Moto G4 - any good alternatives in its price bracket?

Cern · 17 Oct 2016 at 18:40

I need a new smartphone, sim free and relatively budget in the sub £200 price bracket.

I've been looking at the Moto G4 which gets good reviews But there's a few drawbacks to the G4 for me - mainly it's size (5.5" is just a bit too much), lack of proper water resistance (I'm a clumsy oaf) and gyroscope (a minor issue).

I was looking also at the cheaper Moto G4 Play as this has a smaller screen, but it seems rather underpowered compared to the G4.

Is there anything else in the same sort of price ballpark which rivals the Moto G4? I'm not expecting flagship performance, just something that is snappy enough in day-to-day use, has a decent enough camera, a nice clear screen around 5" and is preferably water resistant.

mame · 17 Oct 2016 at 18:53

Moto G3 is smaller and water resistant

Dumbnub · 17 Oct 2016 at 19:11

You could go for the p9 lite from giffgaff (£199). It isn't water resistant according to the specs but in this video it survives being dunked in water.

Before I got my p9 (non lite) I was reassured by a similar test where it survived as well. I guess phones need some water resistance to be able to survive humidity, rain, wet hands etc.

There is a similar video on YT of the Moto g4 being dunked but the touch screen dies though.

Steampunk · 17 Oct 2016 at 20:41

Moto G3 is still a good phone if you want a very standard Android experience. Cheaper than G4 (even the higher specced one with more RAM and storage), and not the excessively large screen of the G4. I went for the G3 for the same reason - G4 is just a little too big. G3 is water resistant where the G4 isn't.

Dumbnub · 17 Oct 2016 at 20:45

Steampunk said:
Moto G3 is still a good phone if you want a very standard Android experience. Cheaper than G4 (even the higher specced one with more RAM and storage), and not the excessively large screen of the G4. I went for the G3 for the same reason - G4 is just a little too big. G3 is water resistant where the G4 isn't.

Only prob is, the higher spec'd ones aren't easy to get hold of, at least not when I last looked. They all seem to be the lower spec'd version for some reason. I agree they are great phones but who really wants 1gb of ram in a new phone these days?

mame · 17 Oct 2016 at 20:52

Dumbnub said:
Only prob is, the higher spec'd ones aren't easy to get hold of, at least not when I last looked. They all seem to be the lower spec'd version for some reason. I agree they are great phones but who really wants 1gb of ram in a new phone these days?

Well the spec might not be ideal now and is slightly older but with him asking for similar to a Moto G4, smaller and water resistant, it's hard not to suggest the G3

Steampunk · 17 Oct 2016 at 20:56

Dumbnub said:
Only prob is, the higher spec'd ones aren't easy to get hold of, at least not when I last looked. They all seem to be the lower spec'd version for some reason. I agree they are great phones but who really wants 1gb of ram in a new phone these days?

Argos sells them sim-free.

Edit: Not listed any more, so maybe they've stopped doing them. They had them a few months back. I bought one there and it's been a great little phone if you don't want all the gubbins you get with most non-standard Android.

Cern · 17 Oct 2016 at 21:21

Thanks for the tips, I hadn't thought to look at the Moto G3.

The Rainforest has a few G3 with higher specs left in stock but at £20 more than the G4. The lower spec G3 is in stock too, but also more expensive than the G4 Play. Will have to decide how much I value the water resistance. As someone that's killed a phone and an MP3 player in the past due to misadventures with liquids, it might be a selling point for me.

Dumbnub · 17 Oct 2016 at 21:39

Cern said:
Thanks for the tips, I hadn't thought to look at the Moto G3.

The Rainforest has a few G3 with higher specs left in stock but at £20 more than the G4. The lower spec G3 is in stock too, but also more expensive than the G4 Play. Will have to decide how much I value the water resistance. As someone that's killed a phone and an MP3 player in the past due to misadventures with liquids, it might be a selling point for me.

That's good that you found some (I guess I'm a noob at searching ^_^). I see Amazon Warehouse are selling some in "very good" condition for about £125. Seems like a good deal.

Cern · 17 Oct 2016 at 21:46

If you take the water resistance out of the equation, how does the G3 (2GB 16GB) measure up to the G4 (2GB 16GB)? Are they similar in day-to-day performance? I've seen some side-by-side reviews on Youtube, but wonder if anyone here has owned both?

Dumbnub · 17 Oct 2016 at 22:18

Cern said:
If you take the water resistance out of the equation, how does the G3 (2GB 16GB) measure up to the G4 (2GB 16GB)? Are they similar in day-to-day performance? I've seen some side-by-side reviews on Youtube, but wonder if anyone here has owned both?

I don't have either but my sister has a Moto g3 and I did have a smart ultra 6 (almost exactly the same specs as the Moto g4).

Moto g3 impressions: solid build quality, snappy, nice screen.

Smart Ultra 6: sharper display, snappy. (no point mentioning anything else)

The thing is, the Moto g3 only has an HD screen but IMO it looks fine, whereas the Smart ultra 6 and Moto g4 have Full HD displays. That's why the latter needs to have more powerful graphics (they both use the snapdragon 615/617) but the CPU speed isn't that different, so over all the performance isn't a lot different (assuming they both have the same amount of ram).

if the snapdragon 615 or 617 were in the Moto g3 it would be awesome for gaming, but in the full hd Moto 4 it's pretty much the same performance.

Cern · 17 Oct 2016 at 23:47

Dumbnub said:
I don't have either but my sister has a Moto g3 and I did have a smart ultra 6 (almost exactly the same specs as the Moto g4).

Moto g3 impressions: solid build quality, snappy, nice screen.

Smart Ultra 6: sharper display, snappy. (no point mentioning anything else)

The thing is, the Moto g3 only has an HD screen but IMO it looks fine, whereas the Smart ultra 6 and Moto g4 have Full HD displays. That's why the latter needs to have more powerful graphics (they both use the snapdragon 615/617) but the CPU speed isn't that different, so over all the performance isn't a lot different (assuming they both have the same amount of ram).

if the snapdragon 615 or 617 were in the Moto g3 it would be awesome for gaming, but in the full hd Moto 4 it's pretty much the same performance.

Thanks, that helps explain the differences. I like the idea of a full HD screen (my eyesight has seen better days) but I'm not sure about the physical size of a 5.5" screen in the hand. Butterfingers that I am, I'm more likely to drop a larger phone .... which is where the water resistance comes in

Dumbnub · 18 Oct 2016 at 00:05

Cern said:
Thanks, that helps explain the differences. I like the idea of a full HD screen (my eyesight has seen better days) but I'm not sure about the physical size of a 5.5" screen in the hand. Butterfingers that I am, I'm more likely to drop a larger phone .... which is where the water resistance comes in

FYI my sister has dropped her Moto g3 loads of times but it's still working and the screen hasn't cracked.

Dumbnub · 18 Oct 2016 at 00:48

There's the sony aqua m4 that is "Waterproof and dust-tight, ip65/68". The specs are pretty similar to the Moto g3 though. It's 179.95 from argos.

There is also the sony m5 but it's £240 (vendor: handtec). It has the same waterproof/dust-tight rating but it comes with a 5" full HD screen, and 3GB's of ram.

edit. aqua m4 only has 8gb's of storage, which is pretty bad. M5 has 16.

Cern · 18 Oct 2016 at 21:38

What about the Samsung A3 2016? Was just looking over the specs for this and I like the smaller size at 4.7", it seems very similar to the previous S5 Mini and is in effect an S6 Mini in all but name. No water resistance, but it does have a compass where the G4 doesn't. Price seems to be around the £200 mark.

Dumbnub · 19 Oct 2016 at 14:43

Cern said:
What about the Samsung A3 2016? Was just looking over the specs for this and I like the smaller size at 4.7", it seems very similar to the previous S5 Mini and is in effect an S6 Mini in all but name. No water resistance, but it does have a compass where the G4 doesn't. Price seems to be around the £200 mark.

I think it's a nice phone; not really a specs monster though. The p9 lite has better specs for around the same money. If it was me, II would go for the Moto g3 (2gb/16Rom) or the huawei p9 lite but having said that, if you prefer a smaller phone, then the a3 2016 is probably a good one to get.

Cern · 19 Oct 2016 at 15:17

Dumbnub said:
I think it's a nice phone; not really a specs monster though. The p9 lite has better specs for around the same money. If it was me, II would go for the Moto g3 (2gb/16Rom) or the huawei p9 lite but having said that, if you prefer a smaller phone, then the a3 2016 is probably a good one to get.

Thanks. I don't mind it not being a 'specs monster'. I don't plan to do much gaming on the phone, so as long as it is fast enough and doesn't lag for day-to-day stuff like browsing, maps, photos, video etc then I'm happy. I would prefer a smaller phone and a decent camera.

I'll shop around and see if I can get a G3 16GB for a good price, but everywhere I've looked so far has it more expensive than the G4. Since the A3 is quite close in price to the G3, I think those are two I'll be deciding between.

Narj · 20 Oct 2016 at 12:12

I don't know why people make such a big thing about waterproofing. In the 22 years I've owned mobile phones, I've never managed to ruin one through water damage. Most cases allow a certain amount of water resistance (eg: against rain) anyhow.

Are you lot planning on going scuba diving with your phones?

I just got a G4 Plus as I wanted something with dual sim. Lack of compass is a bit annoying but otherwise it ticks all my boxes. The compass on my last phone was broken so won't miss it.

Richy888 · 20 Oct 2016 at 13:19

You may not but it seems plenty have no trouble ruining a phone by introducing it to water. Never have myself but fell into a beck in flood the other year and even though my phone, a moto, got wet it didn't kill it. I think the water repellent coating helped there.

But if your outdoorsy then water proof in UK climate is a bonus.

Steampunk · 20 Oct 2016 at 15:04

Narj said:
I don't know why people make such a big thing about waterproofing. In the 22 years I've owned mobile phones, I've never managed to ruin one through water damage. Most cases allow a certain amount of water resistance (eg: against rain) anyhow.

Are you lot planning on going scuba diving with your phones?

Some people are careful with their stuff, and some people can't help themselves. My sister loses so many mobile phones you wouldn't believe it. If you're that sort of person, you might as well shop with that in mind, rather than assume you're not going to break your next phone the way you've broken the last half-a-dozen.