Xiaomi Redmi 1S vs Moto E: Which Budget Android Smartphone Should You Buy?

In recent times, manufacturers have started paying more attention to the budget market by rolling out a slew of fully functional budget smartphones. Companies like Motorola and Xiaomi have become extremely popular over the last few years thanks to the many affordable smartphones that they offer. Today, we compare two of their most competitive offerings, the Moto G and the Xiaomi Redmi 1S.

Which one should you buy? Find out below.

Xiaomi Redmi 1S vs Moto E: Design

The Moto E uses a plastic body and feels solidly built. Its small size and curved back ensures that it feels good in the hand. Its dimensions are 124.8 x 64.8 x 12.3mm, with the smartphone weighing 142g, which happens to be a pleasing amount of weight when held. All in all, the phone is light and easy to hold.

The Redmi's design feels pretty standard; it's your usual rectangular smartphone with slightly curved corners. It feels balanced and is easy to operate. Its dimensions are 137 x 69 x 9.9 mm, meaning that it's a little thinner than the Moto E.

Both phones offer standard design and try nothing radical.

Xiaomi Redmi 1S vs Moto E: Display

The Moto E has a 4.3in display with a resolution of 540 x 960 pixels. It delivers a pixel density of 256 ppi and has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for reasonable protection from scratches and bumps.

The Xiaomi Redmi 1S has a slightly larger 4.7in display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. It delivers a pixel density of 312 ppi along with Corning Gorilla Glass 2 for protection.

It goes without saying that the Xiaomi Redmi 1S has the bigger and better display. If you're keen on watching a lot of videos on your phone and playing games, then it happens to be the better option among the two.

Xiaomi Redmi 1S vs Moto E: Hardware

The Moto E uses a trusty Qualcomm Snapdragon 200. This consists of a Dual-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7 processor along with an Adreno 302 GPU for graphics and 1GB of RAM. While it won't be capable of strong benchmarks and gaming capabilities, it will get the job done for the everyday user.

The Xiaomi Redmi 1S uses a slightly faster Qualcomm MSM8228 Snapdragon chipset with a Quad-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A7 processor and an Adreno 305 GPU for graphics along with 1GB of RAM.

When it comes to internal memory, the Xiaomi Redmi 1S offers 8GB of internal memory along with the option to expand up to 32 GB via microSD. The Moto E supports the same amount of expandable storage, but offers only 4GB of internal storage.

When it comes to performance, the Xiaomi is easily the better smartphone thanks to its superior chipset.

Xiaomi Redmi 1S vs Moto E: Camera and Imaging

The Moto E has a 5 megapixel camera in the rear with Geo-tagging, panorama and HDR features. It can shoot 480p video at 30fps. It lacks a front-facing secondary camera.

The Xiaomi Redmi 1S houses an 8 megapixel shooter in the rear with geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, and HDR features. It can shoot 1080p video at 30fps. There's also a 1.6 MP front-facing secondary camera that's capable of 720p video at 30 fps.

Even in the imaging department, the Xiaomi Redmi 1S comes out on top with better camera specifications.

Xiaomi Redmi 1S vs Moto E: Software

As with the Moto G, the Moto E will also offer stock Android KitKat out of the box. Expect a light and smooth experience without bloat ware and unnecessary apps.

The Xiaomi Redmi 1S will feature Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with a MIUI skin on top. MUI is the company's take on Android and happens to be somewhat different from stock Android. Experts and critics have often said that Xiaomi tries hard to make its MIUI interface look a lot like Apple's iOS UI design.

Bottom Line

The Xiaomi Redmi 1S should be your choice if you're looking for the phone with the better camera, performance and display. Apart from offering better hardware, the company's MIUI has been known to be one of the better custom made Android skins used by manufacturers.

The Moto E can't compare with the Redmi 1S in most departments and is easily the inferior phone among the two. However, people keen on stock Android, quick Android updates and the Motorola brand name might opt for it over the Xiaomi Redmi 1S.