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Originally Posted by adimicra I hope the success of Redmi 3S prime leads more manufacturers to offer good spec mid-range 5" phones. I don't understand that while there are 5" flagships available but there are hardly and good 5" mid-range phones. |
+1 to that. But, I hope a better manufacturer comes and does that.
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Originally Posted by adimicra On a separate note, I have mixed experience with Motorola. My 2 year old Moto X is still doing fine but I have had issues with frequent Wi-Fi disconnects and huge battery drain when connected to mobile data which are the main reasons I am considering a new phone. Lot of my colleagues have had Moto G and some of them had hardware issues. So, I don't see any reason to feel Motorola phones are any better than Xiaomi when it comes to hardware reliability. |
Not quite true. I'll do a one to one comparison with a Xiaomi and Motorola because I used both these phones at the same time.
The phones I've used are Xiaomi Redmi 1s and Moto E 2nd gen 4g and was used during the same period of time. These are my experiences with it.
Performance
The spec sheet says, Xiaomi is superior to the Moto E with a 1.6 Ghz Quad core processor compared to the 1.2 Ghz used in the Moto E.
But, in real life, what do performance amount to ?
Is it the ability to multi task ( getting the maps to navigate when the phone is simultaneously connected to the bluetooth of my car stereo, and at the same time I should be able to use the phone. ) or is it about how good the phone shows the graphics of a game ? For me, it was always the real use cases of being able to do the basic functions in a hassle free way.
Literally, in every single long drive that I've used the Xiaomi for navigation, I've faced issues with its primary functionality ( ie, to receive and make calls through a hands free ). And this is not just about calls. Even if I try to send an email after stopping nearby, that in itself used to be a 'job'.
With motorola, it has never been an issue. It is slower than the Xiaomu, but it doesn't get into a hung state any where nearly as often as the Xiaomi.
Reception Quality
Whether it's the placement of the antenna or the quality of the devices used inside, Motorola beats the Xiaomi hands down in this department. You will get to know this when you travel to places with poor reception or where you have a lot of towers crowded together.
Display Quality
As per the specs, the Xiaomi has a ppi of 324 ( close to the ideal ppi benchmark set by Apple as what our eyes can recognize from the typical distance from which the phone is looked at ) compared to the 245 ppi used in Motorola.
It also has my all time favourite best screen size of the LG Nexus 4 ( 4.7" ), compared to the Motorola's 4.5".
But, inspite of all this funda in specs, I prefer looking at the motorola's screen for one simple reason. It doesn't reflect back my face like a mirror as the Xiaomi does! It also doesn't attract scratches like the way, Xiaomi does. My more than 1 year old Moto E screen still looked new ( until it broke a month back ) compared to the Xiaomi and was very easy on the eyes for long reading, inspite of the smaller screen and lower pixel density.
Camera
This is one area where the Xiaomi beats any moto phone hands down. But, again, my priority for camera when I buy a phone is one of the last ones.
Water handling ability
Within 6 months of usage, the touch screen on the Xiaomi died thanks to one of the water splashes during my trips. Both phones were inside my pocket. The Moto still works ( minus the display cracks ). Xiaomi service diagnosed the touch screen failure as a water damage and hence warranty cannot be claimed. And they even told I've to wait for 2 weeks for the screen to come! I said good bye and transferred this brick to my historical collection.
Software Quality
The Moto E 2nd gen runs Android 6.0.1 ( the latest android ) whereas the Xiaomi used to run the kitkat when lolipop was released long back. And it works really well as well. Staying with stock android is one important decision. You are supported by the best software developers in the world.
Ergonomics
Xiaomi feels like a brick in hand while the Moto feels like an extension of the hand. Period!
Note:
Moto E 2nd gen 4g is the 2nd motorola I've ever used in my life. My previous phones are
Nokia 6210
Moto Ming
Nokia E63
Samsung Galaxy SL
Samsung Galaxy Note
Apple iPhone 4
LG Nexus 4
Xiaomi Redmi 1s
Moto E 2nd gen 4g
and now Moto G4
The reason for sticking with brand motorola was not just due to my good experience with Moto E and Moto Ming ( this was an exceptional phone at that time ), but also due to the kind of experience my close relatives and friends got with their Motos. These are our experiences with Moto.
Wife - Moto G 1st gen for 2 years, and then got a buy back offer to upgrade to Moto G Turbo for 8000 odd INR recently. The turbo works fabulously well as well. The phone didn't even get a physical damage thanks to that intelligently designed flip cover by Google and Motorola.
Mother - Moto X 1st gen for 2 years. This is one of the best phones I've ever used for the kind of deign thoughts put into it. She still uses it. Doesn't face any wifi issues. But, yes the battery drains faster now. I've asked her to replace the battery to prevent the phone from buldging and breaking other hardware like what happened with her iphone 4. That should take care of the battery issue.
Father - Moto G Turbo for a few months. He is very happy with it.
Father in law - Moto G 1st gen for 2 plus years. Still no issues with it.
The only moto android which was a bad phone was the Moto G 2nd gen which was a loose release just banking on the name of the 1st gen.
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Originally Posted by adimicra I have decided to postpone my decision till the launch of Nexus Sailfish (5" 1080p with SD 82x) and Honor 8 (don't see Zuk Z2 launching soon) . Hopefully these 2 phones should launch within the next 2-3 months. |
Nexus Sailfish should be a good buy. Google pushes its manufacturers really hard to meet their requirements. But, whenever you buy a phone, never go by the specs. Give more importance to the actual user experience ( see the phone in real and use it for some time ), how easy the phone is on the hands, and how durable the brand is. Specs beyond a particular value is pointless. And a phone with a pathetic software quality can spoil the experience in the best of hardwares, classic example - Samsung phones. Even with me not being a fan of the Apple design in mobiles or the software philosophy of Apple, I still recommend Apple phones over Samsung for one reason - the software quality. Only Samsung could create such a crap out of android. Even Xiaomi fares better here. The only customized Android UI which doesn't spoil the user experience or performance is that of ASUS.