Motorola has just announced the Moto G mid-range smartphone as its UK response to the Moto X, available only in the US.

But how does it compare to the current competition in the mid-range market? We have compared it to the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini to see what the similarities are, what the differences are and which one comes out on top.

READ: Motorola Moto G pictures and hands-on: A Nexus by stealth

The display is bigger and better on the Moto G

The Moto G sports a 4.5-inch display compared to the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini, which settles at 4.3-inches.

In terms of resolution, the Moto G also comes out on top with its 1280 x 720 LCD screen, with a pixel density of 329ppi, compared to the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini’s Super AMOLED display that has a 540 x 960 resolution with 256ppi.

The Moto G will also be a bigger device than the S4 mini, measuring 129.9 x 65.9 x 11.6mm compared to 124.6 x 61.3 x 8.9mm. But if you are interested in weight, the Samsung S4 mini is the lighter device, weighing 104g compared to the Moto G’s 143g.

The Moto G is faster

Under the hood, the Moto G packs a quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor compared to the dual-core 1.7GHz in the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini.

This will mean the Moto G will be faster at performing the every day tasks you throw at it, but we found the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini to be smooth and fast when we reviewed it, so this probably won't be the ultimate deciding factor.

The Samsung S4 mini has a better camera

If you are a big smartphone snapper and you love taking pictures, the Samsung Galaxy S4 mini brings you a better camera.

You'll find an 8-megapixel rear camera, along with a 1.9-megapixel front camera for any selfies or video calling on the Samsung S4 Mini. Plus, you'll also get Samsung’s camera features which include functions such as face detection and panorama.

The Moto G comes with a 5-megapixel rear camera, and a 1.3-megapixel front camera. In terms of features, it basically settles for what Android 4.3 has to offer.

The video recording capabilities are also slightly better on the Samsung S4 Mini, managing 1080p at 30fps compared to the Moto G's 720p.

The Moto G will last longer, but storage is better on the S4 Mini

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Moto G has a higher-capacity battery than the S4 Mini, coming in at 2070mAh compared the 1900mAh battery found on the S4 mini.

However, when if you are a big music or video downloader and need the storage capabilities, you will be better off with the S4 Mini as along with the 8GB internal storage, it offers microSD expansion for a further 64GB.

The Moto G on the other hand, comes with either 8GB or 16GB internal storage, and you won't be able to expand it as no microSD support is available.

Better connectivity on the S4 mini

Both devices come with the usual connectivity features including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth as you would expect.

You will have a few more options with the Samsung S4 Mini however, as the Moto G does not support LTE and there is no NFC on board either so you won’t be able to do any of that tapping to connect your other NFC devices.

The Moto G is cheaper and available in more colours

The Moto G is a lot cheaper than the S4 Mini and it comes in multiple interchangeable backs with different colour schemes compared to the S4 mini's two.

Moto G will be available from tomorrow for £135 for the 8GB model, £159 for the 16GB, while the Samsung S4 Mini sits on the shelf for a SIM-free price of £320.

Conclusion

The Moto G wins in a number of areas including processor, battery, price and colour availability, while the S4 Mini picks up points for camera, storage and connectivity.

It will ultimately depend on what you want from your device as to which of these two will be the winner for you, but the Moto G packs some great specs in for its price and is certainly worth considering.