortune and parents looking for a phone that will fit in their kids pocket and that they won't break in 5 minutes.
Larger phones are nice for the added screen space, but I do agree that 5.5" is too large. I prefer sub-4 inch screens since they're much more easily carried. Its comical to see people with belt holsters and huge, awkward protective cases wrapped around gigantic phones that are worn like cowboys in those silly western movies used to wear their revolvers. I'm just waiting for one giant phone owner to spit out tobacco and say "Draw pilgrim," to another giant phone owner. Then again, I think a lot of the appeal in larger phones is to show off technology while feeling trendy and well-connected. These days, the phone someone openly carries in a holster is as much a status symbol as the huge SUV that same person jammed into two parking spaces at their local grocery store.
How can you have ANYTHING done on a sub 4" screen? Browsing, reading, looking at photos, satnav, ebooks, gaming.. None of these thing can be done on such a tiny screen with any level of comfort.
same here... having gone from 3" to 3.6" to 4.5" to 5" to 5.7" to now 6" in the last 5 years, I would not even consider anything less than 5.5" for my next phone. I'm finding I quite like the 6" size, but it may be bigger than absolutely necessary.
I still have my old 3" Palm Pre+ from 2010 sitting in a drawer... it seems comically small now, even given that it has a slide-out physical keyboard. And to think, I read several e-books on that screen.
@AnandTech, Whey are you guys putting Android benchmark result and iOS benchmark result in same chart? They are different platforms and runs on different runtime and APIs. I think they are not comparable.
Whether Kraken is or isn't a good indicator fro real life performance might be up for debate but this doesn't take away from the value of a synthetic benchmark.
You run the same benchmark on two devices as different as they may be and come up with a result. Imagine an addition benchmark done on a computer and on a piece of paper then claiming it's not fair because pen and paper are a completely different platform. The purpose of the benchmark is met, you now know that using brain+pen+paper is a lot slower than using a CPU.
You know, even on same platform different version gives different result. PC Mark running on Android 4.4 and Android 5.1 will show different results on same device let alone different platform. And many benchmark favours iOS.
It's not surprising that two versions of Android with completely different app runtimes have different performance. Nobody programs their benchmarks to favor a given platform. When iOS devices do well in a given test it's because they have faster hardware/software than competing Android devices, and when Android devices do well it's because they have faster hardware/software than competing iOS devices.
What source states that benchmarks discriminate against android? If you are saying that iphones consistently get better scores and that is your basis, then I think the problem isn't the benchmarks. Also, anandtech has many custom benchmarks so there is that.
This isn't a review of Snapdragon 617, it's a review of the Motorola Moto G4. The applications on the Moto G4 use the available APIs on the Android platform, and applications on the iPhone SE use the APIs available on the iOS platform. If one platform's APIs are better/faster (and as a mobile developer I will tell you that is very much the case) then apps using them will be faster than their counterparts on the other platform.
Performance is not independent of software. We have tests like SPEC for SoC reviews, but for a smartphone it's perfectly valid to compare across APIs and operating systems when that reflects what the apps on those platforms also use. For example, modern games on iOS use Metal, and games on Android use OpenGL ES 3.0/3.1. Why would it somehow be unfair or not comparable to run a benchmark that uses Metal on iOS and OpenGL ES on Android? Isn't that exactly representative of the real apps that those benchmarks are trying to emulate the actions of? You cannot isolate the performance of a smartphone from its operating system and APIs. Tests that are mostly software-agnostic can be interesting from an academic point of view, but such tests are worthless when describing the performance of an actual device.
Yes, and games on iOS use Metal while games on Android use OpenGL ES. The benchmark reflects the performance of the device when playing games, which is exactly what they're supposed to do.
Unless I missed it, I didn't see much mention of the overheating issues that a lot of people are reporting. Did you encounter any during your testing? It seems to occur during camera use or when the phone is run really hard.
That could be why PCMark battery won't complete, but I never noticed the phone getting uncomfortably hot during my usage. I never even thought to monitor temperatures on an S617 device.
Very bad product. Amazon is selling second hand Moto G4 plus. I purchased a phone recently which I'd not working properly. Neither Motorola responds nor Amazon responds. Public are cheated by the two companies.
Isn't this the first time ever you guys use Profile GPU Rendering? Assuming that's what it is not some app that serves a similar purpose. Anyway, it's great that you do use it but maybe you should have explained the app a bit and show results for some other devices too as most readers are unlikely to be familiar with it.
I bought this phone and have been using it for about two weeks now.
It replaced my LG G4, and I vow to never buy another LG phone again. The battery died suddenly, and my mother who owns the same phone experienced the same issue within the same week. The move to Android 6.0 has been problematic with inconsistent performance and worse battery life. Soon after the battery died, the charging port went kaput. I didn't have a great experience with my G3 before that, but I gave LG another chance. Never again :)
I'm on T-Mobile and wanted full GSM coverage at a price that wasn't over $300. I wound up buying the Moto G4 Plus model with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage on Amazon. A few thoughts:
- I haven't experienced the UI inconsistency. I have noticed that early reviews shared the same feelings, but I'm guessing that may have been fixed promptly after launch as my phone has been as smooth as the LG G4 before it. - The most intensive task I'll do is web browsing, and it's perfectly fine for that task. If you're using your phone for gaming, you may want to look elsewhere - 2GB RAM isn't enough. I don't have many apps loaded, but the system seems to take nearly 1GB at idle. Add on a few apps and a web browser, and you'll seeing the slight slowdown as you're hitting NAND. 4GB would've been nice - 16GB + SD card slot is enough for me. 16GB alone would not have been. - The camera is great in the Plus model. - The fingerprint sensor not serving a dual purpose as a home button hasn't bothered me at all. This is the first phone I've personally owned with a fingerprint sensor, so that may be why. One issue I have had is that the sensor won't pick up my fingerprint from sleep all the time, requiring to hit the power button and then putting my finger on the sensor. - I've never in my life felt buttons that are somehow both stiff and mushy at the same time, but that's the best way to describe the power and volume rocker on the Moto G4 Plus. I've gotten over it now, but it's certainly doesn't scream 'quality'. - Outside of the buttons, the build quality is great. Plastic, sure, but it's typical Moto in this regard.
Thus far, I'm happy. Provided Moto doesn't fail me on Android updates (and it's unlikely that they will given this is essentially stock Android + Moto gestures), I think I'll remain happy.
They've basically admitted that they're not doing upgrades and only quarterly security patches. It's a huge problem, not just for them. Android is increasingly in trouble outside Samsung and arguably Nexus. Google is dropping the ball big time.
Does the G4/G4 Plus have a gyroscope? I was surprised to see this rarely if ever mentioned in reviews of the G3, in which it was removed. Given the growing interest in VR, I consider this a critical feature.
It does have a gyroscope, but this time it does not have a magnetometer (G3 has magnetometer but no gyroscope), so you're not going to be able to use compass applications.
The poor performance is due to the 617 chip not firmware as i see no phone with 615,617 that performs well atleast day to day tasks. Many reviewers while revieiwnfg phones with 615, 617 attribute the poor perfromance, stuttering to firmware which is not the case. The 615,617 overheats easily and are worst processors till date.
"Choosing an eight core Cortex A53 SoC to appeal to the Chinese market instead of a six core Snapdragon 650 was not a good decision for the user experience.". What an irony. The Chinese Xiaomi uses the SD650. I, think Moto got their strategy all wrong for the Chinese as well as global market. Coming to the overheating issues, Moto seems to have hit a bump with the SD6XX series cpu's. Even the Moto G3 Turbo, with SD615 has terrible heat issues. The normal G3 on the other hand extracted the best possible performance from the SD410. So, why does a cpu that performs well in phones like Asus Zenfone Selfie and LG G4s, fare poorly in all Moto phones (G4, G3 Turbo, Moto X Play) ? Weird. Where is it, that Moto going wrong? Has Lenovo something to do with it, as all the problematic phones were launched after Lenovo acquired Moto?
There is another factor that should be considered - previous generation 'premium' smartphones are now selling for $230-$250 (Nexus 5X) and are probably better than these by a lot, overall. So, why get the Moto G Plus instead of the 5X?
Well, I picked up a Moto G4 for $125 and the Moto G4 Plus has features which the 5X doesn't have. The Nexus 5X is not that much better of a phone in my opinion and the lack of SD slot is a deal breaker for many.
I have to say the camera on G4 Plus is very impressive in daylight pictures. I like to pixel peep and I think G4 Plus was the best out of the bunch. OP3 looks great, but if you look at the images at 100%, they look oil painted, especially the vegetation. Either the camera technology has plateau-ed or lower end devices are really upping their game in this area.
Did you experience any ghost touch issues? Motorola forums are riddled with complaints about ghost touch issues with G3s and G4s.
It's disappointing to read about the jittery UI, Moto G3 is smooth (we're talking by Android standard here) and fast.
I think in general Motorola has been going downwards after Lenovo purchased them. They had issues with G3 screens with ghost touching as mentioned (build quality and design is awesome though), they clearly slacked on G4, have the same screen issues and overpriced it too (at that price, it should've been SD650).
I really haven't had any issues with ghost touches or overheating or anything like that. I was playing Pokémon Go which is a relatively intensive game (partially due to terrible design) and the phone was working fine. My main issue has just been the generally poor performance.
I noticed ghost touch days after I bought it. Not just while charging. I returned it because they wanted us to send it in for repair and wouldn't share the solution.
The camera should be impressive. The OV16860 is a part meant for FLAGSHIP phones, not $250 devices. Put OIS in it and a nicer quality lens and I would be quite happy to see it on a high end LG or Nexus. OIS sometimes makes all the difference: remember the $624 Moto Z uses the same sensor as the $149 Moto G4 Amazon Edition, but with OIS and a faster lens, making it a better camera than the $249 Moto G4 Plus which in theory has a better sensor part.
I have been using g4 plus for 2 months and i would like to point out the heating problem in it ..it gets too hot while playing games and also starts lagging while charging ..and camera slows down if you use it for more than 15mins
One of the saddest parts is that Moto/Lenovo has put the same camera sensor (as Moto G4, Moto G 2015, Nexus 6 (2014)) on it's newest flagship Moto Z (2016).
these would be good phones if they were not made by lenovo, a company that cannot be trusted with privacy and has already confirmed they will not be providing regular updates.
Brandon, you mentioned a few times here that you find larger screens as having a negative impact on usability?
Seeing as how I am of the opposite conviction (or have a wrong understanding of the word usability) I though it would be a good idea to explore in an article. How does smartphone screen size affect usage.
For example me, I could not care less for one handed usage, nor can i understand why would anyone care, so it would be interested to understand why.
Welcome to another member of the now ever increasing @#$% slabphone family, comprising in the following sizes to fulfill not so everyone's needs: mammoth, beluga, Moby-dick, Jahre Viking… For the love of God, @#$%!!!
I'm somewhat interested in the G4 Plus, however it has an IPS display, kind of hard to go back to that after using an AMOLED for a long time. I still have my Moto X 2013 which is 4.7", the display is fantastic.
The dimmest display ever tested by phoneArena and among the dimmest according to AT, and also one of the brighest at lowest setting plus color rendering issues is fantastic?
Moto x 2013 has good color calibration when compared to moto x 2014 which is worst. Also moto x 2013 dose not use pentile layout for its panel. However display is dim but I like it
Thanks for the interesting review Brandon and well timed for me. I am looking for a phone under £200 after my trusty Samsung SII's WiFi finally failed this week. I've noticed in my search for a replacement that the Nexus 5x 16GB has now dropped to £200 (argos) so has now surprisingly joined the competition. It seems the 5x is a significant step up in most categories compared to these phones?
I strongly advise my friends and family to avoid any vendors that aren't diligent about releasing Google's monthly security updates to Android -- which unfortunately, is just about all the Android OEMs. (Some, like Samsung, are pretty good for their flagship phones, but ignore most of their less expensive models.) Maybe if more journalists made this an important aspect of a review, we'd get better behavior from the OEMs (and yes, the carriers as well).
Otherwise, it's only Nexus phones for me and mine.
Thanks for the good review Brandon! And timely as well.!
I repeat my opinion: You and Matt Humrick should do the flagship phone reviews. Anandtech has had a very odd year where most of the flagship phone reviews are late and the entry-level phone reviews are not.
Untrue about Samsung ignoring budget devices. I have a $150 Galaxy J2 that gets those updates once every so often, maybe not every month but once every 2 or 3. But then again you can say the same about my GS7's updates.
It would be great if Anandtech started to pay a little bit of attention to the Android Security Patch level that a device ships with as well.
It should be noted that these phones are already well behind Google's monthly security patches, which mean that Motorola is selling devices with known remote root vulnerabilities, something that is definitely anti-consumer and borderline unethical in my opinion. Furthermore, Motorola has said that they won't be releasing monthly security updates. Their 2015 phones have also been very tardy in receiving Marshmallow, and have gotten security updates only very irregularly.
With all the attention to detail that AT pays to small details like the pixel size of the camera, I find it baffling how the update situation and how of timely security patches are completely ignored on this website.
Manufacturers all say they care about selfie performance, but really the OV5693 is the same camera as the one found on my 3 year old LG G Pad (albeit on the back). There's a much newer OV5695 sensor that promises better performance.
Why do you think Honor 5x is better than Moto G4? I read the both reviews and still think Moto G4 is better, bearing in mind that G4 is only $20-30 more than H5x.
What I am missing? I need a phone near $200 (+-50) and still can't decide.
thanks a lot for the clear and fast answer. I was sure about G4 but I think I'll consider buying a H5x now, if you do not have any other suggestion, as I really liked your reviews and they gained my trust.
No Snapdragon 650, stupidly-large 5.5in form factor... glad I didn't wait and got the LG G5 instead... now if LG could only fix the horrible whitepoint...
why all the apoplectic complaining about this phone being 5.5"? what, are you all a bunch of women and children? (not that there's anything wrong with being a woman or child) I don't have especially large hands (you know, they're not yuuuge), and I have no problem using either my 5.7" or 6" phones with one hand. I do understand big phones are not for everyone, but surely they are good for many people else they wouldn't make so many.
Owner of the Honor 5X since February and haven't regretted the purchase. Well made phone that does everything your average day to day user would need. The fingerprint reader is so nice and would never buy another phone that doesn't have one. Just don't see the need to spend double or more in dollars for specs I doubt many but the most hardcore enthusiasts would notice.
What a disastrous design to have that huge bottom bezel and not even integrate any buttons in it! And I'm also not a fan of the size creep of phones. Why has there not been a single phone released this year that is <5" screen (not counting landfill-quality <$100 phones with bezels so huge they are the same size as >5" phones)?
I am disappointed with the G4, hopefully they'll correct a lot with the G5?
My list: 1 - The loss of the Moto shape. The G4 looks generic, flat and "ugly" in my book. Compare to the other NON-USA Lenovo phones, I would have thought they could have done better. The curved back on the G3 and older MOTO phones gave it personality and felt good in the hand. You can tell which side is the TOP without feeling the camera hump/stripe.
2 – Its easier to pick up a phone with a curved back. Simulate it by placing your phone face-down and only picking it up by the edge.
3 – My Moto G3 is functional water proofing. Enough that I take underwater video with my phone. Was it really that hard to continue with such quality?
4 – The finger reader is completely ugly and ruins the whole phone. Should have put it on the back for the Moto Logo. That would have worked very well.
5 – 5.5”?! Can someone make a well made 5” model? The G4Play is no better than the G3… but loss its water proofing and has the plain ugly flat back.
6 – Stereo speakers. The G2 had them. The G3 has a large grill, but its not a speaker. On the G4, the mic-hole looks out of place where it is.
Come on Lenovo, fix the design for the G5 model. I’ve seen some of the Lenovo phones in Asia that are works of art. Such as the 3-layers metal phone, etc. Hell, even the new Z has some design flaws that should have been fixed.
One of the largest considerations for me in purchasing this phone was completely omitted from the summary of this article: support for every major US carrier. I get that this is a technical analysis and comparison of smartphones as computational devices, but the fact that you can use a G4/G4P on Verizon or Sprint (where a Huawei 5X will not function) is a MAJOR plus in the $200 smartphone category. Broad carrier support + fast charging, two features that provide day to day value and utility on a smartphone, make the G4 an easy pick for the best budget smartphone in my opinion.
I don't own this phone but I think Brandon Chester judge this phone a little hard... Personally I used to prefer smaller phones to but once you go large you don't wont to go back. So if Brandon believe 5.5" inch is to big it's his personal preference. I also do not agree the G4 Plus should have prioritized a faster SOC over fingerprint reader and camera. I know anandtech readers low fast hardware but for the average customer modern phones are fast enough, so better camera and the convenience offered by a fingerprint reader matters more than a slightly faster SOC. Itbusiness.ca managed to complete PCMarks battery test with the G4 Plus and it scored a respectable 9 hours and 40 minutes.
I'm a long time user of a 2015 G3 who decided to buy and test out a US XT1625 G4 with 2/16 ram/storage for myself. I've also owned and gave away a Nexus 5X (loved the camera, hated the battery life). I've been using the G4 for the last 2 weeks and wanted to share a few thoughts.
1. I don't doubt the official review but I think the model that was tested differs from the current firmware. I've found the 6.0.1 Android version on my device to very stable, responsive, and efficient. 2. The buttons on my device are very solid. Additionally I find the placement perfect for my hands and how I generally hold the device. YMMV obviously. 3. I don't love the size, but I am falling for the screen size. I worry about dropping the device and it's not as comfortable for me to use one handed. However that has everything to do with the size and nothing to do with the materials and shape. 5. The SoC performance really is good enough for all but the most demanding users and/or use cases. Subjectively it feels just slightly snappier than my Moto G3. 6. Real world battery life seems notably better than my G3. It seems like the device sleeps better which preserves charge when not actively using the device better.
I wasn't sure if I would keep the G4 but I'm starting to fall for the screen, longer battery life, and snappier performance compared to the G3.
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kspirit - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
The fingerprint scanner on the front ruins the look with the bottom bezel... They should have placed it on the back. Otherwise seem like pretty good phones for the price. Hopefully Moto keeps them updated instead of what they've been doing with their last few devices.nevertell - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Do you enjoy not being able to unlock a phone whilst it's laying on a table, screen facing upwards ?I certainly don't.
smartthanyou - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Seems a pretty simple thing to just pick it up and unlock. If it is a place you frequent such as work or home, you can set it up to automatically unlock.mrochester - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
How do you get it to only unlock when it's you who is using the phone?snowmyr - Wednesday, August 17, 2016 - link
Try the fingerprint sensor.markiz - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
This is something that is painfully obvious to me, so my I am really, really confused when people insist that fps on the back is better.johnsonx - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
I have the ZTE ZMax Pro, which is a very similar phone to the G4 Plus, but the fingerprint sensor is on the back. I almost always pick up the phone to do anything with it, and having the fingerprint sensor on the back is natural. However it does also have numerous secondary unlock methods, several of which work without picking up the phone. Presumably the G4 Plus has similar features.Cod3rror - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Agreed. The back where the dimple is seemed like the obvious choice where the FP sensor would go.markiz - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Again, you have no problem with having to pick up the phone ALL the time?Cod3rror - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
How often you use your phone when it's on its back compared to holding it in your hand? Most people pick up their phones purely as a habit now.markiz - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
Like, 80% of the time the phone is on it's back on the table.When I'm at work, and want to check out an IM or weather, or whatever, I don't pick it up, almost never. Faster (and stealthier) to keep it laying.
jabber - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Don't get why you would brand your phone the same as another G4. Most odd.zeeBomb - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Hey Brandon, do you think with the Nexus 5X, the HDR+ mode should be the go to mode like an auto mode for camera shots?grayson_carr - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
When the 5X and 6P first came out, Anandtech always tested them with HDR+ enabled, but after 6 months or so, they decided that Google should stop being lazy and improve their image processing when not using HDR+ mode, so they started testing without HDR+ mode enabled.Brandon Chester - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Yes you should use HDR+. I have since stopped using it in reviews because it's not acceptable to take 1-2 seconds per shot for processing to get a usable image, and because HDR+ introduces exposure problems of its own. The quality of Google's normal processing is several years behind the best smartphones, and they need to do better.zeeBomb - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Wow :o from good to problematic in a short span if time...good to know. Thanks!Omega215D - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
I'd advise against Motorola phones now that they are under Lenovo since the camera module on my Moto Z Force has suddenly worsened after a glitch when switching from regular Photo mode to Professional in which parts of the frame displayed exhibited what looked like broken LCD with top half in green and heavy artifacting and the bottom in red with heavy artifacting. Switching modes got it out of that but now photos taken in lower light settings are worse than my HTC One M8 which wasn't the case befor and Moto is slow to respond to my issue.Badelhas - Friday, August 19, 2016 - link
Yeah, since the "We will not update the Moto E 2015" controversy (8 month old popular smartphone) , Motorola lost all of the confidence I had in the company and I won't be suggesting one of their devices to anyone, ever.Hrel - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Sadly they made it bigger, 5.5" is too big. Why wouldn't they just leave it at 5" and do the 1080p screen?Just sad.
greyhulk - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Too big for you, maybe. That's the minimum size for me now.Dribble - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
It is a fair point - there are very few good small phones, you've got the Sony Z? compact and that's about it. This has just released itself right into the mass of cheap chinese phones some of which are better.Tbh the original moto g nailed it - small phone with replaceable back for compact folding cover, good screen, good performance, good battery life. My son still has one, it still works, the screen still has 0 scratches due to great cover, the battery life is still acceptable. The subsequent moto g'd all got bigger, slower, worse battery life, etc. Whoever is in charge just doesn't have a clue imo.
All motorola had to do was produce something the same as the original moto g for 2016 and it would have had the whole market between cheap n nasty and the sony Z? compact. Been really popular with people who want a compact phone but don't want to spend a fortune and parents looking for a phone that will fit in their kids pocket and that they won't break in 5 minutes.
BrokenCrayons - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Larger phones are nice for the added screen space, but I do agree that 5.5" is too large. I prefer sub-4 inch screens since they're much more easily carried. Its comical to see people with belt holsters and huge, awkward protective cases wrapped around gigantic phones that are worn like cowboys in those silly western movies used to wear their revolvers. I'm just waiting for one giant phone owner to spit out tobacco and say "Draw pilgrim," to another giant phone owner. Then again, I think a lot of the appeal in larger phones is to show off technology while feeling trendy and well-connected. These days, the phone someone openly carries in a holster is as much a status symbol as the huge SUV that same person jammed into two parking spaces at their local grocery store.Michael Bay - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
5.5 is too large, but sub-4 is too small. Where have all the 4.7s went? It was the best of both...markiz - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
How can you have ANYTHING done on a sub 4" screen?Browsing, reading, looking at photos, satnav, ebooks, gaming.. None of these thing can be done on such a tiny screen with any level of comfort.
Michael Bay - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
Well, if you actually use your phone as a PHONE, it`s handy.Foreign concept nowadays, I know.
johnsonx - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
same here... having gone from 3" to 3.6" to 4.5" to 5" to 5.7" to now 6" in the last 5 years, I would not even consider anything less than 5.5" for my next phone. I'm finding I quite like the 6" size, but it may be bigger than absolutely necessary.I still have my old 3" Palm Pre+ from 2010 sitting in a drawer... it seems comically small now, even given that it has a slide-out physical keyboard. And to think, I read several e-books on that screen.
mrochester - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Broadly, people are stupid. They think bigger numbers = better.zeeBomb - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
I wish the did that too...maybe with another Moto device? It is what it is...Geranium - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
@AnandTech,Whey are you guys putting Android benchmark result and iOS benchmark result in same chart?
They are different platforms and runs on different runtime and APIs. I think they are not comparable.
close - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Whether Kraken is or isn't a good indicator fro real life performance might be up for debate but this doesn't take away from the value of a synthetic benchmark.You run the same benchmark on two devices as different as they may be and come up with a result. Imagine an addition benchmark done on a computer and on a piece of paper then claiming it's not fair because pen and paper are a completely different platform. The purpose of the benchmark is met, you now know that using brain+pen+paper is a lot slower than using a CPU.
Geranium - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
You know, even on same platform different version gives different result. PC Mark running on Android 4.4 and Android 5.1 will show different results on same device let alone different platform. And many benchmark favours iOS.Brandon Chester - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
It's not surprising that two versions of Android with completely different app runtimes have different performance. Nobody programs their benchmarks to favor a given platform. When iOS devices do well in a given test it's because they have faster hardware/software than competing Android devices, and when Android devices do well it's because they have faster hardware/software than competing iOS devices.invinciblegod - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
What source states that benchmarks discriminate against android? If you are saying that iphones consistently get better scores and that is your basis, then I think the problem isn't the benchmarks. Also, anandtech has many custom benchmarks so there is that.Brandon Chester - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
This isn't a review of Snapdragon 617, it's a review of the Motorola Moto G4. The applications on the Moto G4 use the available APIs on the Android platform, and applications on the iPhone SE use the APIs available on the iOS platform. If one platform's APIs are better/faster (and as a mobile developer I will tell you that is very much the case) then apps using them will be faster than their counterparts on the other platform.Performance is not independent of software. We have tests like SPEC for SoC reviews, but for a smartphone it's perfectly valid to compare across APIs and operating systems when that reflects what the apps on those platforms also use. For example, modern games on iOS use Metal, and games on Android use OpenGL ES 3.0/3.1. Why would it somehow be unfair or not comparable to run a benchmark that uses Metal on iOS and OpenGL ES on Android? Isn't that exactly representative of the real apps that those benchmarks are trying to emulate the actions of? You cannot isolate the performance of a smartphone from its operating system and APIs. Tests that are mostly software-agnostic can be interesting from an academic point of view, but such tests are worthless when describing the performance of an actual device.
Geranium - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
On same hardware Metal will performe better hhan OpenGL ES.Aren't we use same setup to benchmark cpu, gpu or SSD. Even use same version of OS.
Brandon Chester - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Yes, and games on iOS use Metal while games on Android use OpenGL ES. The benchmark reflects the performance of the device when playing games, which is exactly what they're supposed to do.greyhulk - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Unless I missed it, I didn't see much mention of the overheating issues that a lot of people are reporting. Did you encounter any during your testing? It seems to occur during camera use or when the phone is run really hard.Brandon Chester - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
That could be why PCMark battery won't complete, but I never noticed the phone getting uncomfortably hot during my usage. I never even thought to monitor temperatures on an S617 device.mrdude - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
The only time I've noticed that it gets hot is when it's turbocharging.zeeBomb - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Ah yes, Brandon delivered. I've been waiting for this review for WEEKS!thunderwave_2 - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Could you please review the Huawei P9 and P9 Lite?Rajagopal - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Very bad product. Amazon is selling second hand Moto G4 plus. I purchased a phone recently which I'd not working properly. Neither Motorola responds nor Amazon responds. Public are cheated by the two companies.A5 - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Don't buy a used phone and expect support?smilingcrow - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
If bought from Amazon Warehouse do expect to get support.jjj - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Isn't this the first time ever you guys use Profile GPU Rendering? Assuming that's what it is not some app that serves a similar purpose. Anyway, it's great that you do use it but maybe you should have explained the app a bit and show results for some other devices too as most readers are unlikely to be familiar with it.Juan C - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
I saw many charts with the p9 as a reference, are you planning a p9 review?mrdude - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
I bought this phone and have been using it for about two weeks now.It replaced my LG G4, and I vow to never buy another LG phone again. The battery died suddenly, and my mother who owns the same phone experienced the same issue within the same week. The move to Android 6.0 has been problematic with inconsistent performance and worse battery life. Soon after the battery died, the charging port went kaput. I didn't have a great experience with my G3 before that, but I gave LG another chance. Never again :)
I'm on T-Mobile and wanted full GSM coverage at a price that wasn't over $300. I wound up buying the Moto G4 Plus model with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage on Amazon. A few thoughts:
- I haven't experienced the UI inconsistency. I have noticed that early reviews shared the same feelings, but I'm guessing that may have been fixed promptly after launch as my phone has been as smooth as the LG G4 before it.
- The most intensive task I'll do is web browsing, and it's perfectly fine for that task. If you're using your phone for gaming, you may want to look elsewhere
- 2GB RAM isn't enough. I don't have many apps loaded, but the system seems to take nearly 1GB at idle. Add on a few apps and a web browser, and you'll seeing the slight slowdown as you're hitting NAND. 4GB would've been nice
- 16GB + SD card slot is enough for me. 16GB alone would not have been.
- The camera is great in the Plus model.
- The fingerprint sensor not serving a dual purpose as a home button hasn't bothered me at all. This is the first phone I've personally owned with a fingerprint sensor, so that may be why. One issue I have had is that the sensor won't pick up my fingerprint from sleep all the time, requiring to hit the power button and then putting my finger on the sensor.
- I've never in my life felt buttons that are somehow both stiff and mushy at the same time, but that's the best way to describe the power and volume rocker on the Moto G4 Plus. I've gotten over it now, but it's certainly doesn't scream 'quality'.
- Outside of the buttons, the build quality is great. Plastic, sure, but it's typical Moto in this regard.
Thus far, I'm happy. Provided Moto doesn't fail me on Android updates (and it's unlikely that they will given this is essentially stock Android + Moto gestures), I think I'll remain happy.
nico_mach - Monday, August 29, 2016 - link
They've basically admitted that they're not doing upgrades and only quarterly security patches. It's a huge problem, not just for them. Android is increasingly in trouble outside Samsung and arguably Nexus. Google is dropping the ball big time.Rrskda - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Does the G4/G4 Plus have a gyroscope? I was surprised to see this rarely if ever mentioned in reviews of the G3, in which it was removed. Given the growing interest in VR, I consider this a critical feature.Brandon Chester - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Yes, they added it back in.Cod3rror - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
It does have a gyroscope, but this time it does not have a magnetometer (G3 has magnetometer but no gyroscope), so you're not going to be able to use compass applications.Rrskda - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
How important is the magnetometer? From what Google tells me, it's the least useful of the three (including accelerometer, gyroscope).Cod3rror - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
How important is it for you for the map to rotate smoothly when you turn your phone?Meteor2 - Sunday, September 11, 2016 - link
Maps should always have north at the top.raju516 - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
The poor performance is due to the 617 chip not firmware as i see no phone with 615,617 that performs well atleast day to day tasks. Many reviewers while revieiwnfg phones with 615, 617 attribute the poor perfromance, stuttering to firmware which is not the case. The 615,617 overheats easily and are worst processors till date.cbm80 - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
They embiggened it and made it cromulent, but they failed to make it performant!Atakelane - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
"Choosing an eight core Cortex A53 SoC to appeal to the Chinese market instead of a six core Snapdragon 650 was not a good decision for the user experience.". What an irony. The Chinese Xiaomi uses the SD650. I, think Moto got their strategy all wrong for the Chinese as well as global market.Coming to the overheating issues, Moto seems to have hit a bump with the SD6XX series cpu's. Even the Moto G3 Turbo, with SD615 has terrible heat issues. The normal G3 on the other hand extracted the best possible performance from the SD410.
So, why does a cpu that performs well in phones like Asus Zenfone Selfie and LG G4s, fare poorly in all Moto phones (G4, G3 Turbo, Moto X Play) ? Weird. Where is it, that Moto going wrong? Has Lenovo something to do with it, as all the problematic phones were launched after Lenovo acquired Moto?
vLsL2VnDmWjoTByaVLxb - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Typo, Page 6:want to look *onn* the bright side, it lets you know when your phone is done charging,
Brandon Chester - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Good catch. Thanks.junky77 - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
There is another factor that should be considered - previous generation 'premium' smartphones are now selling for $230-$250 (Nexus 5X) and are probably better than these by a lot, overall. So, why get the Moto G Plus instead of the 5X?stardude82 - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
Well, I picked up a Moto G4 for $125 and the Moto G4 Plus has features which the 5X doesn't have. The Nexus 5X is not that much better of a phone in my opinion and the lack of SD slot is a deal breaker for many.Cod3rror - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
I have to say the camera on G4 Plus is very impressive in daylight pictures. I like to pixel peep and I think G4 Plus was the best out of the bunch. OP3 looks great, but if you look at the images at 100%, they look oil painted, especially the vegetation. Either the camera technology has plateau-ed or lower end devices are really upping their game in this area.Did you experience any ghost touch issues? Motorola forums are riddled with complaints about ghost touch issues with G3s and G4s.
It's disappointing to read about the jittery UI, Moto G3 is smooth (we're talking by Android standard here) and fast.
I think in general Motorola has been going downwards after Lenovo purchased them. They had issues with G3 screens with ghost touching as mentioned (build quality and design is awesome though), they clearly slacked on G4, have the same screen issues and overpriced it too (at that price, it should've been SD650).
Brandon Chester - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
I really haven't had any issues with ghost touches or overheating or anything like that. I was playing Pokémon Go which is a relatively intensive game (partially due to terrible design) and the phone was working fine. My main issue has just been the generally poor performance.archaicertes - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
I noticed ghost touch days after I bought it. Not just while charging. I returned it because they wanted us to send it in for repair and wouldn't share the solution.WPX00 - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
The camera should be impressive. The OV16860 is a part meant for FLAGSHIP phones, not $250 devices. Put OIS in it and a nicer quality lens and I would be quite happy to see it on a high end LG or Nexus. OIS sometimes makes all the difference: remember the $624 Moto Z uses the same sensor as the $149 Moto G4 Amazon Edition, but with OIS and a faster lens, making it a better camera than the $249 Moto G4 Plus which in theory has a better sensor part.Sumedh - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
I have been using g4 plus for 2 months and i would like to point out the heating problem in it ..it gets too hot while playing games and also starts lagging while charging ..and camera slows down if you use it for more than 15minssinsin - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
One of the saddest parts is that Moto/Lenovo has put the same camera sensor (as Moto G4, Moto G 2015, Nexus 6 (2014)) on it's newest flagship Moto Z (2016).TheinsanegamerN - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
these would be good phones if they were not made by lenovo, a company that cannot be trusted with privacy and has already confirmed they will not be providing regular updates.markiz - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Brandon, you mentioned a few times here that you find larger screens as having a negative impact on usability?Seeing as how I am of the opposite conviction (or have a wrong understanding of the word usability) I though it would be a good idea to explore in an article. How does smartphone screen size affect usage.
For example me, I could not care less for one handed usage, nor can i understand why would anyone care, so it would be interested to understand why.
Pissedoffyouth - Wednesday, August 17, 2016 - link
I could see on a crowded subway one handed use being popularBarkuti - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Welcome to another member of the now ever increasing @#$% slabphone family, comprising in the following sizes to fulfill not so everyone's needs: mammoth, beluga, Moby-dick, Jahre Viking…For the love of God, @#$%!!!
Teknobug - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
I'm somewhat interested in the G4 Plus, however it has an IPS display, kind of hard to go back to that after using an AMOLED for a long time. I still have my Moto X 2013 which is 4.7", the display is fantastic.WPX00 - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
The dimmest display ever tested by phoneArena and among the dimmest according to AT, and also one of the brighest at lowest setting plus color rendering issues is fantastic?raju516 - Wednesday, August 17, 2016 - link
Moto x 2013 has good color calibration when compared to moto x 2014 which is worst. Also moto x 2013 dose not use pentile layout for its panel. However display is dim but I like itjb14 - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Thanks for the interesting review Brandon and well timed for me. I am looking for a phone under £200 after my trusty Samsung SII's WiFi finally failed this week. I've noticed in my search for a replacement that the Nexus 5x 16GB has now dropped to £200 (argos) so has now surprisingly joined the competition. It seems the 5x is a significant step up in most categories compared to these phones?cbf - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Brandon --I think you're doing a disservice to your readership by not covering Motorola's software update policies in your article, the ways Ars has: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/07/motorola-co...
I strongly advise my friends and family to avoid any vendors that aren't diligent about releasing Google's monthly security updates to Android -- which unfortunately, is just about all the Android OEMs. (Some, like Samsung, are pretty good for their flagship phones, but ignore most of their less expensive models.) Maybe if more journalists made this an important aspect of a review, we'd get better behavior from the OEMs (and yes, the carriers as well).
Otherwise, it's only Nexus phones for me and mine.
Lau_Tech - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
Thanks for the good review Brandon! And timely as well.!I repeat my opinion: You and Matt Humrick should do the flagship phone reviews. Anandtech has had a very odd year where most of the flagship phone reviews are late and the entry-level phone reviews are not.
WPX00 - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
Untrue about Samsung ignoring budget devices. I have a $150 Galaxy J2 that gets those updates once every so often, maybe not every month but once every 2 or 3. But then again you can say the same about my GS7's updates.aryonoco - Monday, August 15, 2016 - link
It would be great if Anandtech started to pay a little bit of attention to the Android Security Patch level that a device ships with as well.It should be noted that these phones are already well behind Google's monthly security patches, which mean that Motorola is selling devices with known remote root vulnerabilities, something that is definitely anti-consumer and borderline unethical in my opinion. Furthermore, Motorola has said that they won't be releasing monthly security updates. Their 2015 phones have also been very tardy in receiving Marshmallow, and have gotten security updates only very irregularly.
With all the attention to detail that AT pays to small details like the pixel size of the camera, I find it baffling how the update situation and how of timely security patches are completely ignored on this website.
Teknobug - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
If this is true, then my concerns of Motorola getting sold to a Chinese firm was legit.Joschka77 - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
started reading, 5,5" -> stopped reading...WPX00 - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
Manufacturers all say they care about selfie performance, but really the OV5693 is the same camera as the one found on my 3 year old LG G Pad (albeit on the back). There's a much newer OV5695 sensor that promises better performance.oaken - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
Why do you think Honor 5x is better than Moto G4? I read the both reviews and still think Moto G4 is better, bearing in mind that G4 is only $20-30 more than H5x.What I am missing? I need a phone near $200 (+-50) and still can't decide.
Brandon Chester - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
Better build, better fingerprint scanner implementation, and software that isn't so unstable that it can't even complete a simple battery test.oaken - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
thanks a lot for the clear and fast answer. I was sure about G4 but I think I'll consider buying a H5x now, if you do not have any other suggestion, as I really liked your reviews and they gained my trust.nwarawa - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
No Snapdragon 650, stupidly-large 5.5in form factor... glad I didn't wait and got the LG G5 instead... now if LG could only fix the horrible whitepoint...oaken - Tuesday, August 16, 2016 - link
hi nwarawa, do you know about the bootloop issues on lg g series? i recommend checking them out.http://forum.xda-developers.com/sprint-lg-g5/help/...
johnsonx - Wednesday, August 17, 2016 - link
why all the apoplectic complaining about this phone being 5.5"? what, are you all a bunch of women and children? (not that there's anything wrong with being a woman or child) I don't have especially large hands (you know, they're not yuuuge), and I have no problem using either my 5.7" or 6" phones with one hand. I do understand big phones are not for everyone, but surely they are good for many people else they wouldn't make so many.Jumangi - Thursday, August 18, 2016 - link
Owner of the Honor 5X since February and haven't regretted the purchase. Well made phone that does everything your average day to day user would need. The fingerprint reader is so nice and would never buy another phone that doesn't have one. Just don't see the need to spend double or more in dollars for specs I doubt many but the most hardcore enthusiasts would notice.hybrid2d4x4 - Saturday, August 20, 2016 - link
What a disastrous design to have that huge bottom bezel and not even integrate any buttons in it!And I'm also not a fan of the size creep of phones. Why has there not been a single phone released this year that is <5" screen (not counting landfill-quality <$100 phones with bezels so huge they are the same size as >5" phones)?
Belard - Tuesday, August 23, 2016 - link
I am disappointed with the G4, hopefully they'll correct a lot with the G5?My list:
1 - The loss of the Moto shape. The G4 looks generic, flat and "ugly" in my book. Compare to the other NON-USA Lenovo phones, I would have thought they could have done better. The curved back on the G3 and older MOTO phones gave it personality and felt good in the hand. You can tell which side is the TOP without feeling the camera hump/stripe.
2 – Its easier to pick up a phone with a curved back. Simulate it by placing your phone face-down and only picking it up by the edge.
3 – My Moto G3 is functional water proofing. Enough that I take underwater video with my phone. Was it really that hard to continue with such quality?
4 – The finger reader is completely ugly and ruins the whole phone. Should have put it on the back for the Moto Logo. That would have worked very well.
5 – 5.5”?! Can someone make a well made 5” model? The G4Play is no better than the G3… but loss its water proofing and has the plain ugly flat back.
6 – Stereo speakers. The G2 had them. The G3 has a large grill, but its not a speaker. On the G4, the mic-hole looks out of place where it is.
Come on Lenovo, fix the design for the G5 model. I’ve seen some of the Lenovo phones in Asia that are works of art. Such as the 3-layers metal phone, etc. Hell, even the new Z has some design flaws that should have been fixed.
jamesfuston - Tuesday, August 30, 2016 - link
One of the largest considerations for me in purchasing this phone was completely omitted from the summary of this article: support for every major US carrier. I get that this is a technical analysis and comparison of smartphones as computational devices, but the fact that you can use a G4/G4P on Verizon or Sprint (where a Huawei 5X will not function) is a MAJOR plus in the $200 smartphone category. Broad carrier support + fast charging, two features that provide day to day value and utility on a smartphone, make the G4 an easy pick for the best budget smartphone in my opinion.Allan_Hundeboll - Wednesday, September 7, 2016 - link
I don't own this phone but I think Brandon Chester judge this phone a little hard...Personally I used to prefer smaller phones to but once you go large you don't wont to go back. So if Brandon believe 5.5" inch is to big it's his personal preference.
I also do not agree the G4 Plus should have prioritized a faster SOC over fingerprint reader and camera. I know anandtech readers low fast hardware but for the average customer modern phones are fast enough, so better camera and the convenience offered by a fingerprint reader matters more than a slightly faster SOC.
Itbusiness.ca managed to complete PCMarks battery test with the G4 Plus and it scored a respectable 9 hours and 40 minutes.
mmartel - Tuesday, October 11, 2016 - link
I'm a long time user of a 2015 G3 who decided to buy and test out a US XT1625 G4 with 2/16 ram/storage for myself. I've also owned and gave away a Nexus 5X (loved the camera, hated the battery life). I've been using the G4 for the last 2 weeks and wanted to share a few thoughts.1. I don't doubt the official review but I think the model that was tested differs from the current firmware. I've found the 6.0.1 Android version on my device to very stable, responsive, and efficient.
2. The buttons on my device are very solid. Additionally I find the placement perfect for my hands and how I generally hold the device. YMMV obviously.
3. I don't love the size, but I am falling for the screen size. I worry about dropping the device and it's not as comfortable for me to use one handed. However that has everything to do with the size and nothing to do with the materials and shape.
5. The SoC performance really is good enough for all but the most demanding users and/or use cases. Subjectively it feels just slightly snappier than my Moto G3.
6. Real world battery life seems notably better than my G3. It seems like the device sleeps better which preserves charge when not actively using the device better.
I wasn't sure if I would keep the G4 but I'm starting to fall for the screen, longer battery life, and snappier performance compared to the G3.