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Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Moto G5 Plus vs Nokia 6: Motorola may spoil Nokia's comeback party - India Today


It's too early to talk about the Moto G5 Plus and Nokia 6 as far as India is concerned. The India prices of the two phones are not known. The Moto G5 Plus is launching in India on March 15 , that we know. But the launch date of Nokia 6 -- or for that matter Nokia 5, Nokia 3 and new Nokia 3310 -- in India is not yet known. But the early signs are all there. When Nokia 6 comes to India, chances are that it will have to go head-to-head against the Moto G5 Plus. And that will be a fight it may not win.

Similar approach

In 2013, when Motorola re-entered the phone market in India after it became a Google-owned company, the primary focus for the Moto phones was on user experience. I remember meeting some senior Motorola executives at that time and all of them said that for Motorola, the new Moto phones -- and at that time there were only two, Moto G and Moto X -- was completely on user experiences at prices that are competitive. The hardware wasn't the focus. This is also the reason why Motorola kept using Snapdragon 400 and 410 in the Moto G phones until last year, when the Moto G4 Plus got a faster Snapdragon 615 processor.

I see the same approach followed by Nokia. Although how well this will work is yet to be seen, for now Nokia, or rather HMD executives, are all talking about the user experience. For them what matters is the actual performance, whether it is the processor we are talking about or the camera. The basics are more important for the Nokia 6, Nokia 3 and the Nokia 5, just the way the same basics were important for the Moto G phones.

Also Read: Lenovo's new Moto G5, G5 Plus make last year's Moto G4, G4 Plus look dumb

Then there is the software. Just like Moto G phones use clean and latest version of Android, the Nokia phones too use Android that has an unmodified user interface. Nokia, while launching the Nokia 6, Nokia 3 and Nokia 5, categorically said that it wants its phones to have the Google services, the same services that run on the Nexus and Pixel phones. It also said that it wants to push out timely and fast Android updates, an approach that Moto G also follow. So lots of similarities between the Moto G5 Plus phones and a Nokia phone like the Nokia 6.

Different hardware

Yet, there are differences. Big ones. On paper, the Moto G5 Plus comes with hardware that seems more powerful and more wholesome than what Nokia is putting in the Nokia 6. But before we talk about this Moto G5 Plus hardware, let's take a look at the aspects where I think the Nokia 6 will fare better. The design of the Nokia 6 surely seems more premium. It has that curved glass on top of the screen, which looks gorgeous. Then there is the screen. Not only the Nokia 6 has a bigger display, but I have a feeling that it might be even better in terms of brightness and vibrancy.

Not that I expect the Moto G5 Plus to have a bad screen because it won't. But there is something about the screens on the Nokia smartphones. Nokia can be really brilliant when it wants to when it comes to screens and I have a feeling that with the Nokia 6, the company wouldn't want to hold back.

But once you move past the design and screen, you see that the Moto G5 Plus is arguably a more well-endowed phone. It uses a faster (at least theoretically) Snapdragon 625 processor, unlike the Nokia 6 that uses Snapdragon 430. It also seems to have a better rear camera, which uses a 12-megapixel imag e sensor along with a very bright F1.7 lens. The Nokia 6 seems to have a more regular 13-megapixel camera. In terms of internal storage and RAM, both phones seem equally matched, although there will be different with different configurations of both these devices.

Other than these components, the phones seem fairly well matched. They have the similar software -- clean Android Nougat -- and both Motorola and Nokia promise fast updates. They also have similar 3000 mAh batteries inside their aluminium shells.

Advantage Moto

Overall, however, it does seem that the Moto G5 Plus may score over the Nokia 6. If there is one aspect that may help the Moto G5 Plus leap ahead of the Nokia 6 that is the rear camera. The camera that Motorola has put into the G5 Plus seems seriously good. India Today Tech will check this camera when it lands in India but on paper it looks very impressive.

Also Read: New Nokia 3310 launch is not about phone, it's about sending a message

The Nokia 6, meanwhile, has a trick of its own. In the end, whatever is there in the phone, its success or failure is determined by how well it sold and how much people liked it. On both these counts, the Nokia 6 could score high. The phone, unlike Moto G5 Plus, will be sold in offline shops. Given that Nokia brand still rings a bell for people, it may sell like hotcakes if the price is not outrageously high. At the same time, Nokia phones have always been more than the sum of their parts. Somehow they have appealed to people, even if on paper they may seem lacking. The same I expect will be the case with the Nokia 6. Though, the risk is always there and when this risk comes in the form of something like Moto G5 Plus, there is always a chance that Nokia's comeback party may take some hit.



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