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Popular Motorola Moto G, meet your cheaper rival: Nuu Mobile X4

Nuu Mobile isn't letting its status as barely a blip on the radar derail it from trying to conquer Motorola's well-rated budget Android phone.

Jessica Dolcourt Senior Director, Commerce & Content Operations
Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage. As Senior Director of Commerce & Content Operations, she leads a number of teams, including Commerce, How-To and Performance Optimization. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick (UK).
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Jessica Dolcourt
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The Nuu Mobile X4 is the higher-end of its new devices for 2016.

Nuu Mobile

I can't blame phonemakers like Nuu Mobile for trying to dethrone the successful, inexpensive third edition of Motorola's Moto G, or at least capture a little of its pretty-great-for-a-cheap-phone magic. The 5-inch, Android-powered Nuu Mobile X4 wins no points for originality, but it does seem to replicate many of the

's stats -- and that's promising for a lesser-known hopeful.

The X4 costs $170 (or roughly £114 or AU$235); Nuu Mobile expects to sell it online and in international partner retail stores in mid-January.

The X4's screen size and resolution, Android software, and front and back camera image sizes match up to Moto's, though Nuu's phone uses a rival brand's processor.

It also promises double the internal storage for a lower price than Motorola's 8GB

(details below). On the flipside, the X4 lacks Motorola's water-resistant status and the flexibility of online customizing, which -- in the US at least -- lets you pick out the accent colors you want. Motorola's extra software, some of it context-aware, makes the Moto G more lovable to me and other CNET editors than just the phone's performance alone. With these stakes, we'll be visiting the challenger X4 here in person this week at CES 2016, so stay tuned.

Nuu Mobile also announced the lower-end, larger-screened N5L, but the X4 only costs a little more and trounces the N5L's specs, making it completely irrelevant.

Nuu Mobile X4 price versus Moto G

Nuu Mobile X4 (16GB)Moto G (8GB)Moto G (16GB)
US price $170$180$220
UK price £114£180£210
AU price AU$235AU$250AU$370

The smartphones that matter at CES 2016 (pictures)

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Hardware specs

  • 5-inch 1,280 x 720p display (294ppi pixel density)
  • Android 5.1 Lollipop software
  • 13-megapixel camera; 5-megapixel front-facing camera
  • 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek processor
  • Battery capacity: 2,2,50mAh
  • 16GB internal storage; 1GB RAM
  • MicroSD card for up to 32GB in external storage
  • Support for two SIM cards
  • 4G LTE support: 2, 4, 5, 12, 17