Motorola Moto E (2 Gen) vs. Xiaomi Redmi 2: Clash of Top Budget Smartphones

Xiaomi and Motorola were very instrumental in bringing healthy competition to budget segment in the Indian market last year. And this year too both the companies are pushing the limits of what an entry-level phone can deliver at a dirt-cheap price.

Few days back, Motorola and Xiaomi launched feature-rich handsets -- Moto E (2 Gen) and Redmi 2 -- in the subcontinent for ₹6,999.

Prospective consumers who are planning to migrate to a smartphone with cool features and yet be friendly to the pocket then Moto E (2 Gen) and Redmi 2 are worth taking a look.

Display:

Xiaomi Redmi 2's candy-bar design language is very little different from its predecessor Redmi 1S. It also features same 4.7-inch HD display with 312 ppi (pixels per inch) resolution.

On the other hand, Moto E (2 Gen) sports a 4.5-inch TFT qHD (960x450p) screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 shield, but the resolution is sub-par compared to rival Redmi 2.

Honorable mention:

The new Moto E comes equipped with gesture-control based Moto Display feature.

For the uninitiated, Moto Display enables the phone to know when the user takes the device out of his pocket, or picks up the phone from the desk near them and then select pixels of the display lights up to show the time or any pending notifications without having to unlock the phone.

Processor, RAM and Storage capacity:

Redmi 2 ships with the new generation 64-bit class based Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 series quad-core SoC (System on Chip). It also boasts of LTE modem enabling faster download speed close to 150 mbps speed and upload speed up to 50 mbps.

The other advantage of owning 64-bit CPU based phone is that the phone's performance and RAM management is optimized so that there will be no lag when user is playing power guzzling games or multi-tasking (using multiple apps at once).

Whereas the Moto E (2 Gen) 3G which is released in India features old 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 200 series quad-core CPU.

It has to be noted, Motorola has announced that advanced Moto E (2 Gen) with Snapdragon 410 is expected to set foot in India around May.

Both Redmi 2 and Moto E (2 Gen) ship with 1GB RAM and 8GB inbuilt memory, which is expandable up to 32GB.

[Note: Xiaomi has announced to released limited edition Redmi 2 with 2GB RAM and 16GB memory in India little later in the year]

Camera:

Once again, Xiaomi's Redmi 2 comes on top over the new Moto E smartphone.

Redmi 2 ships with an 8.0-megapixel camera with full Video-recording ability on the rear-side and a 2.0-megapixel snapper in the front.

On the other hand, Moto E (2 Gen) camera features are very sub-par. It houses 5.0-megapixel camera on the back with no LED flash support and a VGA (0.3 mp) camera on the front.

One appreciable feature of Motorola's budget phone camera is that it boasts Quick-Capture' camera launcher feature, where in user can activate the camera in a matter of few seconds just by flipping the device twice horizontally.

Mobile operating system:

In this aspect there is no real winner. Xiaomi Redmi 2, which comes with Android 4.4.4 KitKat with MIUI, will be liked by people who love customising the phone with short-cuts and change interface themes quite frequently.

Whereas the Motorola Moto (2 Gen) would be admired by Android purists who like to feel clean interface of Lollipop with no hint of bloat-wares. There is only one company app -- Motorola Assist.

Price:

Both Motorola and Xiaomi devices costs ₹6,999, but Moto E (2 Gen) is readily available on Flipkart, whereas the Redmi 2 is slated to on go sale on 24 March via Flipkart flash sale.

Verdict:

Motorola Moto E (2 Gen):

Pros:

• Value-added gesture control features Moto Display, Quick-capture camera launcher option
• Water-resistant coating

Cons:

• No flash in the rear-side
• No 4G-LTE model chip (this model is expected to debut in May in India)

Xiaomi Redmi 2:

Pros:

• 64-bit class Snapdragon 410 series SoC (System on Chip)
• Decent camera features -- 8mp on the rear-side and wide-angle 2mp snapper on the front

Cons:

• The company has to end the flash sale and instead replicate Redmi Note 4G's open sale, which gives everybody an equal opportunity to buy the phone not just tech-savvy consumers.

Key specifications of Motorola Moto E (2 Gen) and Xiaomi Redmi 2: