Lets start with the introductions. Lenovo’s sub Brand, Motorola first introduced Moto G5 Plus during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 trade show, along with Moto G5 smartphone. Today the smartphone finally debuted in India, priced at Rs 16,999 for the 4GB RAM variant. Whereas the Honor 6x smartphone was launched in January this year for Rs 15,999 (4GB RAM variant). Both the smartphones share some similarities and at the same time have some distinctive features which help them stand apart. If that isn’t enough, then you have the underlying tension of two big brand Chinese firms trying to make a mark in India this year. So read on.
Design and Display
Both Moto G5 Plus and Honor 6X sport a metallic unibody design, curved at the back to make it an easier grip. The Moto G5 Plus measures 150.2 x 74 x 9.7 mm and weighs 155 grams. While Honor 6X measures at 150.9 x 76.2 x 8.2 mm and 162 grams. But then what’s the big deal about 7 extra grams? The microUSB ports sit at the bottom of both phones. If we talk about fingerprint Sensors – G5 Plus’ fingerprint sensor integrated into the home button, whereas Honor 6x’s fingerprint scanner is placed on its back panel. In my view, I like to have it on the back panel as it becomes easy to access, but I suspect its a matter of personal preference.
In terms of display, both these smartphones boast 1080p Full HD display, however, the Moto G5 Plus comes with a 5.2-inch screen, whereas Honor 6X has 5.5-inch screen size. The smaller screen size of G5 Plus makes it a better proposition in terms of one-handed use and produces sharper images. If we talk about the larger screen size of Honor 6X, it provides better viewing angles, and in these days of high video consumption, that can’t be a bad thing at all. However, both the phones will not disappoint you in terms of the display as both comes with 1080p Full HD resolution. Moreover, Moto G5 Plus comes with water repellent nano-coating.
Performance, Memory and Battery
On the Processor front, the Honor’s Proprietary Kirin 655 has a slight upper hand in terms of performance against the Moto G5 Plus’ Snapdragon 625 processor. However, for normal day to day usage Moto G5 Plus’ Snapdragon 625 processor is more efficient and consumes less battery juices, whereas for hardcore users Honor 6X is a better option. In terms of storage and memory, both the phones come with 4GB RAM, while on storage capacity the Honor 6X steals the show with 64GB capacity, as compared to the Moto G5 Plus and its 32GB of internal storage.
Furthermore, both phones also offer dual SIM functionality too. Though with Jio starting to charge from April 1, we wonder how decisive this feature is going to be.
In terms of battery, the Moto G5 Plus is backed by a 3000mAh battery, whereas Honor 6X gets its strength from a 3400mAh battery. In this departmentas well, 6X seems to the winner based purely on the specs.
Camera
Probably the Honor6X’s trump card. Nowadays people look out for a good performance camera smartphones and there is fierce competition in the mid-range space. Let’s talk about Honor 6X’s camera first, as it comes with the dual-camera setup at the back. The device features a combination of a 12-megapixel sensor and a 2-megapixel sensor. The set up comes with phase detection Autofocus (PDAF), LED flash etc. At the front, there is an 8-megapxel sensor for selfies. The rear camera setup on the Honor 6X is more like the one we saw in HTC One M8. The set up lets you dig into and play with shallow depth of field and one can change the focus of an image post clicking it.
On the other hand, Moto G5 Plus sports a single 12-megapixel rear camera with Aperture f/1.7, 1.4-micron pixels, 8X digital zoom, dual AF pixels and Dual LED flash. For the front, there is a 5-megapixel shooter for selfies with display flash.
If we compare camera setup of both the phones, Honor 6X comes out better on producing more natural images and also deliver better results in low-light conditions.
OS and Connectivity
Honor 6X runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with EMUI v4.1 on top, whereas Moto G5 Plus runs on latest Android 7.0 Nougat. However, recently Huawei confirmed that 6X will soon get Android Nougat update, probably in Q2 2017. The update will also bring in the new EMUI 5.0 which is a big overhaul from the current EMUI 4.1. But till that happens, we guess the Moto G5 steals a slight march on this issue.
Meanwhile, in terms of connectivity, both these devices comes with 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11, Bluetooth, GPS with A-GPS, Micro USB 2.0 etc.
Wrapping up
Both the Honor 6X and Moto G5 Plus offer competitive hardware specification in this mid-range space. However, the Honor 6X holds the upper hand in terms of pricing, larger battery, slightly bumped up the processor, more storage and interesting camera capabilities. At the extra 7 grams in weight, it seems a steal. On the other hand, the G5 Plus comes with a strong brand value, Turbo Charge technology for a quicker recharge and also includes latest operating system complementing the processor for seamless performance. If we compare overall weaknesses and strengths of both the phones, then Honor 6X wins the race hands down, especially when considering the parent company Huawei’s own extended legacy, commitment and strong run in India. We would really recommend that you give the Honor 6X a shot this time.