OnePlus X vs. Moto X Play- Which X grants a better Xperience?

In the past few month a great number of smartphones were released, some of them were high- end devices, some of them were mid- rangers and some of them were total disappointments. Of course, the most impressive features were delivered by the flagship devices released these last months, but we were also pleasantly surprised by some of the mid-rangers. Two of these smartphones were the Moto X Play, released in August and the OnePlus X that was released only a few days ago and awed everyone with its stunning looks and great materials. Since both of these devices are doing extremely well in the value-for-the-money segment, we thought we should compare them, to see which one is more worthy of your attention.

OnePlus X

The OnePlus X firstly impresses with its looks, which are more than impressive for a mid- range smartphone, being actually comparable to the design and feel of more expensive devices. The smooth lines of the latest smartphone combined with the glass back plate and the Corning Gorilla Glass 3- covered screen definitely makes people think that they belong to a flagship device instead of a mid- ranger. The 5- inch AMOLED screen with its full HD resolution and 441 ppi pixel density are also quite impressive for a mid- ranger, delivering clear, crisp and bright images.

The latest device delivered by the OnePlus startup is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset with a quad- core Krait 400 processor clocked at 2.3 GHz, which is definitely not the most powerful one on the market but it is more than enough to make a mid- ranger run smoothly. The Adreno 330 GPU is also unimpressive, compared to the graphics processing units featured by high- end devices, but just like the processor, has more than enough power to make the OnePlus X run as smoothly as possible. The included 3 GB of RAM also contribute to the good functioning of the device and the 16 GB internal storage that can be extended by up to 128 GB due to the card slot of the OnePlus smartphone also helps to improve the user experience. The smartphone runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop based Oxygen OS, which runs smoothly and grants a lag- free user experience.

The primary camera of the OnePlus X has a 13 MP sensor, phase detection autofocus, LED flashlight and captures pictures with 4128 x 3096 pixels resolution, which is not bad for the camera of a mid- ranger. The secondary camera is a little more powerful than the average selfie camera, with a 8 MP sensor instead of the now common 5MP sensor of front facing cameras featured by the majority of recently released smartphones. The camera of the OnePlus mid ranger records 1080p@30fps and 720p@120fps videos. While the 2525 mAh battery is not the highest- capacity we’ve ever seen, it will still be able to ensure a full day’s usage, so users won’t have to worry about needing to recharge their OnePlus smartphone during the day.

• CPU – Quad-core 2.3 GHz/Qualcomm Snapdragon 801
• GPU – Adreno 330
• DISPLAY –Corning Gorilla Glass 3, 5 inches, AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, 1080 x 1920 pixels (~441 ppi pixel density)
• MEMORY – 16 GB, 3 GB RAM; microSD, up to 128 GB (uses SIM 2 slot)
• BATTERY – Non-removable Li-Po 2525 mAh battery
• CAMERA –13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, phase detection autofocus, LED flash;Secondary camera 8 MP
• VIDEO – 1080p@30fps, 720p@120fps
• BODY – 140 x 69 x 6.9 mm (5.51 x 2.72 x 0.27 in)
• WEIGHT – 138 g / 160 g (4.87 oz)
• WIRELESS – Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, hotspot

Moto X Play

The Motorola mid- ranger was released in August and made a good impression ever since, due to the power it hides under the hood and the affordable price tag it comes with. Although the design of the X Play is not as impressive as the one of the previously presented device, it will be preferred by some of the possible customers, since it offers a better grip and hence it will be less probable to drop it. Its screen is also protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3, so the front face will be just as wear- and scratch resistant as the OnePlus X’s, but the textured rubberized curvy rear panel may turn the Motorola device into a more resistant one than its competitor. 

The Motorola Moto X Play is a little larger than the latest OnePlus smartphone, having a 5.5- inch display, with the same resolution as the OnePlus X, making its pixel density lower at the same time. Even so, the images delivered by the Moto X Play are clear and beautiful, which is not that much of a surprise since it seems that the screen of the majority of smartphones gets better and better with every generation.

The Moto X PLay also impresses with its power, having a Qualcomm MSM8939 Snapdragon 615 chipset, an octa- core processor clocked at 1.7 GHz, and 1.0 GHz respectively, alongside a Adreno 405 GPU. THe Motorola smartphone includes 2 GB of RAM and can be purchased in two versions, one with 16 GB internal storage and the other one with 32 GB internal storage. This is extendable by up to 128 GB thanks to the microSD card slot it features, so it offers more than enough space for users to store their music and other content. The operating system of the Moto is a near-stock Android 5.1.1, offering a great Android experience, that will get better when the Marshmallow update arrives to the device.

The back camera of the Moto X Play is definitely more impressive than the one of the OnePlus X, having a 21 MP sensor that can deliver 5248 x 3936 pixels resolution photos that will be clear even in low- light conditions thanks to the dual- LED flash. The secondary camera has a 5 MP sensor which will take good quality selfies but will not be as impressive as the 8 MP front facing camera of the OnePlus smartphone. The camera of the Moto X Play records 1080p @30fps videos. The battery of the Motorola smartphone is larger than the OnePlus’s, being a 3630 mAh battery, and besides being higher- capacity it also charges faster, making it more appealing than its competitor.

• CPU – Quad-core 1.7 GHz Cortex-A53 & quad-core 1.0 GHz Cortex-A53/Qualcomm MSM8939 Snapdragon 615
• GPU – Adreno 405
• DISPLAY –Corning Gorilla Glass 3, 5.5 inches, IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, 1080 x 1920 pixels (~403 ppi pixel density)
• MEMORY – 16/32 GB, 2 GB RAM; microSD, up to 128 GB
• BATTERY – Non-removable 3630 mAh battery
• CAMERA –1 MP, 5248 x 3936, phase detection autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash;Secondary camera 5 MP
• VIDEO – 1080p@30fps
• BODY – 148 x 75 x 10.9 mm (5.83 x 2.95 x 0.43 in)
• WEIGHT – 169 g (5.96 oz)
• WIRELESS – Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, hotspot

Which X is better?

The OnePlus X definitely has a nicer design, but it is also more slippery and likely to break, and it lacks the 21 MP camera sensor and the larger battery of the Moto X Play. The OnePlus is slightly cheaper than the Moto X Play, but it can only be purchased based on an invite, making it less widely available than the Motorola, which could make the difference when choosing between the two devices. We would opt for the Motorola, specially because of the larger battery and the fact that it is more widely available, but if you don’t care that much about these aspects and wish to have a good- looking device, you should probably opt for the OnePlus X. That is, if you have enough patience to get your hands on it.