So you have got some spare money left from the holidays or maybe you lost your phone when you were on vacation, bottom line is you need a new phone but don’t want to buy something pricey. So you narrow down your options to three phones: the Nokia 6, the Moto G4 Plus, and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4. Which one of the phones deserve your money?
Display
All three phones have a 5.5-inch 1080p display but if you care about screen protection, that is where the differences come in.
The Nokia 6 and Moto G4 Plus boasts Corning Gorilla Glass 3 but Xiaomi is not known to use any form of display protection for its Redmi phones, so you might want to steer clear from it.
Just because there is no screen protection doesn’t mean the Redmi Note 4 is a total loser with respect to displays. It actually offers a higher screen-to-body ratio than the other two devices and this is as a result of its shorter frame.
Software
This is another round where Xiaomi loses. The Nokia 6 comes with Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, and while the Moto G4 Plus comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow from the factory, there is already a Nougat update available.
Xiaomi on the other hand is still working on MIUI 9 which is said to be based on Android Nougat. It will be available later this year but there is no assurance if the android version of the Redmi Note 4 will change after the update. The reason is because Xiaomi is fond of releasing updates to its MIUI ROM but not updating the android version for some devices even though they get the new ROM update. So it is quite possible to see a Xiaomi phone running MIUI 8 while still on Android Kitkat.
RAM and ROM
The Moto G4 Plus and Redmi Note 4 are available in multiple RAM and storage variants. For the sake of this article we will keep the variants limited to 4GB + 64GB for the Moto G4 Plus; 3GB +32GB and 3GB + 64GB for the Redmi Note 4. The Nokia 6 comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.
The good thing about all three devices is that they all support microSD cards of up to 256GB.
Processor
This is a deciding factor for a lot of people when it comes to purchasing phones. The Snapdragon 430 chip in the Nokia 6 is more or less its most popular spec as most people are displeased with Nokia’s SoC choice. It is clocked at 1.4GHz and consists of eight Cortex-A53 cores. The Moto G4 Plus doesn’t fare much better. It sports a Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor (4 x 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4 x 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53) which was released back in 2015.
Xiaomi has gone all out with the chip in the Redmi Note 4. There is a Helio X20 deca-core processor clocked at 2.1GHz (2 x Cortex A-72 & 8 x Cortex-A53). So while all three processors will handle your regular apps and tasks easily, only the Helio X20 will be able to handle high performance tasks without any sweat due to its Cortex-A72 cores.
The GPU is also pretty important. The Nokia 6 has an Adreno 505 GPU and the Moto G4 Plus has an Adreno 405 GPU. Inside the Redmi Note 4 is a Mali T880-MP4.
Camera
The Nokia 6 sports a 16MP shooter with a f/2.0 aperture, PDAF and dual-LED flash. Up front is an 8MP camera for selfies.
The Moto G4 Plus has a 16MP camera with the same f/2.0 aperture. In addition to Phase Detection Auto Focus, the G4 Plus also has laser autofocus. The front camera is a 5MP shooter.
The Redmi Note 4 has a f/2.0 13MP rear camera with PDAF and dual LED flash and the front facing camera is a 5MP sensor.
Battery and Extra Features
The Moto G4 Plus and the Nokia 6 both feature 3000mAh batteries with support for fast charging but their batteries are small compared to that of the Redmi Note 4 which is an impressive 4100mAh capacity. Not the biggest in a mid-range phone but large enough to give you a few extra hours of screen-on-time. It also supports fast charging.
All three phones have fingerprint scanners but the Xiaomi is the only one with its mounted on the rear. They all have audio jacks but the Moto G4 Plus lacks any form of audio enhancement. The Nokia 6 comes with Dolby Atmos while the Xiaomi comes with 24-bit hi-res audio support.
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Price
Nokia’s first phone is heavily priced at about $250, a price generally agreed to be on the high side. The Moto G4 Plus actually costs more; priced at $269 for the 4GB+64GB version and $194.99 for the 2GB+16GB variant. The price for the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 isn’t surprising as the company is known for its aggressive pricing. The 3GB + 32GB variant will set you back $150 while the 3GB + 64GB variant is priced at around $170.
Conclusion
The price alone should make the Xiaomi your choice but if you are bent on having the latest software version, you will have to consider either the Nokia 6 or the Moto G4 Plus. Just remember that you will be shelling out more money not only for the latest software but for a likely better camera, more RAM, and a smaller battery.
