Gadgetory

well you had to know this showdown was coming right to phones with very different ideas on how to customize and accessorize but those manufacturing differences run deep throughout each phone from design to build materials to the software on tap let's start with build quality motorola is going for lean super lean the g5 is far from chunky but it feels thick after handling the moto z LG is blazing its own trail with the g5 introducing a new design language we've not seen before metal frame with a primer like paint coating the exterior beauty might be in the eye of the beholder but the metal and glass combo of the Z looks like it might edge better over time fit and finish also lands with the Moto Z we like the rear fingerprint sensor on the g5 but the chin slider still doesn't fit as flush as we'd like for a premium handset the Moto mod pins on the Z look a little techy like exposed circuits but it's designed around a magnetic system which is built to cover those pins but we totally expect that the fiddly little power and volume buttons will turn some people off and the chin mounted fingerprint sensor is definitely unfamiliar for operating like a power button instead of a home button still it's easier to see the premium nature of this phone when it's made out of materials we associate with luxury now talking about screens LG shrank the g5 display down a touch we now have a 5.3 inch quad-hd LCD that slightly tighter pixel pitch doesn't quite beat the colorful and contrast II 5.5 inch AMOLED screen on the moto the Z screen is also easier to read in sunlight thanks to a more consistent high brightness mode the g5 technically should be able to crank brighter at least according to LG marketing materials but we can't ever seem to get it that bright and these two differ noticeably in terms of software LG's UI still holds to an older tradition of altering nearly everything about the Android interface Motorola continues to offer an almost stock software vibe LG even initially tried to get rid of the app drawer shame on you LG but they cut out some options like split screen apps possibly in anticipation of Android n but we do still have some interesting controls to automate certain behaviors like pairing with Bluetooth devices or setting a home location to toggle Wi-Fi motorola hasn't really changed anything here to the point where it can be somewhat Stark customizing home screens the biggest departure from stock Android is this moto assistant which augments what you can do with voice Actions now powering that software both phones share familiar hardware welcome 820 chipsets backed up by four gigabytes of RAM so we aren't surprised to see similar performance in daily operations judging flagship phones by how they open email is a bit silly so jumping directly to more graphics intensive games the Moto X out a victory while not completely lag free the Z plays Marvel future fight smoother than the g5 stepping down from this tier though even gaming performances often at ion games like implosion or that sweet sweet candy crash action moving to camera tech the g5 pulls ahead here for still photos LG delivers a much more feature complete app for adjusting settings and includes the ability to capture raw images for folks who like to edit the dual sensor experiment is also a lot of fun to play with is the super wide angle lens opens up photographic possibilities the Z just can't match the only area where the Moto has any leverage is in shooting video where the Moto Z can adjust exposure and has an HDR option to augment color nice features to be sure but not enough to unseat how much LG has grown in terms of camera tech over the last couple years what is surprising though is seeing how these two phones trade places for audio actual speaker quality is pretty close but the Moto gets the win for pointing that speaker in the right direction a headphone audio is a solid win for Motorola - we still aren't able to use an LG DAC friend with us a carrier branded g5 so testing the built-in headphone jack is something of a disappointment after coming from the LG v10 the Moto Z's adapter kind of bums us out but we do get a higher quality audio signal from the z4 purists the Motorola will truncate high resolution audio downsampling playback to 16 bit but it has a louder amp and better dynamic range than what the LG can produce now checking out battery life this is a pretty close fight while some manufacturers increased capacity this year both the Moto Z and LG g5 took small steps backwards in terms of battery size 2,600 and eight hundred million power respectively in testing run time though the Moto Z has the smaller battery it seems to perform better in our media benchmark streaming 30 minutes of HD video over Wi-Fi at 50 percent brightness the Moto Z with a brighter AMOLED display drained 6% of its battery while the g5 with a dimmer LCD drained 7% the LG does charge faster than the Moto in our testing however 30 minutes on the included chargers the LG topped off close to 55 percent of its battery while the best we could manage from the Moto Z was 38% lastly do we really need to detail the differing methods for modular accessories here motorola wins first LG's friends are somewhat lonely the camera grip has limped out into the market we can't play with the B&O DAC and that's it for this slider hardware Motorola has several moto mods ready for launch from simple style back plates to a battery pack to a speaker mod and a projector so we're actually able to tell you about this system plus the actual operation is a solid win for the Moto amazing things those magnets and pogo pins slap a mod to the back of your phone and you're using it that's it nice and easy having to reboot your g5 to swap on a camera grip is cumbersome and feels half-baked unfinished true modular phones might be right around the corner but moto wins for having real consumer facing accessories and actual partners onboard to create interesting options for Moto Z owners so we should wrap this up where does that leave us between the Moto Z and the LG g5 both companies should be commended for taking risks and pushing into unfamiliar territory for design build quality and novelty both phones also have some compromises which might be deal-breakers for individual consumers when comparing both phones based on what the manufacturers are highlighting as the unique features of each device we can't help but feel that Motorola has the more successful solution here that's not to say we don't think someone out there shouldn't buy a g5 camera snobs like me would probably gravitate towards LG's shooter more than Motorola's but when you chalk up the reasons for why someone might spend over $500 on a phone the days if we're paying for a modular accessory platform we'd like to be able to use what we pay for as always thanks so much for watching be sure to subscribe to this channel for our full coverage of both the LG g5 and the Moto Z including more comparisons and the most in-depth camera reviews available online for pocket now I'm Juan Carlos bag now some gadget guy on Twitter and Instagram and I will catch you all on the next comparison