“Motorola’s G5s Plus is the first smartphone in the G-series to come equipped with dual cameras”

Smartphones are segmented across a variety of price brackets, but the most congested space is arguably the affordable segment. There are a myriad of manufacturers, both young and experienced who are fighting tooth and nail to attract buyers. Moreover, certain manufacturers have sub-brands, and in some cases, a few offerings within the same umbrella can compete with each other. Case in point, the recently launched K8 Note (review) which will be going up against Moto’s latest contender in the G-series, the Moto G5s Plus (first impressions). Since both the handsets are similarly priced and feature dual camera, we decided to pit the phones against each other to see which offers a better value for your money.

Design and display

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Affordable smartphones usually come boasting a premium metal construction these days and the two contenders we have today are no different. Both the smartphones feature unibody metal designs and flaunt curvy backs which, besides adding a bit of panache to their looks, makes it easier to grip the two devices as well. There are fingerprint sensor present on both the smartphones, which can be found on the front below the display on the G5s Plus, and at the back below the camera module on the K8 Note. The sensors works great on both the handsets and allows you to unlock the phones in a jiffy. The biggest design difference between the two devices is the presence of an additional hardware button on the K8 Note which can be programmed by the user to open any app.

In terms of displays, both the Moto G5s Plus (pictured above) and the Lenovo K8 Note pack 5.5-inch full HD IPS LCD panels. The panels are crisp and sharp on both the handsets and therefore, both the handsets should be equally capable when it comes to media consumption.

Performance, Software and Storage

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In terms of performance, the Lenovo K8 Note (pictured above) packs a MediaTek Helio P10 chip which is a deca-core processor, working alongside 4GB of RAM. The Moto G5s Plus, on the other hand, has gone the Qualcomm route and is powered by a Snapdragon 625 octa-core chip which works with 4GB of RAM as well. Based on the spec sheet alone, the Lenovo K8 Note looks to be a more enticing offering, though higher number of cores doesn’t always necessitate into better performance. Additionally, the Snapdragon 625 chip is one of the best processors in the affordable segment right now and scores big on both battery efficiency and performance. Having said that, we were immensely impressed with the K8 Note’s performance in our review and therefore, both the smartphones should churn out smooth performance.

Motorola’s G-series of smartphones have always come bundled with stock Android and the G5s Plus is no different as it boots Android Nougat v7.1.1. The story remains unchanged on Lenovo’s side of things too and the K8 Note also runs a stock version of Android Nougat. Therefore, if you consider yourself to be an Android purist, then you could pick up any one of the two smartphones. For storage, both smartphones come with 64GB of onboard memory which can be further expanded via microSD cards on both the smartphones.

Camera, Battery and Connectivity

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In the camera department, both the contenders we have today feature a dual camera setup on the back. Let’s talk about Lenovo’s offering first. So the K8 Note packs a pair of 13MP and 5MP sensors on the back which are capable of shooting in bokeh mode. The Moto G5s Plus, on the other hand, is backed by a pair of 13MP sensors on the back, one of which is an RGB sensor while the other is a monochrome sensor. Therefore, you can shoot stellar black and white photos using the G5s Plus which would otherwise require a filter on the K8 Note. Moreover, the handset can also shoot in depth effect mode, allowing users to focus more on the subject by blurring the background.

While Moto’s primary camera setup looks more promising on paper, Lenovo wins the pixel war when it comes to secondary shooters as the handset gets a 13MP selfie camera aided by an LED flash. On the contrary, the Moto G5s Plus gets an 8MP selfie shooter with a dedicated LED flash unit as well. While we are yet to test out the cameras on the G5s Plus, the performance of the Lenovo K8 Note in the camera department was really good and therefore, Moto’s G5s Plus has its task cut.

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In the battery department, the Moto G5s Plus comes with a 3,000mAh battery whereas the Lenovo K8 Note gets a 4,000mAh unit. Clearly, Lenovo is offering a much beefier battery, however, bear in mind that the Snapdragon 625 processor powering the G5s Plus is one of the most battery-efficient chips in the market so we wouldn’t write off Moto just yet. Both the smartphones come with similar connectivity options along with support for 4G VoLTE.

Closing thoughts

The Lenovo K8 Note is a solid offering from the company and it managed to impress us quite a bit. Having said that, last year’s G5 Plus scored big in all the right departments, and therefore, we’ve got high hopes from the G5s Plus too. Suffice it to say, both the smartphones bring some compelling features to the table and it’s going to be a close call between which one comes out on top. Do let us know in the comments below which smartphone you would buy and why.

Lenovo K8 Note vs Moto G5s Plus