Sep 04, 2016 10:21 AM
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After our G4 and G4 Plus reviews were completed, Motorola announced the even cheaper Moto E3, and - while we haven't reviewed it yet - the specs make it clear that it sacrifices a bit too much to achieve its rock-bottom price. Bargain hunters in the US can also check out the Blu R1 HD, which can be purchased(with pre-loaded Amazon apps and lockscreen ads) for a mere$50. That said, we still think the Moto G4 and G4 Plus still stand tall in the world of budget phones.
The Moto G has always been among the top dogs when it comes to "cheap but good" phones and the new G4 - and slightly fancier G4 Plus - have kept up that tradition.
Competition in the budget arena has never been more fierce, but the newest fourth-generation Moto G continues to hold its own thanks to a host of hardware upgrades, including a larger and brighter 5.5-inch, full HD display and faster octa-core processor, without shedding last year's water-resistant construction and expandable storage(you can add up to 128GB by adding ultra cheap microSD cards).
And then there's that price. In the US, you'll pay$199 for the unlocked phone, which will work with all major US carriers. Amazon Prime members in the States can also buy the phone for$150 from Amazon, if you accept ads - and they're easy to ignore. Our review of the Moto G4 Amazon Prime edition here.) In the UK, the standard 16GB Moto G4 starts at a similarly affordable £169.
Motorola - which is now owned by Lenovo, by the way - hasn't said how much the phones will go for in Australia, but the Moto G4's UK price converts to about AU$300.
So what's the catch? Not much, really. Spending a bit more for the aforementioned Moto G4 Plus gets you a fingerprint sensor(for easy unlocking), a slightly better camera and - at the top end - double the RAM and even more built-in storage. But neither phone has NFC or contactless payment options, so the Plus upgrades don't feel worth the extra money in our book.
