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Nokia 6 vs Lenovo P2 vs Moto G5 Plus: A brutal mid-range mobile battle

We compare the new Nokia 6 smartphone with two of its closest rival handsets: the Lenovo P2 and Motorola’s Moto G5 Plus. Which great-value mobile is best for you? We examine the design, performance, battery life, camera tech and other features in our full comparison.

The Nokia 6 is one of a trio of new Nokia Android phones which have just been released in the UK, offering a clean, vanilla version of Google’s mobile OS and some respectable specs for an affordable asking price.

At just £200 for the base model, the Nokia 6 is a clear rival to the Lenovo P2 and Moto G5 Plus. These three handsets all serve up a Full HD display, capable cameras, reliable performance and a satisfying user experience, all for a price that won’t sting.

Which of course makes deciding between these three wallet-friendly handsets pretty tricky. So here’s our Nokia 6 vs Lenovo P2 vs Moto G5 Plus comparison review, to help you decide on your next portable pal. And don’t forget to check out our guide to the best budget phones in 2017 for more great-value handsets.

Nokia 6 vs Lenovo P2 vs Moto G5 Plus: Specs

  Moto G5 Plus Nokia 6 Lenovo P2
Screen size 5.2-inches 5.5-inches 5.5-inches
Screen resolution Full HD (1920×1080) Full HD (1920×1080) Full HD (1920×1080)
Water resistant? No No (splash resistant) No
Fingerprint sensor? Yes Yes Yes
OS Android Nougat 7.0 Android Nougat 7.1 Android Nougat 7.0
Processor Snapdragon 625 Snapdragon 430 Snapdragon 625
Memory 3GB 3GB (Arte Black 4GB) 4GB
Storage 32GB 32GB (Arte Black 64GB) 32GB
MicroSD? Yes Yes Yes
Rear camera 12-megapixel 16-megapixel 13-megapixel
Price £259 £220 (Arte Black £280) £199

Nokia 6 vs Lenovo P2 vs Moto G5 Plus: Design

When it comes to look and feel, the Nokia 6 and Lenovo P2 could almost be twins. These two 5.5-inch phones sport quite a rectangular finish, with only subtle curving at the corners to break up the candy bar effect. At that size, and with this construction, they’re quite difficult to operate with a single hand. You’ll definitely want to use both hands to prevent your chosen mobile from slipping and taking an unexpected tumble.

As for the Moto G5 Plus, that 5.2-inch design is more compact and better suited to operation with a single mitt.

All three phones here sport a metallic frame, with aluminium surfacing to add a premium design element. On the Nokia 6 this is a unibody finish, with the metal stretching seamlessly around the edges and banding limited to the top and bottom of the phone. Meanwhile the Moto G5 Plus and Lenovo P2 use separate panels, with a chrome effect around the rim.

None of these handsets are water resistant although they are all rugged enough to resist plenty of punishment, with only limited blemishes appearing on those shiny surfaces. All three phones also sport a fingerprint sensor built into the home button, located beneath the display.

Nokia 6 vs Lenovo P2 vs Moto G5 Plus: Features

Android Nougat is of course the mobile OS of choice for these mobiles, and appears in a pretty vanilla form to boot. You’ll get some bonus gesture support thrown in, for quick loading the camera and so on. Besides that, Google’s operating system appears pretty much as intended.

You get a Full HD screen on the Nokia 6, Moto G5 Plus and Lenovo P2, which means crisp, detailed visuals no matter your choice. All three phones also support microSD memory cards, so you can expand the 32GB of built-in storage quickly and easily, for carrying around a massive media collection. The Nokia 6 also comes in a special ‘Arte Black’ model, which sports 64GB of storage for a bit of extra cash.

Nokia 6 vs Lenovo P2 vs Moto G5 Plus: Performance and battery life

Qualcomm is very much en vogue with these mid-range mobiles, as a Snapdragon chipset features in all three of our chosen handsets.

In the Lenovo P2 and Moto G5 Plus, you’ll find a Snapdragon 625 platform on board. This offers up slick everyday operation, even when multitasking with two apps at once. However, the Nokia 6 has gone with the more basic Snapdragon 430 chipset instead. This certainly isn’t as capable, although backed by 3GB of RAM in this handset, it seems to do the job for standard operation. Just don’t expect Nokia’s phone to stand the test of time as well.

As for battery life, the Lenovo P2 is the clear victor here. That rather ridiculously enormous 5000mAh cell can keep you going for three full days between charges, even with some pretty heavy use. That said, the Moto G5 Plus can keep you ticking over for a day and a half, while we’re expecting a similar result from the Nokia 6 (especially with the energy-efficient Snapdragon 430 in place)

When it comes to charging, all three of these phones support some form of quick charge: Lenovo’s ‘Rapid Charge’ tech in the case of the P2, ‘Turbo Charge’ for the Moto G5 Plus and Quick Charge on the Nokia 6. You can therefore expect the battery to be almost fully charged in just over an hour in all three cases, providing you’re using the bundled charger.

Sadly the Moto, Lenovo and Nokia phones in this comparison review also use the old-school micro USB ports for charging. No reversible Type-C in this trio, which also means slower data transfer.

Nokia 6 vs Lenovo P2 vs Moto G5 Plus: Cameras

The Moto G5 Plus once again proves the most capable when it comes to camera tech, thanks to its superb 12-megapixel snapper.

With its Dual Pixel Autofocus technology and f/1.7 aperture lens, the G5 Plus’ shooter is comparable in specs to the brilliant and dependable Galaxy S8 camera. That calibre of smartphone optics for well under half the price of Samsung’s flagship smartphone reveals the impressive value for money on offer, although of course the S8 still offers superior shots.

All the same, Motorola’s handset is easily the best of this trio when it comes to general dependency. Low light shots come out clearer, with less grain to mar the result,

Take a look at our full Moto G5 Plus camera review for test shots and all you need to know.

The Nokia 6 and Lenovo P2 offers a very similar camera experience, struggling with tricky lighting conditions. However, if light is on your side, you can capture some impressive detail in your snaps. Sadly the Nokia 6 lacks the ability to shoot up to 4K resolution video, topping out at Full HD. Both the Lenovo P2 and the Moto G5 Plus can record Ultra HD footage, for improved detail levels.

Check out our round-up of the best budget camera phones for our favourites right now.

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