The Z series from Motorola has always been the most important flagship line-up of the U.S. giant controlled by Lenovo, but that is not the case this year. A few days ago, Motorola announced the Moto Z4 and this time it is just a mid-ranger. After that, the company said that there will be no Moto Z4 Force, neither a Moto Z4 Play. So goodbye flagship from the Z series, it seems. The only thing left now is to understand if the new Moto Z4 has a high value for money and, in order to let you know, we will compare it with two best-buys of the actual market: the new Meizu 16Xs and the best-selling Redmi Note 7 Pro by Xiaomi’s sub-brand.
Motorola Moto Z4 vs Meizu 16Xs vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro
| Motorola Moto Z4 | Meizu 16Xs | Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT | 158 x 75 x 7.4 mm, 165 grams | 152 x 74.4 x 8.3 mm, 165 grams | 159.2 x 75.2 x 8.1 mm, 186 grams |
| DISPLAY | 6.4 inches, 1080 x 2340p (Full HD+), 403 ppi, OLED | 6.2 inches, 1080 x 2232p (Full HD+), 403 ppi, Super AMOLED | 6.3 inches, 1080 x 2340 pixels, 409 ppi, 19.5:9 ratio, IPS LCD |
| PROCESSOR | Qualcomm Snapdragon 675, octa-core 2 GHz | Qualcomm Snapdragon 675, octa-core 2 GHz | Qualcomm Snapdragon 675, octa-core 2 GHz |
| MEMORY | 4 GB RAM, 128 GB – micro SD slot | 6 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 128 GB | 4 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 128 GB – micro SD slot |
| SOFTWARE | Android 9 Pie | Android 9 Pie, Flyme | Android 9 Pie, MIUI |
| CONNECTIVITY | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS |
| CAMERA | 48 MP f/1.7 25 MP f/2.0 front camera |
Triple 48 +8 + 5 MP f/1.7 and f/2.2 and f/1.9 16 MP f/2.2 front camera |
Dual 48 + 5 MP f/1.7 and f/2.4 13 MP front camera |
| BATTERY | 3600 mAh, fast charging 15W | 4000 mAh, fast charging 24W | 4000 mAh, Fast Charging with Quick Charge 4 |
| ADDITIONAL FEATURES | Hybrid Dual SIM slot, MotoMods | Dual SIM slot | Hybrid Dual SIM slot |
Design
Motorola Moto Z4 wins the build quality awards as it comes with the most solid and premium materials. It has a glass back as well as an aluminum frame, and it is splash and dust resistant as proved by the P2i certification, despite it is not waterproof. It even supports MotoMods: you can stick additional modules on its back thanks to the pins on the lower part of the back cover, including a MotoMod which enables the 5G connectivity! While its build quality is simply amazing, we can not say the same about its look. The glass back of Meizu 16Xs and Redmi Note 7 Pro look a lot more attractive, at least according to my tastes. Meizu 16Xs has also a cleaner back because it features an in-display fingerprint reader, that is why it is my favorite one. Which one do you prefer?
Display
While Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro is equipped with a traditional IPS display, Motorola Moto Z4 and Meizu 16Xs come with much better OLED screens. They provide more brilliant colors and deeper blacks, so I prefer them. Meizu 16Xs has an in-display fingerprint reader but it also comes with a smaller screen, while Motorola Moto Z4 has a bigger panel, a waterdrop notch to reduce the upper bezel and an in-display fingerprint reader as well. Given that both are Full HD OLED displays there are only marginal differences when it comes to display quality.
Specs & Software
The chipset is the component which made us go for this comparison. All of these devices are powered by a Snapdragon 675 SoC by Qualcomm which delivers upper-midrange performances similar to the ones offered by the Snapdragon 710 (slightly better CPU but worse GPU, tough). Motorola Moto Z4 comes with a stock Android version based on Android Pie, but it has only 4 GB of RAM, while Meizu 16Xs and Redmi Note 7 Pro are equipped with up to 6 GB of RAM.
Camera
Motorola Moto Z4 has just a single camera on its rear side, but it may give us several surprises and it may be the best camera phone of the trio despite its rivals come with triple cameras. Its rear sensor has a very bright f/1.7 aperture as well as OIS, unlike its rivals. Most of Motorola phones come with very nice cameras, even in the midrange segment. So we have high expectations for the Moto Z4. It even comes with the best front camera on the paper: a 25 MP snapper with an f/2.0 focal aperture. And you can enhance the camera performances with several MotoMods.
Battery
The battery capacity is the weak point of the Moto Z4 as it comes with just 3600 mAh of capacity, but thanks to the battery pack MotoMod, it can provide the longest battery life. However, MotoMods are sold separately, so if we exclude the additional battery pack, Meizu 16Xs and Redmi Note 7 Pro should come with a way longer battery life. Given its OLED display, Meizu 16Xs might last more on a single charge, but it remains to be seen.
Price
Redmi Note 7 Pro costs €200/$223 in its base variant, Meizu 16Xs starts from €220/$246 and Moto Z4 costs €500/$556. The Moto Z4 is definitely the best and most interesting phone, but Meizu 16Xs has the highest value for money with its OLED display, big battery, in-display fingerprint reader and great cameras.
Motorola Moto Z4 vs Meizu 16Xs vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro: PROs and CONS
Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro
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Motorola Moto Z4
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Meizu 16Xs
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