Motorola Moto G5S Plus vs Coolpad Cool Play 6: The Battle for the Best Mid-Range Dual Camera Smartphone

Hardware
This is where things get interesting. The Cool Play 6 is the first smartphone in India to offer 6GB of RAM under Rs. 15,000. Accompanying the chipset is the mid-range octa-core Snapdragon 653, which is ideal for gamers. The device has 64GB of onboard storage. The smartphone doesn’t feature a microSD card slot for storage expansion, which is a massive let down.

The G5S Plus, on the other hand, is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset, which is an octa-core chip with a clock speed of 2.0GHz. The phone comes with just 4GB of RAM, and Motorola has added storage of 64GB. However, the storage in the device is expandable with a microSD card up to 256GB. It’s a hybrid SIM card, meaning you can either use a secondary SIM or an SD card.

Coming to the real life performance, the G5S Plus and Cool Play 6 blew through every task which I threw at them with aplomb. There was no lags or shutters whatsoever. The Cool Play 6’s extra 2gigs of RAM comes into play in the multitasking department because It keeps more apps in memory than the G5S Plus.

The software is another factor to consider here. As seen with earlier Motorola devices, the G5S Plus also comes with near stock Android 7.1.1 Nougat with minimal Motorola customizations. The Cool Play 6 runs Coolpad’s latest UI, namely, the JupiterUI, which is also based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat. The G5S Plus has June 1, 2017, security patch installed at the moment, whereas the Cool Play 6 has July security patch fixes installed.

Coolpad’s JupiterUI is a custom skin of Android and is still in its nascent stages. Surprisingly, I did notice some stutters on the G5S Plus (for the first time in a Motorola phone). Apps open a bit quicker on the Cool Play 6, thanks to the slow load time of Snapdragon 625 SoC.

Furthermore, gaming is top-notch on the Cool Play 6, whereas the G5S Plus struggled at times with graphic heavy games. Overall, the Cool Play 6 delivers better performance than the Moto G5S Plus because of the better processor and extra amount of RAM.

Cameras

Dual cameras have become a streamlined feature for mid-range handsets this year. Both the smartphones feature twin 13MP sensors at the back, and their functionality is similar as well. The Cool Play 6’ secondary 13MP captures black and white shots, whereas the secondary sensor on the G5S Plus is just for adding depth to the images. Both the devices feature an 8MP front-facing camera.

Moto G5S Plus Low-Light Camera Sample

Let’s speak a bit about the Moto G5S Plus’s camera app first. Motorola advertised that the secondary sensor adds depth to the images, and in some YouTube promos, the company showed a depth adjustment tool. But in real life, the camera app lacks the depth adjustment tool. I have gone through all the options in the camera app, but there’s isn’t a single way to adjust the depth in the images.

Coolpad Cool Play 6 Low-Light Sample

All Motorola gives is a dedicated depth editor tool with which you can edit the captured image with different modes such as selective focus, selective b&w, and remove the background, but there’s a way to adjust the depth while capturing the image.

The funny part, however, is I even approached the customer support team, and there were clueless about the issue. In Lenovo official forums page, several Moto G5S Plus buyers are asking the same question and a person got a reply from a customer support executive as Motorola is not offering any depth editor as such while capturing the photo. This is underwhelming from a company like Motorola.

Coolpad Cool Play 6 Daylight Sample

The depth edit mode is available in the Cool Play 6, with which you can adjust the depth while clicking the image. Coming to the real life performance, both the smartphones shoot extraordinary images in daylight conditions, but the performance drastically drops down with the decrease in light. Both the camera apps offer a dedicated night mode.

Moto G5S Plus Depth Sample

Now coming to the USP feature- Portrait mode or depth mode, the Cool Play 6 excels in this department. The G5S Plus struggles a lot to focus on the subject; Most of the time, the subject was out of focus, which isn’t the case with the Cool Play 6. Both these smartphones don’t offer good low-light images.

The Cool Play 6 is a clear winner in the camera department. Motorola might improve the features in the camera app with a software update, but for now, the G5S Plus is a single camera smartphone for me.

Battery Life
The G5S Plus comes with a 3000mAh battery with Motorola’s Turbo Charge support, whereas the Cool Play 6 has a larger 4000mAh cell with fast charge support. The battery life on the G5S Plus surprisingly matches that of the Cool Play 6, credit to the Snapdragon 625 SoC here. The G5S Plus offered me a screen-on time of close to five hours with moderate usage, which is the same case with the Cool Play 6. Battery life will be the same on both devices.

Charging wise, the G5S Plus charges completely in less 100 minutes, while the Cool Play 6 takes close to two hours to charge from zero to 100 percent.

Conclusion

The Moto G5S Plus is a stellar phone by Motorola’ standards, but the wrong marketing puts the device in question. Besides that, the smartphone matches the Cool Play 6 is almost every aspect, if not, it came close to the latter.

That being said, the G5S Plus is a worthy option to consider in the mid-range segment, but the Cool Play 6 is a better option over it. If you don’t care about using an Android skin and not-so-good-looking phone, then get the Cool Play 6 without looking further. Coolpad even promised that the device will get better with software updates in the future. Ignore the Moto G5S Plus especially if you’re looking for an affordable dual camera smartphone, at least for now.

Will you agree with my conclusion? Let us know by commenting below.