Nokia Lumia 630 vs Motorola Moto G

Introduction

The Nokia Lumia 630 is the new kid on the affordable phone market: a Windows Phone 8.1 device of very low price yet with a healthy screen size of 4.5 inches, the processor power of the quad-core Snapdragon 400, and nice enough design. With all this, there is simply no way not to compare it to its affordable Android sibling - the Motorola Moto G. Just like the Lumia 630, the Moto G showcases the best of Google’s operating system at a very affordable price - it’s got a 4.5” 720p display, larger than most devices its class, a powerful quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, and a decent 5-megapixel camera.

Both showcase the latest of both platforms, and both are sold at very low profitability; both devices serve more to proliferate and popularize their operating systems among customers on a budget, rather than to make a profit for the company that manufactures them.

How do they differ, though, and is one better than the other? Let’s find out.

Design

The Lumia 630 comes with a typical for Nokia form, boasting а wrap-around plastic shell that is easy to replace and swap for another one of different color. The material used in the 630 is plastic, with a paper-feeling soft touch finish that does not stain easily, and overall the phone is well put together.

The Moto G, on the other hand, is also a plastic phone, but unlike the flat lines of the Lumia, it has a preference for curves, and it uses a plastic shell that is a magnet for fingerprints. Notable on the Moto G is also the dimple on the back with the ‘M’ for Motorola, a nice cosmetic touch that gives the phone character.

In terms of pure size, both are of nearly the same - the Moto G being just a hair narrower, but noticeably thicker, so overall the Lumia 630 feels more elegant and well-refined.

Both use on-screen buttons - a novelty for Windows Phone where the Lumia 630 is the first phone to ever use such navigation, while in the Android world, on-screen buttons are pretty much a standard. The Lumia 630 and Moto G both have all their physical keys on the right - lock key in the middle and a volume rocker above for the Lumia, and the same in reverse position for the Moto G. The feel of the plastic keys on the Nokia phone is a bit shallow, though, and while they get the job done, the meticulously crafted buttons of the Moto G are much more responsive and solid.

Display

One of the biggest disadvantages for the Nokia Lumia 630 is the fact that its 4.5-inch display has a lowly resolution of just 480 x 854 pixels. This translates into a pixel density of just 218ppi, and makes everything on the screen a bit pixelized, an issue particularly noticeable when you read text in small fonts. The Moto G 4.5” display, on the other hand, is much sharper, with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, granting it pixel density of the respectable 329ppi.

Turning over to the actual color fidelity, the Nokia Lumia 630 does fairly well for the class, with the white point at 7049K, pretty close to the reference 6500K value, which means that whites on the display appear just very slightly on the cold side. Colors are mostly within the industry-standard sRGB color gamut, but there is also a very noticeable oversaturation and some colors (most notably green) are way off. The Moto G has a little colder white point, but in terms of saturations it is even better, with rich colors within the sRGB gamut that are just slightly overblown, but overall this is one of the most accurate screens for this affordable class of devices.

Looking at the screens outdoors, the Lumia 630 is a bit less reflective and that makes it slightly easier to use under direct sunlight. Viewing angles, however, are much better on the Moto G, as it preserves a lot of the color vibrancy and brightness at an angle, while colors on the Lumia 630 wash out noticeably when you tilt the phone.