Motorola is looking for redemption after some of its recent Moto devices failed to light up the market. The Lenovo-owned mobile brand is back with the Moto G6 Plus, which costs Rs 22,499 and competes against devices like the Nokia 7 Plus and the recently launched Poco F1 from Xiaomi.
The mid-range segment has evolved over the past 10 months, with brands like Honor also getting a mention for quality products like the Honor Play. But with Poco F1 packing the octa-core Snapdragon 845 processor, the stakes are high and one would obviously compare the Moto G6 Plus with this one. So, which one of these would you pick if your budget is between Rs 20,000 and Rs 28,000. This comparison should give you some clarity.
Design
To start off, Motorola still hasn’t conformed with the trend of an edge-to-edge screen with a notch. Instead you get a 5.9-inch form factor, with bezels and a physical home button delicately placed below the display, which doubles up as a fingerprint scanner.
The glass back body is offered with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 (on both sides) that – the company claims – is durable enough to handle minor mishaps. Having said that, the glassy build does make it glossy and reflective.
The dual rear cameras get an ugly bump, which again, according to Motorola is what consumers want. The camera placement reminds one of a watch dial that has rings running over the edges, adding to the style quotient.
With the Poco F1, the material design used by the Poco team is reminiscent of what we’ve seen with OnePlus devices over the years. But with Poco F1, you kind of remember the Nokia Lumia phones with a premium plastic coating.
Poco is using polycarbonate materials to design the back body of the Poco F1. Unlike the glass-metal combo used by most phone makers these days, we prefer the former, for its durability more than anything else.
Display
The Poco F1 is no different with its screen, except for the size being marginally bigger than what you get with the Moto G6 Plus. The 6.1-inch screen sports a 2246x1080 pixels resolution, but the cost-cutting measure shows up with the use of Corning Gorilla Glass 3 instead of 5.
The resulting quality is quite good for a phone in its price bracket, something that we also talked about when we compared it to the OnePlus 6. There’s a thick notch on top of the screen, which doesn’t looking appealing, but gets the job done.
The Moto G6 Plus gets a 5.9-inch screen with 2160x1080 pixels resolution, but Motorola has decided against going for the 19:9 ratio display with a notch. The screen colours are on the warmer side compared to that of the Poco F1, most likely because Moto is using a cheaper display panel.
Both offer a wide-screen viewing experience, and if you’re not fond of the notch, the Moto G6 Plus becomes your automatic choice between the two.
Hardware and Software
The Poco F1 comes with the octa-core Snapdragon 845 processor and RAM options of up to 8GB. For storage, you can choose between 64GB, 128Gb and 256GB, but Poco F1 lets you expand it further via the hybrid SIM slot.
With the Moto G6 Plus, you’re getting a phone with the slower Snapdragon 630 paired with 6GB RAM and offering 64GB of storage space, which is expandable.
The Poco F1 also lets you run on VoLTE with both the SIM slots (which means you can use two SIM cards from VoLTE providers like Jio, while most other phones allow only one SIM slot to use this technology). Battery wise, you get a 4,000mAh on the Poco F1, while the Moto G6 Plus packs a 3,200mAh unit which supports turbo charging.
Poco F1 has opted to stick with MiUI, but uses a Poco Launcher with some lightweight tweaks to make the user experience nimble and friendly. Motorola has thankfully preferred to go with the stock Android version, running on 8.0 Oreo though.
Camera
Poco F1 gets 12 and 5 megapixel sensors at the back with aperture f/1.9 on the primary lens, while the secondary one handles the depth-sensing duties. The Poco F1 gets a 20 megapixel camera on the front.
The Moto G6 Plus also gets 12-megapixel and 5-megapixel dual rear cameras at the back with aperture f/1.7 and f/2.2 respectively.
In all probability, the Moto G6 Plus might fare marginally better than the Poco F1, especially with stock Android in tow, but the difference is unlikely to be significant. You also will find a 16-megapixel front shooter on the Moto G6 Plus that should cater to all your selfie needs.
Worth It?
With the Poco F1, priced starting at Rs 20,999 for the 64GB storage / 6GB RAM variant, you’re looking at another affordable flagship device, reminiscent of Xiaomi’s Mi3 a few years ago. Having said that, good luck getting the Poco F1, which is likely to have a flash sale soon, where stocks may run out in a blink.
The Moto G6 Plus is another mid-range device that pales in front of the Poco F1, primarily because of its under-powered chipset, which falls short with respect to its value for money.
You can however, get the Moto G6 Plus via offline and online stores, if you’re in an urgent need to buy a phone. Else, you can also consider the Nokia 7 Plus or the Honor Play in this price segment.
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