Shootouts

Shootout: Compact 4G LTE Smartphones under S$300 (Q4 2014)

By Sidney Wong - 5 Nov 2014

Overview

Race to the Bottom 

Just a few months ago, we compared six 4G LTE smartphones below S$600 in a shootout which saw the original Motorola Moto X emerged as the winner while the HTC Desire 610 clinched the Best Value Award.

In the third quarter of 2014 alone, we saw the entry of six more 4G LTE smartphones which boast even lower price points. Do the lower prices mean poorer performance? Are these phones worth considering? To answer that, we decided to take a look at these six smartphones and how they fare. For this comparison article, we selected the 4G smartphones with three criteria: display sizes between 4 to 5-inches, retail prices below S$300 and are available from July 2014.

That bring us to these six smartphones - the ASUS ZenFone 5 LTE, the HTC Desire 510, the Oppo Neo 5, the Motorola Moto G with 4G LTE, the Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 LTE and ZTE Blade VEC 4G. 

Now, let's check out how the phone specifications compare across the board before we discuss more about the notable aspects for each smartphone:-

Overview of the Smartphone Contenders
  ASUS ZenFone 5 LTE (1GB RAM, 8GB storage) HTC Desire 510 Oppo Neo 5 Motorola Moto G with 4G LTE Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 LTE ZTE Blade VEC 4G
  ASUS ZenFone 5 LTE (1GB RAM, 8GB storage) HTC Desire 510 Oppo Neo 5 Motorola Moto G with 4G LTE Samsung Galaxy Ace 4 LTE ZTE Blade VEC 4G
Launch SRP
  • From S$249
  • From S$268
  • From S$219
  • From S$348
  • From S$268
  • From S$299
Operating system
  • Android 4.4 KitKat with ZenUI
  • Android 4.4 KitKat with HTC Sense
  • Colors OS 1.4 based on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
  • Android 4.4 KitKat
  • Android 4.4.2 KitKat
  • Android 4.4 KitKat
Processor
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core 1.2GHz
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core 1.2GHz
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core 1.2GHz
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core 1.2GHz
  • Broadcom dual-core 1.2GHz
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core 1.2GHz
Built-in Memory
  • 1GB or 2GB RAM
  • 1GB RAM
  • 1GB RAM
  • 1GB RAM
  • 1GB RAM
  • 1GB RAM
Display
  • 5-inch / 1,280 x 720 pixels / IPS+
  • 4.7-inch / 854 x 480 pixels
  • 4.5-inch / 854 x 480 pixels / TFT
  • 4.5-inch / 1,280 x 720 pixels /
  • 4-inch / 800 x 480 pixels / TFT LCD
  • 5-inch / IPS / 1,280 x 720 pixels
Camera
  • Rear: 8-megapixel with an aperture of F2.0, 5-element lens and PixelMaster technology
  • Front: 2-megapixel with an aperture of F2.8
  • Rear: 5-megapixel
  • Front: VGA
  • Rear: 5-megapixel
  • Front: 2-megapixel
  • Rear: 5-megapixel autofocus with LED flash
  • Front: 1.3-megapixel
  • Rear: 5-megapixel autofocus
  • Front: 0.5-megapixel
  • Rear: 8-megapixel
  • Front: 1-megapixel
Connectivity
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 (EDR + ADP)
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n (2.4GHz), Bluetooth 4.0, DLNA, GPS + GLONASS
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, GPS
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS with GLONASS
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n (2.4GHz), Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, USB 2.0
  • Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 + EDR, GPS, FM Radio
Storage Type
  • 8GB/16GB
  • microSD support up to 64GB
  • 8GB internal storage
  • microSD expansion up to 128GB
  • 4GB internal storage
  • microSD support up to 32GB
  • 8GB internal storage
  • microSD expansion up to 32GB
  • 4GB internal storage
  • microSD support up to 128GB
  • 16GB internal storage
Battery
  • 2,110mAh
  • 2,100mAh
  • 1,900mAh
  • 2,070mAh
  • 1,800mAh
  • 2,300mAh
Dimensions
  • 148.2 x 72.8 x 5.5 ~ 10.34mm
  • 139.9 x 69.8 x 9.99mm
  • 132 × 65.8 × 9.2mm
  • 129.9 x 65.9 x 6.0 ~ 11.6mm
  • 121.4 x 62.9 x 11.0 mm
  • 142.3 x 70.4 x 7.8mm
Weight
  • 145g
  • 158g
  • 133g
  • 143g
  • 131g
  • 131.8g

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