which budget phone should you go for?

The Moto G45 is Motorola’s latest budget offering, with a starting price of Rs 10,999. It comes with a remarkable hardware configuration for folks on a tight budget looking for a decent phone. In this segment, the iQOO Z9 Lite is a considerable alternative to the Moto G45, with a slightly lower Rs 10,499 retail price.

We’ll compare the Moto G45 with the iQOO Z9 Lite to check which phone is more value for money.  

Moto G45 vs iQOO Z9 Lite: Specs at a glance

Moto G45 vs iQOO Z9 Lite: price in India 

Moto G45 vs iQOO Z9 Lite: design 

The Moto G45 has a vegan leather body and a matte-like finish available in three shades: Blue, Green, and Red. The device has an IP52 rating, offering protection against dust and water splashes.

On the other hand, the iQOO Z9 Lite has a plastic body with a matte finish. The Aqua Flow edition has a gradient back with a brush stroke-like pattern, while the Mocha Brown variant has a plain brown finish for a simple and elegant look. It has better IP64 protection against dust particles and water spills than the Moto G45. 

Moto G45 vs iQOO Z9 Lite: display

The Moto G45 has a slight edge over the iQOO Z9 Lite in the display department. While both phones have an HD+ LCD panel that offers a decent viewing experience, the Moto G45 supports a 120Hz refresh rate compared to the 90Hz refresh rate of the iQOO Z9 Lite. This results in a smoother viewing experience and will be noticeable while playing games or scrolling in general. 

Another advantage that the Moto G45 has over the iQOO Z9 Lite is the Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. This additional protective layer helps safeguard your display from scratches and wear and tear.  

Moto G45 vs iQOO Z9 Lite: performance

In teams of performance, both phones ship with a mid-range SoC at the helm. However, the Moto G45’s Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 chipset is more powerful than the iQOO Z9 Lite’s MediaTek Dimensity 6300. Moreover, you get up to 8GB RAM option with the Moto G45, while the iQOO Z9 Lite maxes out at 6GB RAM, meaning the former will handle multitasking much better than the latter. 

In our testing, the Moto G45 scored 4,49,055 points on AnTuTu, and on Geekbench, it secured 929 points in the single-core test and 2,159 points in the multi-core test. On the other hand, the iQOO Z9 Lite achieved 4,01,756 points on AnTuTu, with 734 points in the single-core test and 1,968 points in the multi-core test on Geekbench. 

Moto G45 vs iQOO Z9 Lite: cameras

Both phones feature a 50MP primary camera that should deliver detailed and clear images. While both devices have a 2MP secondary sensor, they serve a different purpose. The Moto G45 has a macro shooter, ideal for close-up shots, while the iQOO Z9 Lite has a depth lens that adds depth to the object and a blurry effect to the remaining portion of the image. 

As for the front camera, the Moto G45 has a better 16MP selfie snapper than the iQOO Z9 Lite’s 8MP shooter. The higher megapixel count will result in more detailed, social media-ready shots. You can check out our detailed review of the iQOO Z9 Lite to see its camera performance. However, you’ll have to wait for our Moto G45 review to learn more about its photography capability. 

Moto G45 vs iQOO Z9 Lite: battery and charging 

While both phones ship with an identical 5,000mAh battery capacity, the PCMark battery test results of both devices tell a different story. The iQOO Z9 Lite lasted 16 hours and 36 minutes, outperforming the Moto G45, which only ran for 9 hours and 51 minutes on the PCMark battery test. Both phones dropped 4 percent battery after a 30-minute YouTube video playback session.

The iQOO Z9 Lite with 15W charging support took 1 hour and 46 minutes to go from 20 percent to 100 percent battery, while the Moto G45 with 18W charging support took 1 hour and 34 minutes. 

Moto G45 vs iQOO Z9 Lite: software

The Moto G45 runs Android 14, while the iQOO Z9 Lite has Funtouch OS based on Android 14. However, the iQOO Z9 Lite will receive two major OS releases and three years of security patches, while the Moto G45 will only get Android 15 and three years of security updates.  

The iQOO Z9 comes preloaded with over 50 third-party apps, which you can remove if unnecessary. On the other hand, the Moto G45 doesn’t have any pre-installed apps besides a few Google apps, offering a bloatware-free experience. 

Verdict

After considering every aspect of performance on both devices, it’s clear that the Moto G45 is a better pick. It offers a better display, superior SoC, more RAM options, and a finer selfie camera than the iQOO Z9 Lite. 

However, that doesn’t mean the iQOO Z9 Lite is bad. For the asking price, it offers respectable performance, lasts longer in the PCMark battery test, and will get an additional OS update than the Moto G45.