Chinese manufacturer Honor announced at CES 2017 that it would be bringing its 6X smartphone to the US and Europe. The device arrives in early January for £225 and it brings with it some pretty impressive specs for the cash.

Here is how the Honor 6X compares to the kings of budget smartphones: the Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus.

Honor 6X vs Moto G4 vs Moto G4 Plus: Design

  • Honor 6X more premium-looking build
  • Moto G4 and G4 Plus more subtle branding
  • Honor 6X smaller, lighter and slimmer

The Honor 6X features a metal-frosted body with 2D curved glass and a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. Branding isn't subtle but overall, the 6X offers a premium-looking build.

The Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus both have metal frames and a textured rear with more subtle branding than the Honor device, featuring just an indented "M" on the rear. The G4 has no fingerprint sensor, while the G4 Plus has one built into the physical square button positioned on the front.

The Honor 6X is the smallest of the devices being compared here, measuring 150.9 x 76.2 x 8.2mm compared to the Moto G4 and G4 Plus that both measure 153 x 76.6 x 9.8mm. The 6X is also the lightest at 162g, compared to the 155g of the G4 and G4 Plus.

Honor 6X vs Moto G4 vs Moto G4 Plus: Display

  • All three have 5.5-inch, Full HD displays
  • Experience likely to be slightly different across two brands

The Honor 6X, Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus all have a 5.5-inch display with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution, meaning a pixel density of 401ppi across the board.

Theoretically that should mean a similar experience in terms of display, though they will no doubt vary slightly in some areas, such as colour balance and brightness as this is down to manufacturer settings rather than the size and resolution of the display.

Honor 6X vs Moto G4 vs Moto G4 Plus: Camera

  • Honor 6X has dual rear cameras
  • Moto G4 Plus has highest resolution rear camera with PDAF and LDAF
  • Honor 6X has highest resolution front camera

The Honor 6X has a dual-rear camera featuring one 12-megapixel sensor and one 2-megapixel sensor. The rear cameras have an aperture range between f/0.95 and f/16, allowing users to alter focus and create effects such as a blurry background. This feature is found on a number of devices, including Huawei's Mate 9, but it doesn't always work perfectly.

The Moto G4 has a 13-megapixel rear camera with an aperture of f/2.0, while the Moto G4 Plus has a 16-megapixel rear camera, also with an aperture of f/2.0. The G4 Plus has both laser and phase detection autofocus too.

In terms of front-facing camera, the Honor 6X has an 8-megapixel snapper, while the Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus has a 5-megapixel camera.

Honor 6X vs Moto G4 vs Moto G4 Plus: Hardware

  • All have octa-core processors and microSD support
  • Moto G4 Plus has largest RAM option
  • Honor 6X has largest battery capacity

The Honor 6X has a Kirin octa-core processor under the hood, supported by 3GB of RAM (in the UK). There are storage options of 32GB and 64GB, depending on the region, and both have microSD support.

The Moto G4 and G4 Plus both have a Qualcomm octa-core chip, and microSD support but their storage and RAM capacities differ. The G4 is available in 16GB or 32GB options, both with 2GB of RAM, while the G4 Plus is available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, the former two with 2GB and the latter with 4GB of RAM.

The Honor 6X has the largest battery capacity of the three devices being compared here, with 3340mAh, while the Moto G4 and G4 Plus have 3000mAh.

Honor 6X vs Moto G4 vs Moto G4 Plus: Software

  • Honor 6X has more software customisation
  • Moto G4 and G4 Plus closer to pure Android

The Honor 6X runs on Android with the company's EMUI 4.1 software overlay on top, while the Moto G4 and G4 Plus run on Android with very little software enhancements.

The software experiences of the Honor and the Moto devices will therefore be quite different. If you want a more customised device, the Honor will offer this, but if you want a purer Android device, the Moto smartphones are a good option.

Honor 6X vs Moto G4 vs Moto G4 Plus: Price

  • Moto G4 Plus most expensive
  • Moto G4 cheapest

The Honor 6X costs £225, which is marginally cheaper than what the Moto G4 Plus starts at but more expensive than the Moto G4.

The Moto G4 starts at £169 and the Moto G4 Plus starts at £229.

Honor 6X vs Motorola Moto G4 vs Moto G4 Plus: Conclusion

The Honor 6X and the Moto G4 Plus have very similar price tags, but the Honor 6X has a larger battery capacity, dual rear cameras, a higher resolution front camera and a more premium-looking build.

The Moto G4 Plus offers the option of more RAM, if you're willing to pay for it, a higher resolution rear camera, Moto Maker customisation and a cleaner software experience. 

The standard Moto G4 is around £50 cheaper than both the G4 Plus and the Honor 6X, but you miss out on a fingerprint sensor and its camera isn't as good as its more expensive brother.