LG is well-liked for its wide range of products, whereas Motorola strictly deals with communication devices. So, shouldn’t Motorola have the edge over LG in the phone-making department?
Following Lenovo’s acquisition of Motorola from Google in 2015, Motorola has been making decent smartphone gadgets. Some, like the Moto G7, has been highly successful, selling millions of copies worldwide.
Still, it’s hard to argue with LG’s wide range of phones. From the high-end G8 ThinQ to budget phones like the V20; LG produces phones for all kinds of products. At a brand level, here are the main differences between LG and Motorola.
Phone Variety
Winner: LG
With dozens of phone types going back to the early days of Android, LG is the clear winner when it comes to producing different varieties of phones. In a year, Motorola launches less than five phones, usually investing more on quality and performance over pricing.
By comparison, LG fires on all cylinders to deliver gadgets for broad audiences. You can find an LG phone priced $50 or you can dig pocket into your pockets and shell out $850 for the G8 ThinQ phone. LG also offers medium-priced devices, some of which are pretty good.
If you’re like most people, you probably don’t care about how many flagships each brand has. You want a good phone even if it’s the only device in the market. In this case, you may have to sit back and decide what you really what on a phone.
Performance
Winner: Varies by Phone
Both LG and Motorola have phones that feature the best technology available. LG’s G4 and G8 are two of its most advanced phones at the moment. The former uses six processors while the latter features eight processors.
Motorola’s top-shelf phones like Moto G6 and Moto G7 also feature eight processors. Moto X packs only two cores but compensates this with surpassing value for money. Read a more detailed review in this LG G4 vs. Moto X guide.
While LG has developed a trend of producing phones with multiple cores, Motorola invests its resources elsewhere. It knows you don’t need a phone with eight cores to read emails or scroll through social media. As such, the Lenovo-owned manufacturer focuses its resources on producing phones with stellar cameras, decent storage capacity, and light weights.
Screen Resolution
Winner: LG
There is no area LG ranks better than in manufacturing screens. It’s an award-winning TV manufacturer, expertise it has invoked in its smartphones. While it doesn’t always perform better than Samsung and Apple, LG edges Motorola in making phones with better displays.
The G4, for example, features 1.6x more megapixels than Motorola’s Moto 3. The same phone also features a 3.69% higher pixel density than its competitor. Motorola’s more expensive phones, the G6, and the G7 don’t perform better than LG’s ThinQ either.
While the G6 features a pixel density of 424 ppi, LG’s G8 is miles ahead with a pixel density of 563 PPI. Like the number of quad-cores, you probably may not notice a big difference in the quality of pictures displayed on two phones with close PPI densities.
However, if you regularly watch high-resolution videos, minor differences in pixel quality can make a massive difference in your experience. For this reason, LG offers you the best value. Of course, it worth noting that both brands have phones with LCD or OLED screens and varying display ratios. Still, you get better displays on top tier LG phones than on Motorola’s best devices.
Camera and Video Recording Features
Winner: LG
After Lenovo purchased Motorola, new Motorola devices dramatically improved in camera quality. A medium budget Motorola phone provides digital zoom while high-end devices provide up to 8x digital zoom. The phones also feature auto flashing, HD video recording, and touch to focus features.
LG also packs many of these features. The G4 takes 5312 x 2988 pixel images. It features an 8MP front camera and a 16MP rear camera. Notably, this is much better than what its rival, the Moto X presents. The Moto X features a 13MP rear camera and 2MP on its front side. LG also features cameras with small apertures, which helps produce more explicit images.
Ram and ROM
Winner: LG
The best LG phones present up to 6GB RAM and up to 2TB in expandable storage space. While most people don’t need vast amounts of RAM and ROM, LG at least makes storage an option for you. Of course, there are also numerous occasions where you could benefit from extra RAM or ROM.
Motorola isn’t without phones featuring decent storage capacities. But in comparison to LG, they dither far behind. Motorola’s G6 and G7 phones come with 3GB and 4GB in RAM. The Moto X only features two GB’s of RAM.
When it comes to storage, Moto G7 offers better disk space at 64GB. This space could be expanded to 512GB. LG’s best phone, the G8 packs 64GB worth of storage that could be expanded up to 2TB. You could also expand the G4 to 2TB.
Battery Life and Charging
Winner: Motorola
LG’s best phones are much more expensive than Motorola’s. However, they leapfrog LG in battery life. LG improved in its G8 flagship as it features a 3500mAh battery. But most of its devices have non-removable batteries with capacities of between 3000mAh and 4000mAh.
Motorola’s phones also come with non-removable batteries. Both the G6 and the G7 feature battery capacities of 3000mAh. Both phones also feature quick charging. Besides the two, Motorola has more phones that perform much better in battery life. The G6 Play, the E5 Plus, and G5 phones feature batteries of 4000mAh to 5000mAh power capacities.
To Conclude
There was a time when LG was a better brand than Motorola when it came to manufacturing phones. These days, you have to compare phones individually and decide which gadgets offer better value for money. If you’re on a tight budget, however, you’re more likely to get more value by purchasing LG phones than Motorola’s gadgets.