Moto X2 vs Xiaomi Mi4: Disruptive pricing steals the show

Motorola was among the leaders in the mobile phone revolution and is now an established player in the global smartphone industry. Xiaomi, on the other hand, a new Chinese player, having recently created waves with its Mi3 and Redmi series of budget smartphones, has rapidly emerged as a formidable global player. Therefore, to see how old is coping with the rise of the new, we have decided to compare Motorola’s X (2^nd gen) with Xiaomi’s Mi4.

Motorola Moto X (2nd gen)

Xiaomi Mi4

DESIGN:

Moto X2 is a beautifully crafted smartphone with a metallic edge all around the device, with rounded corners and a rubberized finish that helps in gripping the device. At its thinnest edge, Moto X2 measures 3.8mm whereas on the thickest edge (centre) it measures 10mm. Other dimensions are more or less comparable to Xiaomi Mi4. However, as the data indicates, Moto X2, in spite of being a bit bigger and thicker than Xiaomi Mi4, is actually slightly lighter in weight.

Xiaomi Mi4 has a metallic edging giving it an elegant look, though the rear cover is all-plastic. The design is inspired by the iPhone 5S, and it is available in black and white color variants but offers a variety of colors to choose from as skins. On the other hand, Motorola’s Moto Maker, that allows for customizing the back material- leather, wooden or plastic- and offering multiple color choices, is only available in the US; in other markets Moto X2 comes in black plastic, black leather and wood finish.

Motorola's Custom Designer- Moto Maker

DISPLAY:

The display screen indicators in both the devices are pretty much comparable with the display technology being the only major differentiator. While Moto X2 has an AMOLED Capacitive screen, Xiaomi Mi4 has an IPS-LCD Capacitive display, which gives Moto X2 a leg up as AMOLED display has several advantages over the IPS-LCD display type including the capacity to provide exceptional color reproduction, fast response times, wider viewing angles, higher brightness and extremely lightweight designs. Moreover, besides the slightly bigger display screen, Moto X2 also comes with corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection that Xiaomi Mi4 does not. As such, on the display front, Motorola’s Moto X2 takes a clear lead. 

PROCESSOR & MEMORY:

On the processing front, both Moto X2 and Xiaomi Mi4 have the exact same system on chip (SoC) and both the devices clocking in the same processor speed of 2.5 GHz. Moto X2 offers 2 GB of RAM whereas Xiaomi Mi4 offers 3 GB RAM, which makes Mi4 capable of handling more tasks smoothly, almost eliminating problems such as lag, random shutdown etc. Both the models do not offer expandable memory but come in different ready capacities. 

OPERATING SYSTEM:

Both, Moto X2 and Xiaomi Mi4, run on an Android OS v4.4 that is upgradable to v5.1 and v5.0 respectively. Moto X2 has no Motorola skin but has added several apps to improve usability such as actions, assist, voice and display. Xiaomi’s Mi4 uses its own MIUI 6 OS atop the Android 4.4.4 KitKat OS. This skin is the latest update and brings several design updates for improved experience; the skin draws inspiration from iOS as we can see below.

Xiaomi's MIUI6

Motorola's Stock Android OS with special features

CAMERA & BATTERY:

Both the models provide us with 13MP primary cameras. However, Mi4 takes a big jump over Moto X2 in the front camera with 8MP as compared to Moto’s 2MPs. So for people who have more usage of the secondary camera like Video Bloggers or who want the selfies better, Xiaomi Mi4 is a better option. Furthermore, on the battery front too, Xiaomi Mi4 with its 3080 mAh battery capacity is ahead of Moto X2’s 2300 mAh. 

CONCLUSION:

The comparative analysis indicates that Moto X2 and Xiaomi Mi4 are neck to neck on several key specifications such as chipset, processor, memory and primary cameras.  Nevertheless, there are some differentiating points: while Moto X2 has the advantage of a slightly bigger display screen, superior display technology, better corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection and an OS with some additional apps to improve usability, Xiaomi Mi4, on the other hand, has bigger RAM, higher battery capacity, superior secondary camera and an iOS inspired MIUI 6 OS skin for latest updates for enhanced experience.

To get a sense of price, we looked at the Indian market, where Motorola Moto X2’s 16GB variant is priced at around Rs.22,000 and 32GB variant at around Rs.32,000. On the other hand, Xiaomi Mi4’s 16GB variant is priced around Rs.18,000 and 64GB variant at an impressive Rs.22,000, which should force Motorola to reconsider the price.