1) Mi 4- Mi 4 is really a beautiful phone. The first thing you notice is that the sides are made up of metal. It is an aircraft-grade aluminium alloy. The metal construction gives a really expensive feel to the device. It is a compact device. The back is a bit slippery but not as slippery as other people say. It is 9.2 mm thick and weighs about 150g. The back is non- removable and battery is sealed inside. Overall, this is an excellently built phone that looks very costly and premium. who gives you a metal build phone under Rs.13000?
2) Moto G3- The Moto G3 is the exact opposite of Mi 4. It is heavier and is much more thicker. However, I am not saying it is bad at all. The phone seems very well-balanced and it has a curved back which gives a really good grip. There is the trademark Motorola dimple on the back in which you can rest your index finger. The back is textured and feels really nice to touch. The battery is non- removable because it is WATER -RESISTANT. Overall, it is a well made phone and is comfortable to hold.
> WINNER: Mi 4 because of metal construction and compact form-factor.
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DISPLAY
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1) Mi 4- The Mi 4 sports a laminated FULL HD 1080p display which is also very beautiful. It is super-sharp with a ppi of 441. The laminated display means that it feels like you are almost touching the pixels on the screen The viewing angles are amazing and colour, contrast and saturation is top-notch. The blacks are very deep and whites are very white. This one of the best displays in this price range. The display is very bright and colourful. Not surprisingly, the sunlight legibility is great. The display is protected by CORNING GLASS.
2) Moto G3- The Moto G3 loses completely in the display segment. It is a mediocre HD display which is 720p. The ppi is 261 which is very outdated considering today's phone. It is not as sharp as Mi 4i or K3 Note. However, it is a good display with balanced colour and decent contrast levels. The plus point is that the display is protected by a GORILLA GLASS 3. The sunlight legibility is also just OK.
> WINNER: Mi 4 because of its super-sharp display and amazing contrast.
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PERFORMANCE AND GAMING
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1) Mi 4- The Mi 4 is a complete beast when it comes to gaming. It completely blows off Moto G3 in this segment. The 3GB RAM and SNAPDRAGON 801 processor plays any game you throw at it. Asphalt 8 with MAX graphics runs like butter on this phone. Other heavy games such as GTA, MC4, MC5 also play amazing. There is not even a single lag! The device does get heated up after about 20 minutes of gaming. Day-to-day usage is phenomenal. There is no lag even after opening 50 apps in multitasking tray ( not kidding! ). This is a mind-blowing phone when it comes to performance.
2) Moto G3- Moto G3 has an inferior processor than Mi 4. It has a Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor. It has two variants 1GB and 2 GB. However, as I have the 2GB variant, I will compare that one. Even though the processor may look out-dated on paper but thanks to STOCK ANDROID UI and Android Lollipop 5.1.1 the device performs excellently even with an inferior processor. Day- to -day usage was extremely smooth and opening apps was quite snappy on responsive. Multitasking was also good.Overall, no problems in everyday usage. However when playing high-end games like Asphalt 8 I noticed some lags in Medium graphics. I restarted the phone and again saw some lags. I don't know whether there is some problem in my device or this happens with every Moto G3.
> WINNER: Mi 4 due to phenomenal performance.
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USER INTERFACE
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1) Mi4- Mi 4 runs on MIUI 7 on top of android Kit Kat. It is a heavily customized ROM. It looks very similar to iOS. It is avery clean smooth and polished UI. It is very beautiful and overall the whole UI looks a piece of art. The animations are smooth and there are tons of themes so that you can customize your phone according to your liking. There is also a feature called daily lock-screen which changes the wallpaper of your lock-screen automatically each day. There are no lags in the UI and overall using this is a wonderful experience.
2) Moto G3- It runs on Android 5.1.1 and will receive the Marshmallow update soon. It is a completely stock version of android and very much optimized for the phone. It gives you the chance to explore pure android without and bloatware or modifications. Extremely smooth and snappy experience ! This is great for those who want pure android and also suitable for first time users.
> WINNER: Mi 4 because I think MIUI is really smooth and feature- packed. Also it is well - optimized and very colourful ! ( YOUR VIEWS MAY DIFFER FROM MINE)
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CAMERA
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( P.s. Check out the sample pictures from all the three phones that I have posted with the review)
1) Mi 4- I am an avid photographer and it is very important for me to have a good camera in my phone. A few days back I saw a video of GEEKYRANJIT on youtube. He said that Moto G3 has a better camera than Mi4. I completely DISAGREE with him ! I have compared the photos of two phones side by side and Mi 4 completely beats Moto G3 in camera. There are more details in the photos from rear camera and selfies of Mi 4 are much sharper and more wide-angle. The selfie cam of Mi 4 is 8MP and rear cam is 13MP. It has a SONY SENSOR and f1.8 aperture. This means you can capture excellent images in low-light. I am really impressed with camera of Mi 4. you can also capture 4K UHD videos on Mi4 which I feel is very good.
2) Moto G3- Pictures come out fairly detailed with minimal noise in daylight conditions. In indoor lighting and low light pictures are bad. Selfie camera is OK and is not wide-angle. The phone is waterproof, you can try underwater photography ! Rear camera is 13MP and front camera is 5MP. Overall, decent camera.
> WINNER: Mi 4.
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BATTERY
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1) Mi 4- the Mi 4 has a 3000 maH battery which gives very good backup. The battery is very well-optimized and last very long. After MIUI 7 battery backup has increased. I am a moderate user and the phone easily asts me 2 days on full charge. If you are a heavy user and use 3G the whole day, the battery will easily last you a ful day. With my kind of usage I get a screen-on time of about 6 hours. This is one of the best batteries I have seen on any phone till date. Call quality and Network reception ( 3G SIM) is also very good.
2) Moto G3- Moto G3 has a 2500 mAh battery compared to 3000 mAh of Mi 4. Battery easily lasts 1 to 1.5 and half days on moderate to heavy usage. As the device is running on STOCK ANDROID, the battery is well optimized and there is no battery drain. Also, the standby time is very good. I cannot comment on 4G battery life, as I dont have 4G in my city. 3G reception and call quality is also good. With my usage I get around 4 hours screen-on time on Moto G3 which is quite low when you compare it to Mi 4.
> WINNER: Mi 4 because of long-lasting battery and good screen-on time.
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SOUND
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1) Mi4- It has Smart PA, which amplifies sound significantly and improves playback quality while protecting speakers from damage at high volume levels . Even though the sound is quite loud but it has low bass and depth. The speaker quality is between good and decent. However, the quality through earphones is quite nice and I enjoyed listening through earphones. For watching videos and playing games the speaker manages to get the job done.
2) Moto G3- The front firing speaker is better compared to Mi4. It gives an awesome experience and the speakers also don't get covered with hand. The sound is rich and deep and surprisingly has good bass. Also the sound through earphones is good, rich and clear and leaves nothing more to be desired. This is a great package for audiophiles and music lovers.
> WINNER : Moto G3 because I feel that it has better bass and better sound quality.
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Mi 4 SPECIAL FEATURE- IR BLASTER MINI REVIEW
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IR or Infra- Red is a technology which is present only in expensive phones. Mi 4 has IR blaster and I use this feature quite often. With this you can control TV, AC, DTH with your mobile. Noways, I mostly use Mi 4 to change channels on my TATA SKY. Also, if you go to some restaurants it is very fun to change the channels. It is a gimmicky kind of feature but actually quite fun to use ! Moto G3 does not have this feature.
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VERDICT
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All the three phones are excellent performers for the price. However there are some differences. If you want the pure Android experience, water-resistence and and decent camera, Moto G3 is the perfect choice for you. On the other hand, if you want super-fast experience, excellent multitasking, fantastic display , good camera and amazing gaming Mi 4 is the choice for you ! If you ask me for an unbiased verdict I will say that Mi 4 is much better buy at such a low price. The Mi4 wins in all the aspects. However, if you want a STOCK ANDROID EXPERIENCE you can buy Moto G3.
The end decision is yours. Please read my review and make an informed decision.
