Moto G4 is a line of
Android
Android may refer to:
Science and technology
* Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human
* Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system
** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
smartphones manufactured by
Motorola Mobility
Motorola Mobility LLC, marketed as Motorola, is an American consumer electronics manufacturer primarily producing smartphones and other mobile devices running Android OS, Android. It is a subsidiary of the Chinese multinational technology company ...
, a subsidiary of
Lenovo
Lenovo Group Limited, often shortened to Lenovo ( , ), is a Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational technology company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and marketing consumer electronics, Personal computer, personal computers, ...
. They are the successor to the
third-generation Moto G, and were first released in
Brazil and
India on May 17, 2016, with the other markets following.
In comparison to the previous singular Moto G models, the G4 fragmented the line into three models, with the base model joined by the Moto G4 Play and the Moto G4 Plus with an upgraded camera and a fingerprint reader.
Specifications

The Moto G4's hardware design was refreshed featuring a "water repellent nano-coating" on the motherboard and a camera protrusion. However, unlike the Moto G3, the previous generation, the Moto G4 Plus does not feature
IPX7
The IP code or ingress protection code indicates how well a device is protected against water and dust. It defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) under the international standard IEC 60529 which classifies and pro ...
certification. The G4 was available in black and white-colored versions, with different rear-cover and accent-colors available for custom order via MotoMaker. The G4 has a removable backcover, removing which exposes SIM card slots and a MicroSD card slot. The G4 includes a 5.5-inch 1080p display, an octa-core
Qualcomm Snapdragon
Snapdragon is a suite of system on a chip (SoC) semiconductor products for mobile devices designed and marketed by Qualcomm Technologies Inc. The Snapdragon's central processing unit (CPU) uses the ARM architecture. A single SoC may include mu ...
617 system-on-chip, and 2/3 GB of RAM. The Moto G4 includes either 16 or 32 GB of internal storage, expandable via
MicroSD
Secure Digital, officially abbreviated as SD, is a proprietary non-volatile flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA) for use in portable devices.
The standard was introduced in August 1999 by joint efforts between SanDis ...
. It has a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The Moto G4 also supports
802.11n Wi-Fi connectivity and an FM radio receiver.
The device shipped with
Android 6.0.1 "Marshmallow".
Motorola stated that the Moto G4 line would receive occasional security patches. On December 29, 2016, Motorola began rolling out an update to
Android 7.0 "Nougat". In September 2017, Motorola stated that the Moto G4 Plus would receive an update to
Android 8.1 "Oreo", although no estimated date was given. An Android 8.1 update was released in February 2019.
Alternative Android-ROMs
Official alternative Android-ROMs for all three G4 models were released by
LineageOS
LineageOS is an Android-based operating system for smartphones, tablet computers, and set-top boxes, with mostly free and open-source software. It is the successor to CyanogenMod, from which it was forked in December 2016, when Cyanogen Inc. a ...
, and their support originally was set to end with the final version 14.1 (corresponds to Android 7.1) on September 2018, though several new unofficial community releases were released afterwards.
On April 1, 2021 the G4 Play was added back to the officially supported list of devices as part of the initial release of Lineage OS 18.1 (Android 11).
A port of
postmarketOS for the G4 Play exists under the code name motorola-harpia.
Models E4
The Moto G4 is available in a standard model, as well as the Moto G4 Play and Moto G4 Plus. The Play is a low-end model with reduced specifications, as well as an 8-megapixel camera and 720p display. The Plus model is a high-end version that features a 16-megapixel camera with dual-tone flash and infrared auto-focus, as well as an integrated fingerprint reader, up to 4 GB of RAM, and up to 64 GB of internal storage.
The G4 and G4 Play were also sold as part of
Amazon.com's ''Prime Exclusive'' program, which offered a discounted version of the phone to
Amazon Prime
Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...
subscribers, subsidized by the display of personalized advertising on the
lock screen. Due to this, the Prime Exclusive models of the device are ineligible for Motorola's
bootloader unlocking program.
Model comparison
Reception
The Moto G4 was lauded as a top budget smartphone, with Android Central concluding that it "represents the ideal experience for an inexpensive Android phone and is a fantastic value."
CNET
''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...
called the G4 an "unbeatable bargain." Others noticed that, unlike the third-generation Moto G, the price of the G4 did not make it much cheaper than more powerful phones.
See also
*
Comparison of smartphones
References
{{Android tablets
Android (operating system) devices
Motorola mobile phones
Mobile phones introduced in 2016
Smartphones