A consumer checks out smartphones (Reuters)
A consumer checks out smartphones (Reuters)Reuters

Diwali festival is set to kick-off next week; and, many MNC firms have lined up with new smartphones in the market.

Prospective consumers who are looking to upgrade their feature-phone with an international mid-range smartphone this holiday season, then Motorola Moto G (Gen 2.), Nokia Lumia 730, LG L Bello and Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime might interest you.

To get a better perspective on these smartphones, we have compiled a list of brief descriptions and key specifications of the devices.

Display Details:

The new 2014 edition- Moto G phone sports a 5.0-inch HD (1280x720p) display with a pixel density of 294 ppi (pixels per inch) and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3 shield.

Nokia Lumia 730 Dual flaunts energy efficient ClearBlack OLED technology based 4.7-inch HD display screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 shield.

LG L Bello sports 5.0-inch FWVGA (854x480p) IPS screen with pixel density close to 196 ppi (pixels per inch).

On the other hand, the new Galaxy Grand Prime sports a 5.0-inch qHD (960x540p) TFT screen having a pixel density of 220 ppi.

Processor, RAM and Storage Details:

In this aspect, all four smartphones pack pretty much same hardware like Snapdragon quad-core processors and house 1GB RAM and expandable memory.

Samsung comes packed with a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410 series processor (with Adreno 306 GPU), 1GB RAM, 8GB inbuilt storage (expandable up to 32GB).

Motorola Moto G (Gen 2.) houses 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 series CPU (with Adreno 305 graphics engine) and house 1GB RAM and 16GB inbuilt memory with an expandable option up to 32GB.

On the other hand, Lumia 730 Dual and LG ship with 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 series quad-core processor coupled with Adreno 305 graphics engine, 1GB RAM and 8GB inbuilt memory (expandable up to 128GB and 32GB respectively).

Mobile Operating System:

In this aspect, three smartphones- L Bello, Galaxy Grand Prime and Moto G (Gen 2.) have an edge over Lumia 730 Dual as they run on the ubiquitous and most popular Android OS.

There are a couple of advantages for owning a Motorola phone as it ships pure Android stock and is guaranteed to get Android L OS update well.

On the other hand, LG L Bello and Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime run on Android 4.4.2 KitKat with custom UI (we like to call it- bloat ware) and despite being new in the market, Samsung and LG have shown little interest in releasing a new software update to their previous mid-range smartphones.

Microsoft's Lumia 730 runs on the company's proprietary Windows Phone 8.1 OS (with Denim update). It boasts of intelligent Cortana voice-assistant search support. Users can just speak to the phone to perform functions like send/read new messages and suggest eateries nearby.

This intuitive digital assistant is capable of learning owner's behaviour over time and store information (with permission) to use it to make recommendations and suggestions tailored specifically to the user and is adept at setting a calendar appointment and also offers the ability to proactively warn you when it's time to leave for your next appointment or remind you to pick up milk on the way home.

The only drawback of Lumia 730 (and other Windows OS phones) is that it lacks in number of value-added apps compared to Android ecosystem, which has a vast collection (close to a million) of applications.

[Note: Android users can also use voice-command features via 'Google Now' from the phone's home screen, but this is not that intuitive compared to Cortana as well as Moto X's voice-control feature– 'Ok. Google Now'.]

[Also Read: Micromax Canvas 4 Plus A315 with Octa-Core CPU Goes on Sale in India; Price, Specification Details]

Camera Specification Details:

Motorola Moto G (Gen 2.) houses an 8.0-megapixel camera on the rear side with LED flash, Auto Focus, Slow Motion Video, Burst Mode, Auto HDR, Panorama, Tap to Focus, HD (720p) video recording ability and 2.0-megapixel snapper on the front side with HD video recording ability.

Lumia 730 packs a feature-rich 6.7-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, LED flash, 1/3.4-inch sensor, 26 mm camera focal length, f/1.9 aperture and a full HD 5.0-megapixel wide-angle front-camera with f/2.4 aperture.

One main USP of Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime is its 5.0-megapixel front camera with wide-angle (85-degree) lens, specifically targeted to attract selfie enthusiasts.

This feature-rich camera is expected to be supported by value-added apps to enhance the photography experience. It also houses an 8.0-megapixel camera on the back side with CMOS sensor with LED flash, auto-focus full HD video recording ability.

On the other-hand, LG L Bello flaunts an 8.0-megapixel camera with auto-focus, LED flash, full HD video recording and a decent 1.0-megapixel camera on the front.

[Note: More mega-pixel count in the camera does not guarantee a good quality photograph. It all depends on the type of the lens, size and aperture.]

[Also Read: Motorola Moto G (Gen 2.) vs. Micromax Canvas Nitro A310: Specifications Comparison]

Price:

India is a price sensitive market, and price plays a crucial role in the minds of youth and middle class working population, which forms the big chunk of the Indian demography.

[Also Read: Motorola Moto G (Gen 2.) vs. Sony Xperia E3: Specifications Comparison]

Motorola Moto G (Gen 2.) costs ₹12,999 at Flipkart, while Nokia Lumia 730 Dual and Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime come with a price-tag of ₹15,299 and ₹15,499 respectively.

On the other hand, LG L Bello is priced ₹15,990 (MRP: ₹18,500).

[Note: Except Moto G (Gen 2.), other three- Nokia, Samsung and LG smartphones can be bought for lesser price at online stores and upon little bargaining at local brick-and-mortar stores, can also get you a cool deal as well]

[Also Read: LG G3 Stylus, L Fino, L Bello Go on Sale in India; Price, Specification Details]

 Key Specifications of Motorola Moto G (Gen 2.), Nokia Lumia 730 Dual, Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime and LG L Bello:

Models Motorola Moto G (Gen 2.) Nokia Lumia 730 Dual Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime LG L Bello
Display 5.0-inch HD (720x1280p) Screen with Gorilla Glass 3 shieldPixel density: 294 ppi (pixels per inch) 4.7-inch HD (720x1280p) ClearBlack OLED screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 3Pixel density: 316 ppi 5.0-inch qHD (960x540p) TFT
screenPixel density: close to 220 ppi
5.0-inch FWVGA (854x480p) IPS screenPixel density: 196 ppi
OS Android v4.4.4 KitKat Windows Phone v8.1 with Lumia Denim update Android 4.4.2 KitKat Android v4.4.2 KitKat
Processor 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 series quad-core processor 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 series CPU 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 series quad-core CPU 1.3GHz Snapdragon 400 series quad-core CPU
GPU 450 MHz Adreno 305 Adreno 305 Adreno 306 Adreno 305
RAM 1GB 1GB 1GB 1GB
Storage capacity 16GB, expandable up to 32GB 8GB, expandable up to 128GB 8GB, expandable up to 64GB 8GB, expandable up to 32GB
Camera Main: 8.0-megapixel camera with LED flash, auto focus, HDRFront: 2.0-megapixel camera Main: 6.7-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, LED flash, 1/3.4-inch sensor, 26 mm camera focal length, f/1.9 apertureFront: full HD 5.0-megapixel wide-angle camera with f/2.4 aperture Main: 8.0-megapixel CMOS camera with LED flash, auto-focus full HD video recording abilityFront: 5.0-megapixel CMOS camera with wide-angle (85-degree) lens Main: 8.0-megapixel camera with auto-focus, LED flash, full HD video recordingFront: 1.0-megapixel camera
Battery 2,070 mAh;Talk time: N/AStandby time: N/A 2,220 mAh;Talk time: up to 22 hours (2G) & 17 hours (3G)Standby time: close to 25 days 2,600 mAh;Talk time: up to 17 hoursStandby time: N/A 2,540 mAh;Talk time: up to 12 hour 30 minutes (2G) & 10 hours (3G)close to 600 hours
Network 2G and 3G 2G and 3G 2G and 3G 2G and 3G
Add-ons Dual-SIM (micro) slots, Bluetooth v4.0 (LE), Wi-Fi (802.11 ac), front-facing speakers, FM radio, A-GPS, GLONASS, microSD card slot Dual-SIM (micro) slots, Bluetooth v4.0, Wi-Fi, NFC, FM radio, USB v2.0, Smart dual-SIM (micro) slots, 3G, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n 2.4GHz), Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth v4.0, GPS, 14-regional language support, matte finish on the rear-side Dual-SIM (micro) slots, Touch & shoot, gesture shot camera features, Knock Code security feature, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n), A-GPS/GLONASS, Bluetooth v4.0 (with A2DP), micro-USB v2.0,
Dimensions 141.5 x 10.99 x 70.7 mm 134.7 x 68.5 x 8.7 mm 144.8 x 72.1 x 8.6 mm 138.2 x 70.6 x 10.7 mm
Weight 149 g 130.4 g 156 g 137 g
Price MRP ₹12,999/- MRP ₹15,299/- MRP ₹15,499/- ₹15,990(MRP: ₹18,500)