Moto G4: At First Glance
Motorola (which is now owned by Lenovo) released the G4, G4 Plus, and G4 Play smartphones. This range of less expensive smartphones from Moto is all very similar devices with slightly different features.
However, our focus in this article will be on the Moto G4 specifically. The Moto G4 (which stands for the fourth generation) was created to be more pleasing than the G3 – its predecessor.
Since its release in 2016, the android smartphone market has become very competitive which presents the question of if the Moto G4 can still be worth considering.
Another question is, is the Moto G4 really more pleasing than the G3? Well, you’ll find answers in subsequent paragraphs.
Moto G4: Design, Dimensions and Weight
A good-looking smartphone will forever be appreciated and the Moto G4 does right by that. For a low-budget smartphone, you shouldn’t be expecting a metal build.
The Moto G4 has a plastic build that’s sturdy and smooth. This plastic build phone also has metal bumpers surrounding its sides which adds to its attractive look.
Speaking of sides, the Moto G4 has a dimension of 153 x 76.6 x 9.8 mm. This is a slimmer version of the Moto G3 which has a dimension of 142.1 x 72.4 x 6.1 mm.
As for its weight, the Moto G4 weighs the same as the Moto G3 at 155 g. Apparently, Motorola aimed to provide a wider dimension and still maintain the same weight.
A less weighty smartphone in this range is the Huawei P9 Lite which weighs 149 g. Even with its wider dimension, the Moto G4 will occupy your hand generously without stress.
Having a handy smartphone with different colors to choose from is a plus. In that light, you can get the Moto G4 in black or white.
Surrounding this phone’s dimension are black slim bezels on the sides and thick bezels at the top and bottom. Even with the thick lower bezels, there are no navigation keys on here.
Instead, the navigation keys are on-screen, and there’s absolutely nothing on the lower bezel. On the top bezel is where you’ll see the front-facing camera and front-facing speaker (which doubles as an earpiece speaker).
The location of the speakers is super commendable. This is because we tend to see low-priced smartphones having a speaker at the back which doesn’t produce great sound.
However, the G4 comes with just one speaker unlike the signature dual front-facing speakers by Motorola. That said, you can be sure the Moto G3 which has dual speakers produces better sound than the Moto G4.
Even at that, you’ll still get good sound in the Moto G4 – far better than smartphones like the LG K20 series with back-facing speakers.
Away from the bezels, there’s the power and volume control keys on the right side of this smartphone. There’s a headphone jack at the top and a Micro USB port at the bottom that supports Motorola turbocharge.
When you turn over the Moto G4, there’s a rear-facing camera on top followed by the LED flash which are both highlighted in silver accent. Further below that is the “dimpled” moto “M” logo on the back.
Still on the back, the back cover is removable. By taking off this cover, you’ll see the microSD card slot on the left, and just below it are two SIM card slots.
Notably, one thing you’ll miss on the G4 over the G3 is the water-resistant feature. Unlike the G3, this Moto G4 is not exactly water-resistant but it can survive a few splashes of water.
To be precise, the Moto G3 can last 30 minutes in water without a problem. Meanwhile, the Moto G4 simply has some nano-coating water resistance that makes it possible to survive a spill or some splashes of water.
Despite the absence of the water-resistance feature and dual speakers, the overall design is good. That said, I will be rating this section a nine out of ten in this Moto G4 review.
Moto G4: Display Features
There are quite a number of things that make up a smartphone’s display. To start with, let’s talk about the IPS LCD display technology.
This IPS LCD is responsible for color accuracy and great viewing angles. Undoubtedly, viewing angles are important in smartphones because it retains what’s on your screen even when the phone is rotated.
Even though the IPS LCD tends to drain battery juice unlike the AMOLED – its competitor, you can be sure to get good performance from the G4.
Next up is the display resolution. The Moto G4 has a Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution. This is a great improvement from the G3 which had an HD resolution.
Furthermore, a Full HD resolution is a lot better than HD. This is because Full HD gives more clarity to images on the screen than HD.
With such a resolution, at least you’re sure the G4 beats the G3 in this aspect.
Screen brightness is another important aspect of a display and the G4 definitely has high brightness. More precisely, this smartphone has 650 nits which is way higher than the Samsung Galaxy A7 with its 369 nits.
In comparison, the Moto G4 Plus has higher nits of 680 and that’s understandable because the G4 Plus is obviously supposed to be better as the name implies. Regardless, you’re sure not to strain your eyes when using the G4.
The screen size on the Moto G4 is satisfactory if you like something moderate. To be exact, it has a 5.5” display – it’s not too big nor too small, just right enough for playing games, watching videos, or reading eBooks.
Also, this 5.5” display is larger than the 5.3” of the Moto G3. This could be a good or bad upgrade depending on your taste.
Overall, the Moto G4 has great brightness and an FHD resolution to go with it. Such impressive display features deserve a nine in this Moto G4 review.
Moto G4: Camera Features
Taking great pictures is one thing smartphone lovers look forward to and the Moto G4 is not a terrible performer in this department. This smartphone has a 13 MP rear-facing camera and a 5 MP front-facing camera.
Asides from high megapixels (MP), the aperture is another feature of a camera to look out for. In the case of the G4, the 13 MP has ƒ/2.0 aperture and the 5 MP has ƒ/2.2 aperture.
Just in case you’re hearing it for the first time, aperture refers to how wide the camera lens goes and how light passes through the camera. This is very important in understanding how much picture quality to expect from a camera
Funny enough, a high aperture doesn’t mean good camera quality – the reverse is actually the case. Meaning that low aperture is what you should be aiming for when going for a camera.
If you’re used to the Moto G3 camera, don’t expect something different from Moto G4. For the back camera, Moto G4 captures exceptionally in good lighting and outdoor shots.
In addition to that, colors are vivid and active with good amount of detail. For low-light shots though, images don’t have as much detail and tend to be a bit noisy.
Also, you won’t appreciate how this camera performs when taking pictures at night. However, the presence of HDR solves the issue of overexposing the image – whether at night or during the day.
For clarity, HDR stands for High Dynamic Range and it provides more detail in shots by widening the amount of exposure. This mode helps you take photos without losing focus in bright or dark areas.
The lighting situation is equally the same with the front-facing camera because it doesn’t deal with low-light shots well. Nevertheless, in good lighting, the skin looks bright and captures details well.
The camera is also very snappy and responsive. This camera won’t give you the most ground-breaking shots but it’s not unbearable either.
Such camera features will provide some glam for social media posts. That said, I will be rating this camera section a nine in this Moto G4 review.
Moto G4: Battery Life and Talk Time
The battery powering the Moto G4 is a 3000 mAh non-removable battery. This non-removable is not the same situation as the G3 which has a removable battery instead.
Having a non-removable battery means you can’t replace this battery when it gets bad which makes is disadvantageous. If the battery gets bad, you’ll have to get this phone back to Moto – not your phone engineer.
When it comes to talk time, the average battery talk time on this device is 7 hours. As for web browsing, the G4 lasts 11 hours 38 minutes with WiFi on and continuous web browsing.
In comparison, the G4 lasts longer than the G3 which lasts 8 hours 13 minutes. The Honor 5X also doesn’t last as long as the G4 with its 10 hours 7 minutes on web browsing.
What’s better than all three is the G4 Plus that does better at 12 hours 25 minutes also on web browsing. Apparently, the Moto G4 battery gives a solid day of use.
Battery duration is one thing, how fast it charges is another. Even though this smartphone doesn’t have a fast-charging feature, there’s the Motorola turbo charger that comes in the box.
According to Motorola, this fast charger will charge Moto G4 for 15 minutes and provide you with 6 hours of use. With this charger, you get a full charge from 0-100% in under two hours.
In brief, great battery life and fast charging are the very best this smartphone offers despite having a non-removable battery. Nonetheless, I will rate this battery section a nine in this Moto G4 review.
Moto G4: Storage Options and Performance
The storage of the Moto G4 comes in two options – 16 GB or 32 GB. These two storage options have different price points with the 16 GB obviously cheaper than the 32 GB.
Additionally, if you really need more storage, you can add some cash and get the Moto G4 Plus. Like the G4, the G4 Plus has two storage options – 32 GB and 64 GB.
One good thing about storage options to choose from is that you don’t get stuck with just one. That said, if you need small storage, you can go with the G4’s 16 GB option but 32 GB will obviously do more.
In addition to that, it’s important to note that you won’t get the exact storage size you asked for. To be precise, on the 16 GB storage, the operating system takes up about 5.2 GB which leaves you with only 10.8 GB.
This storage shortage is also what you’ll get with the 32 GB. It comes with 23.3 GB and not the whole 32 GB.
Furthermore, if either storage options won’t be enough for your files, you can the storage with a microSD card up to 128 GB.
Even though this maximum storage microSD card expansion isn’t as much as the 256 GB common in smartphones, it’s quite moderate. It’s also worth noting that this SD card has to be purchased separately because it doesn’t come with the phone.
In a word, you are sure not to worry about storage on this smartphone. Based on all the features and specs of the storage of this phone, a rating of nine is appropriate for this storage section of this Moto G4 review.
Moto G4: Security Features and Sensors
Smartphones come with features called sensors. These sensors are responsible for providing good user functions that makes a phone more enjoyable.
Talking about sensors, the Moto G4 has the accelerometer, ambient light, and gyro sensors. For clarity, the accelerometer sensor is the sensor that makes the phone rotate when you tilt it.
Next is the ambient light sensor which is a photodetector that does the job of turning down the screen light. This sensor dims the phone’s display brightness when the phone is in a brightly lit environment.
As for the gyro sensor, this is responsible for using motions in activating some features. For example, twisting your wrist while holding the Moto G4 makes the camera comes on.
This is done by the gyro sensor.
Unfortunately, the Moto G4 doesn’t have a fingerprint sensor. This means that you’ll have to lock the phone with the typical PIN or pattern method.
If you really need a Motorola phone with a fingerprint sensor – you can add some cash and get the Moto G4 Plus instead.
On a final note for this section, even though the commmon sensors are on this smartphone, it’s disappointing not to have a fingerprint sensor. For that reason, I will rate this section an eight in this Moto G4 review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. This smartphone uses a 4G network connection.
No. There is a non-removable battery in the Moto G4.
The Moto G4 has a dual micro-SIM slot.
Yes. You can upgrade this smartphone from the Android 6 OS which it comes with, to the Android Oreo 8.
At the time of writing this review in October 2021, the Moto G4 had a starting price of $56.39.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Moto G4 is an impressive smartphone with obvious differences from its predecessor. If you’re already using the G3 and you need better display resolution, a wider screen, and bigger battery, then you should opt for the G4.
However, if you love the full water resistance feature, removable battery, and a small device, you might as well stick to the G3.
Even with similar specs as the G4, the G4 Plus is also worth considering if you have some more cash. A fingerprint sensor, better camera, and larger storage are some features the G4 Plus has that are worth your money.
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