Motorola or simply, Moto announced the Moto G5s Plus recently, and it seems to offend the existing Moto G5 Plus users. The Dual Camera setup, the lower launch pricing for the 4+64GB variant of the G5s+ than the G5+ are some reasons for that. But hang on, here’s something we would like to say why the G5+ is still better than the newly launched G5s+
One simple question to be answered at the start itself. If you own a G5+ , should you sell it off and go for G5s+ ? NO. If camera is your priority and you want to choose between G5+ and G5s+, choose G5+. Why? Here's our report.
The only thing that sets the G5s+ apart from the G5+ is the dual camera setup to the back. The internals like the processor, build, software etc. all remain the same. Both the devices are powered by the Snapdragon 625 chip, so performance isn’t something thay differentiates the two.
> The Main Reason!
The Moto G5+ camera sports a Sony IMX362 sensor. Its a 12MP sensor and has a size of 1.4 µm and also has support for Dual Pixel Autofocus. It also has an aperture of f/1.7 which is very wide and if these specs seem familiar, they might remind you of the Galaxy S7 (apart from the sensor used, the aperture and sensor size). The IMX362 used here has been used in flagship phones like HTC U11 and Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom. And we all know how the camera performance shines on these flagship devices. Moto has managed to pack in the same sensor in a budget device.
Now, the G5s+ sports a Sony IMX258 sensor, which is sized at 1.12µm. It’s a 13MP sensor, but the lens used here has an aperture of f/2.0 That’s way narrower than f/1.7 used on the G5+. For reference, here’s a chart showing different apertures. What’s aperture? More on that lower below.
The dual camera on G5s+ is a RGB+Monochrome combination, which focuses on blurring of background. Now on budget devices, the artificial bokeh is gimmicky and has almost failed. The secondary sensor claims to capture depth information, but it’s afterall the software which blurs things out. Brands like Moto, Huawei, Xiaomi (budget segment devices of 15-20,000INR) who have jumped into this RGB+Mono setup for background blur. We have seen that’s its completely a hit or a miss. Well, if you use HDR on this combination, it turns really well since the Mono sensor helps to capture more detail, but the background blur or bokeh, NAH! It’s just a gimmick, and not going to work as good as natural bokeh.
• Poor Shutter Speeds!
Also, the shutter speeds are way slow on the G5s+ (Even with Auto HDR turned off) as compared to G5+, which may result in shaky images.
> Aperture
Aperture is the size of the opening if the Len’s diaphragm. Inshort, the size of the hole that let’s in light on the image sensor. The lower the f/stop value is, the better and wider the opening is. A wider opening helps to let in more light on a sensor, reducing the shutter speed which is actually very good. A lower aperture also results in less depth of field which gives you that natural bokeh effect. A narrower aperture increases the depth of field, reducing the Bokeh.
> The Conclusion
The Moto G5+ has a f/1.7 aperture compared to f/2.0 on the G5s+. The wider aperture not only results in better low light images since it lets in more light, but also gives more natural bokeh in the Pro Mode(Manual Mode). The IMX362 on the G5+ has a size of 1.40µm as compared to 1.12 µm on the IMX258 in G5s+. The lesser sensor size, means the pixels are more cramped into a smaller sensor, and it won’t allow much light in low light situations, resulting in poor images in not so good lighting conditions.
A wider aperture, a larger sensor size, better natural bokeh all these make the G5+ stand way apart and ahead of the G5S+. The gimmicky blur feature along with not so good sensor and slow shutter speeds on the G5s+ would never come close to the G5+. With the same internals on both the devices, and also the prices of G5+ have dropped by now in several markets, it makes much more sense to buy a G5+ instead of a G5s+ of you are a camera centric guy!