We have seen comparisons between all the high-end, top-selling phones released thus far. But it is time to pit the incredible budget phone Moto G against the top-sellers to ascertain where this modest phone stands with respect to various parameters. The phones in contention are the Samsung Galaxy S5, Sony Xperia Z2, and HTC One M8.

It is worth noting that, the Moto G 4G variant, although it is priced less, packs terrific features and it provides stunning hardware and software performances.

Design

The Samsung Galaxy S5 comes with a soft, dimpled or bevelled back panel, while the Sony Xperia Z2 comes with a glass-like exterior and the HTC One M8, houses a metallic body. However, the Moto G 4G variant provides umpteen varieties of spirited colour options to choose from with the help of Motorola's Moto Maker. In addition, the Moto G 'Ferrari Edition' comes with the much-popular Kevlar back design, along with the Ferrari brand logo.

Usability

The Moto G is easy to hold and very comfortable to operate with just one hand mainly due to the size (4.5 inches) of the compact handset. The other three high-end phones house five inches or higher screen size and hence holding and operating with just one hand would be a herculean task.

Nevertheless, the advantages of the high-end phones like Galaxy S5 and Xperia Z2 come in the form of dust and water proof exterior while the Moto G doesn't. In addition, the Galaxy S5 comes with a fingerprint scanner, similar to the iPhone 5S. And obviously, with the price-range in mind, Moto G does not have any of these fancy yet useful features in the handset. When it comes to rough usage/handling of the phone, Moto G could be the right choice.

Software Performance

This is one of the main categories where the humble Moto G gives a good fight to the high-end phones. All four flagship phones run on Android KitKat OS. However, users who are looking for near stock Android experience and less of UI customization should get their hands on to Moto G.

With very little customization, the phone almost feels perfect. In addition to Moto G, Xperia Z2 also offers less customization on the UI part. While the Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8 are heavily customized with the help of Samsung's TouchWiz UI and HTC's Sense 6.0 UI respectively.

Connectivity and Multimedia Experience

All the listed phones support 4G and the other regular connections like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. In addition, the high-end phones support NFC, while the Moto G doesn't.

However, the category where the high-end phones rule the roost is the video playback. The Galaxy S5, Xperia Z2 and the HTC One M8 sport 1,080 x 1,920 pixels display resolution, which takes the video viewing experience to another level. But Moto G with its price range offers only 720 x 1,280 pixels screen resolution. Even though, it gives comfortable viewing experience, the 'wow factor' of the high-end phones is missing in Moto G. In addition, all four phones support microSD card slots for expansion.

Hardware Performance, Battery and Camera

The high-end phones are powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processors and there is no denying the fact that they are extremely powerful when compared to the Snapdragon 400 processor of Moto G. For users with heavy-duty work, should opt for one of the high-end phones. But for the users with modest phone usage can very well opt for Moto G.

Sony Xperia Z2 wins the battery war hands down with its 3200 mAh battery unit. But Moto G, on the other hand, gives good competition to the One M8 and the Galaxy S5. As Recombu points out, the phone can easily last up to 24 hours with moderate usage.

In addition, the high-end phones beat Moto G hands down when it comes to camera units. It is worth noting that, in addition to having spectacular megapixel counts, the Xperia Z2 and the Galaxy S5 can record 4K videos.

Conclusion

Moto G with its inexpensive price tag, incredible features and good specifications is definitely a stand-out. And in fact, the handset scored quite decently in comparison with the beastly high-end phones from Samsung, Sony and HTC.

However, for many users camera specification will be a deal breaker and this is one area where Moto G fails. In some other cases, users might want a dust or water proof phone for obvious reasons. Also, the heavy-duty handset users will definitely like to own one of the high-end phones. Even then, Motorola's modest Moto G is still a good phone packed with brilliant features.

Which phone do you think you will buy? Do you think the next version of Moto G will do better? Feel free to leave a comment.