Yesterday, Motorola held a press conference in India and officially introduced the next-generation Moto G lineup. Renamed as the “Moto G4”, the new series consists of three smartphones, with the top of the range being covered by none other than the Moto G4 Plus. The smartphone, like its predecessors, fits in the mid-range market, but Moto G smartphones have always been known for offering good value for the money, and of course the Moto G4 Plus doesn’t seem to be any different in this regard. In fact, surprisingly enough and as shown today by an early DxOMark review, it looks like the Moto G4 Plus camera might be powerful enough to compete with the premium smartphone market segment, and go against devices such as the iPhone 6S Plus.
The Moto G4 Plus is equipped with a 16-megapixel camera with an f/2.0 aperture, featuring phase detection as well as laser autofocus, auto-HDR, and a dual-LED flash. These specifications are respectable on-paper, but usually, the number of megapixels doesn’t tell the whole story, and in practice there’s no better way to determine the quality of a camera other than putting it to use in a variety of environments and in several lighting conditions. Fortunately, the team at DxOMark was quick to acquire the latest Moto G4 Plus and review its camera. The results are quite surprising, with DxOMark giving the Moto G4 Plus a rating of 84/100. This score places the device in the same league as the iPhone 6S Plus, the Google Nexus 6P, and the Moto Droid Turbo 2 – all of which have scored 84 points. More accurately, DxOMark ranks the Moto G4 Plus’ camera in-between the iPhone 6S Plus and the Moto Droid Turbo 2.
Overall, DxOMark describes the Moto G4 Plus camera as being very good at preserving details in bright light and adds that the unit has good noise reduction in the same conditions. Colors are “vivid and pleasant” in most outdoor scenes, and the white balance is also reportedly good indoor or in low-light conditions. Granted, the sensor is not perfect and DxOMark also points out that there are some issues with HDR activation (in that it doesn’t always work when it should), as well as color shifting among other things, but all in all, while there still is room for improvement, the Moto G4 Plus camera seems to exceed expectations.
