With the Moto X4, Lenovo has introduced one of the most interesting smartphones in the IFA. The device comes with an intelligent dual camera and built-in Alexa voice assistant. It has water protection and good mid-class SoC. The price of Rs. 24999 is rather good.

The new Moto X4 is Lenovo's latest model of the X series and offers a good phone and interesting functions. With this price-performance ratio, the smartphone is one of the highlights of IFA.

Display

The Moto X4 has a 5.2-inch full-HD display, which displays sharp images. It is clear enough and has good color reproduction and viewing angle stability. The casing is of metal and glass and is high-quality and well-processed. Thanks to IP68 the smartphone is water and dust resistant.

On the back is a dual camera, which has a 12-megapixel module and an 8-megapixel module. The 8-megapixel sensor has a wide-angle lens with a field of view of 120 degrees. Users can mask the blurred background and reposition the focus point in retrospect.

This works so far well, but the lighting was not ideal. Thus we cannot make a final judgment, nor on the picture quality. This looks good at first sight.

Camera

The camera of the Moto X4 can not only take pictures and videos, but also recognize objects. You have to target the object and press a small button inside the camera app. Then get the position of the object on a map and more information.

According to Lenovo, this should also work with articles that the user wants to order on the Internet. Moto X4 can scan business cards through the camera. It becomes clear that Lenovo has thought about the extra use of the camera. The front camera has 16 megapixels and at a first glance also takes good shots.

Amazon Alexa

Moto X4 has pre-installed Amazon's language assistant Alexa. This works on the smartphone as well as on the echo speakers: Users can ask questions or even control a Smart Home. To do this, you do not even have to open the Alexa app. In the settings, the wizard can also react in standby mode.

Motorola Moto X4 - Full phone specifications

Inside the Moto X4, there is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 630, an eight-core SoC with a clock rate of 2.2 GHz. The Snapdragon 630 is one of Qualcomm's mid-class processors. It satisfies everyday requirements as well as games.

With the processor and 3 or 4 GB of memory, the Moto X4 runs smooth. The flash memory is 32 or 64 GB in size. The smartphone supports Cat6-LTE and WLAN according to 802.11ac. Bluetooth is version 5.0 with a GPS receiver. The hardware equipment is at a higher medium-class level.

The Moto X4 comes with Android 7.1.1 with Google's current security patch. The user interface is close to the pure Android, which should help updates. The battery has a nominal charge of 3,000 mAh and is fast-charging. Lenovo does not provide information on the runtime.

Conclusion

The Moto X4 is one of the most interesting new smartphones of this year's IFA. The phone is very good in price, camera and the associated smart detection options.

The integration of Alexa is practical. With the Google Assistant, even a second language assistant is available. If you use an Alexa compatible smart home at home, you will not want to miss the possibility of voice control.

The hardware of the Moto X4 moves in the upper mid-range. The model with 4GB RAM up to the processor is actually already in the upper class. For everyday apps, the 3GB version is more than enough.

At a price of Rs. 24999, the Moto X4 in the price-performance ratio is currently hard to beat. If you do not want to spend too much and make few compromises with the hardware, the device should serve well. The Moto X4 will be available from the end of September 2017.

Asus Zenfone AR is a top-class smartphone with augmented reality features. The device supports Googles Tango. The VR platform Daydream is also on board. Never again glued or damaged displays through unwieldy visibility films! The Magnetic Privacy Filter from hardwrk convinces with its magnetic mechanism for fast attachment and removal. Watch now!

Asus Zenfone AR: Well-equipped Tango smartphone with Daydream support

The Zenfone AR is not the first smartphone with Google's Tango AR platform, but the first with top-class equipment in an acceptable size. The first Tango phone was the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro. Not only the name was an announcement, but also the device itself. With its image diagonals of 6.4 inches and a weight of 259 grams, it was almost a tablet. The Zenfone AR, on the other hand, has smartphone dimensions.

The Asus unit has a 5.7-inch WQHD-AMOLED display with 2.560 x 1.440 pixels and weighs 170 grams. Its dimensions are 158.7x77.4x4.6 millimeters against the Lenovo counterpart that is 88.57x179.83x10.7 millimeters. The Zenfone AR is equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 821 processor, six gigabytes of DDR3 RAM and 128 gigabytes of internal UFS 2.0 memory, which can be expanded using a micro SD card. If you do not have to use the memory card slot, you can alternatively insert a second SIM card.

Other features include a fingerprint sensor on the front, WLAN to AC standard, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, NFC and a fixed 3,000 milli-hour rechargeable battery with Quick-Charge 3.0 and reverse charging function. The C port can also be used as an accumulator for other devices. So that the Zenfone AR in daydream-view operation does not overheat, which unfortunately we could see in the Google pixel, the processor is cooled by a Vapor-Chamber. The Zenfone AR, however, is also quite warm when using AR apps. No wonder the processor demands top performance.

The Tango has a so-called Tricam system, which consists of a 23-megapixel OIS main camera with Sony IMX-318 sensor, a camera for depth information and a motion sensor. With this camera, you can capture the space and movements with the smartphone and display them on the screen in real time.

In addition, you can use the Zenfone to map your environment in real-time in 3D and position virtual objects in space. For the sake of completeness, the front camera has an eight-megapixel sensor. As software, Android 7.0 Nougat is preinstalled with the in-house user interface ZenUI 3.0.

Asus Zenfone AR: Augmented Reality in the trouser pocket

The range of apps is currently limited, but a few large players have already put first applications into the Play Store. Amongst others, the US clothing retailer Gap, BMW, and the Wall Street Journal are starting. These apps exemplarily show what companies and publishers can do with Tango.

For example, the Gap Dressingroom app allows customers to try dressing in Augmented Reality. With the BMW I Visualiser you can put the BMW i3 and i8 in full size into your living room or garage to configure it and then view it from all sides.

Other similar scenarios are also conceivable. With the smartphone sensors, you can measure your living room. With interior furnishings apps, you have the possibility to project a digital version of the piece of furniture in full size into the room. You can see the product in the room from all sides.

Augmented Reality is still in a nascent stage. This year, the technology will be a powerful step forward, because Google not only has announced it in 2014. Since then Google has developed Tango and the camera app Google Lens. Apple also announced its ARDC kit at the WWDC 2017, which will be a big boost with iOS 11 and the next iPhone in the technology.

With its Zenfone AR, Asus is therefore quite early on hardware and wants to help developers and other interested parties to spread the technology. The smartphone price is Rs. 49999 in India.