Moto G4 Plus

On the other hand, they can't mess with a proven formula so they continue to deliver what people have come to expect from the Moto G series.

Moto G4 Plus key features

• 5.5-inch 1920x1080 IPS display
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 processor (Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53; Adreno 405 GPU, 2 or 3GB RAM)
• 16 or 32GB storage expandable with a microSD
• 16 megapixel rear camera, f/2.0, phase detection and laser assisted autofocus, dual tone LED flash, 1080p video recording
• 5 megapixel front camera, f2.2 aperture, screen flash, 1080p video recording
• Dual SIM, LTE Cat4 150/50 Mbps, dual band 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, microUSB
• Water-repellent nano coating
• Fingerprint sensor
• 3000mAh battery, Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0
• Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow

It's a balancing act and a touch one at that, but Motorola has been doing it successfully for the last three years. Does the fourth iteration, curiously split into three devices this time, have what it takes to succeed in this cutthroat competition while staying true to the best bang-for-the-buck factor that the series has come to be known for? Let's find out.

For this hands-on, we have the Moto G4 Plus or the G Plus, as it's known on some markets. It's the top-tier device among the three new Moto G's.

    
Moto G4 Plus official photos

The vanilla Moto G4 will be coming out later and it won't have the fingerprint sensor and would only have a 13 megapixel camera on the back, but it's otherwise identical to the Plus model we have here.

The Moto G4 Plus is probably among the first devices to come out under the Moto brand, now that it's owned by Lenovo. The first and immediate changes are apparent immediately - the Moto phones will be officially imported to more markets now thanks to Lenovo's wider distribution network.

Design and build quality

Looking at the design, the first thing you notice is the size. Over the years, the Moto G has put on some weight and the latest one would dwarf the first generation model in comparison. Its size however is okay for a 5.5-incher and it actually has a smaller footprint than the iPhone 6s Plus (not that these two are direct competitors, of course).

The design is unmistakably Motorola and you don't even need to see the logo on the back to recognize it.

  
The front and back of the Moto G4 Plus

The front of the phone has a glass panel spanning the entire surface. Above the display sits the earpiece, the front-facing camera, and all the sensors. The earpiece is also the loudspeaker on the phone.

Below the display is the new fingerprint sensor. It's amusing that it took Motorola five years to bring back the fingerprint sensor to its phones, after being the first Android manufacturer to have it back in 2011 on the Motorola ATRIX.

The fingerprint sensor on the phone works very reliably and is also one of the fastest we have seen. Unfortunately, the small size makes it a harder target to hit at times, especially as you are just pulling the phone out of your pocket, and that leads to some misreads. Also, we missed having an app lock feature, something some of the other brands offer out of the box (yet there are other majors that don't).

Flanking the fingerprint sensor on the left-hand side there is a microphone use for calls. Hidden on the right-hand side is a small white LED, which surprisingly, is not used as a status light and only lights up briefly while the phone is booting up.

  
The fingerprint scanner

The frame of the phone is made out of metal. On the right are the power and volume buttons. The power button is placed above the volume buttons, which is not as comfortable as having it below as it is used far more often, but it has been finished with a ridged texture to make it easy to identify. There is nothing in particular on the left side of the phone.

   
The G4 Plus sides

On the top is the headphone jack, while on the bottom is the microUSB port. The phone lacks NFC support.

  
The 3.5mm headjphone jack • microUSB port on the bottom

The back side has the slightly raised camera module, secondary microphone, and the Motorola logo. The back cover has a matte, fabric-like texture and is a bit of a smudge magnet on the black colored version.

   
The back is well designed • flush camera design

The back cover can be removed, and underneath are the two micro SIM card slots and the microSD card slot. Motorola provides adapters for you to use your nano SIMs with the phone. The battery, however, is non-removable.

 
The back cover is removable, but the battery isn't

The overall build quality of the phone is impressive, despite the large removable panel on the back. Unfortunately, the new model is not waterproof like last year's. However, the phone does have a water-repellent coating, so it can survive a quick rain or spill but not a dip in the pool. That's a bit of a bummer but it's still more than what most phones in this price range offer.

The size is a concern, however. While some people won't have a problem, those who want a more compact phone, especially those upgrading from previous versions of Moto G will have to look elsewhere. Although not particularly huge, the new Moto G is no longer the compact device it once used to be.

Lenovo does have the Moto G4 Play as a more compact alternative - the lowest-tier device of the G4 trio, however, this model will not be available on all markets.

Display

The Moto G4 Plus has a 5.5-inch IPS LCD. The display has two color modes; by default it is set to 'Vbrant' mode that saturates color, although you could also set it to 'Normal' mode. The colors in the 'Normal' mode look good enough and close to accurate to our eyes. The color temperature of the display is also quite close to the accurate white point, and not overly blue or yellow.

The display in general looks very good, with good contrast, brightness, and viewing angles. It's legible enough under bright sunlight but we wish the lowest brightness was even lower, as even at the lowest setting the display can be a bit too bright when looking at it at night in a completely dark room.

Software

The Moto G4 Plus runs on the very latest version of Android, Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow. As is usual for Motorola, and something we are pleased to see hasn't changed under the leadership of Lenovo, the OS is very close to stock Android, save for a few apps.

   
Stock-looking user interface on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow

You get the usual Motorola gestures to quickly launch the camera and the flashlight.

The Moto Display features shows glanceable notifications, which makes up for the lack of Ambient Display mode but we would have still liked to have seen a proper notification LED, especially since the phone has one but Motorola won't let you access it.

   
Moto's proprietary Gestures and Moto Display setting

There is also a new camera app (more on this later), a file manager app, and an FM radio.

  
FM radio • File manager

For everything else Motorola relies on Google's pre-installed apps, which themselves are quite few in number this time around. And lastly, there is a clear-all apps buttons in the overview screen, something you won't find on stock Android Marshmallow.

Overall, we are impressed at how clean Motorola has managed to keep things, and all the additions are welcome and only add to the experience.

Performance

The Moto G4 Plus runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 chipset. Except for an updated modem, the chipset is pretty much identical to the Snapdragon 615 in the Moto G Turbo Edition. This means there are eight Cortex-A53 cores, four of which are clocked at 1.5GHz and the remaining four at 1.1GHz. The Adreno 405 GPU is clocked at 550MHz. The phone comes in two configurations, 16GB variant that has 2GB of RAM, and a 32GB variant that has 3GB of RAM. Mind you, in some parts of Europe there's a 64GB/4GB RAM version of the phone, too.

Considering the chipset inside, we were quite tepid in our approach to the device. Fortunately for us, the phone didn't disappoint, however, we weren't exactly impressed either.

The performance can best be described as adequate but that's perfectly fine in this price range. The phone goes through most tasks at a decent pace, sometimes hesitating, such as when opening or switching between apps. Scrolling in general was smooth, with the odd hitch here and there. Most of the games ran fine as well, although some could only be run at lower graphical settings, and increasing them caused framing issues.