Motorola One Fusion+ vs Poco X2 Comparison: Can Motorola Win?
The Motorola One Fusion+ sent shockwaves through the sub-Rs. 20,000 segment when it was launched at a price of Rs. 16,999. With such pricing, Motorola managed to undercut Xiaomi’s Redmi and Poco sub-brands, and Realme. I like the Motorola One Fusion+ for its near-stock Android experience which is largely free of bloatware. Unfortunately, Motorola has bumped the price up a little, and it now retails for Rs. 17,499, which is where the Poco X2 starts as well. The Poco X2 is also well-equipped and packs in a 120Hz display, along with dual selfie cameras. So which one offers better value for money? We put the Motorola One Fusion+ and the Poco X2 in a head-to-head to decide which is the better one to buy.
Poco X2 vs Motorola One Fusion+ design: Poles apart
The Poco X2 (Review) and the Motorola One Fusion+ (Review) have very different designs. The Poco X2 is tall and slim while the One Fusion+ is short and thick. This makes a noticeable difference when you hold the two smartphones in the hand. I preferred the Motorola One Fusion+ as it fared better for single-handed use.
The Poco X2 has a glass back which gives it a premium look and feel. Poco has used bright colours and gradient finishes for the rear panel, which gives the X2 a distinct look. It has a reflective circular patch at the back with a pill-shaped camera module in the centre that protrudes a bit.
At the front, it has a 6.67-inch display with dual selfie cameras using a hole-punch design. The display is huge, and reaching all corners of the panel isn’t possible in single-handed use. Poco has placed all the buttons on the right. The power button has an integrated fingerprint scanner. The volume buttons are above this, and I found that they needed a bit of a stretch to reach. The Poco X2 has an IR emitter at the top that’s placed next to the secondary microphone. It has a bottom-firing speaker, USB Type-C port, and 3.5mm headphone jack.
The Motorola One Fusion+ (front) has a pop-up selfie camera while the Poco X2 (rear) has a hole-punch
The Motorola One Fusion+ is very different in comparison. It sports a smaller 6.5-inch display without any notch or hole, and has a pop-up selfie camera instead. This gives you an uninterrupted view of the display. The back of the Motorola One Fusion+ is plastic, so it does not have the same premium look and feel as the Poco X2. The Motorola One Fusion has four rear cameras just like the Poco X2 but these are placed in two different modules towards the left of the rear. There is a fingerprint scanner on the rear as well, with the iconic Motorola logo on it. The scanner is well placed and easy to reach.
Motorola has also placed all the buttons on the right of the device and I found the power and volume button placement to be a lot better than on the Poco X2. The Motorola One Fusion+ also has a dedicated Google Assistant button that’s higher than the others. The One Fusion+ has the SIM tray at the top next to the pop-up selfie camera, while the loudspeaker, USB Type-C port, and 3.5mm jack are at the bottom.
Both the phones sport big batteries: the Motorola One Fusion+ leads with a 5,000mAh battery but the Poco X2 isn’t far behind with a 4,500mAh capacity. Motorola ships an 18W Turbocharger in the box whereas Poco ships a faster 27W charger.
Poco X2 vs Motorola One Fusion+ specifications : Very similar but different
The common link between the Motorola One Fusion+ and the Poco X2 is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G SoC. Poco offers three variants of the X2 – 6GB of RAM with 64GB of storage, 6GB of RAM with 128GB of storage, and 8GB of RAM with 256GB storage. These three variants are priced at Rs. 17,499, Rs. 18,499 and Rs. 21,499 respectively. Motorola has only launched the One Fusion+ in one configuration in India, with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, now priced at Rs. 17,499.
Both smartphones have seen bumps in price since their launches. The Poco X2 has increased in price twice with the most recent revision coming last month. The Motorola One Fusion+ also got a price increase very shortly after its launch.
Both the Poco X2 (left) and the Motorola One Fusion+ (right) run Android 10
The Poco X2 sports a bigger 6.67-inch LCD display while the Motorola One Fusion+ has a slightly smaller 6.5-inch display. Both panels are HDR10 certified, however, the Poco X2 has a higher refresh rate which leads to a smoother experience when enabled. You also get the option to tweak the colour output of both displays. The Poco X2 uses Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for protection whereas Motorola does not offer any sort of protection for the display.
Both the Poco X2 and the Motorola One Fusion+ have dual 4G VoLTE capabilities and both have hybrid dual-SIM slots. This means that storage expansion comes at the cost of the second SIM. While 128GB of storage should be adequate, the Poco X2 offers higher storage options that the Motorola One Fusion+ lacks. Both smartphones support Bluetooth 5, dual-band Wi-Fi, and multiple navigation systems.
The Motorola One Fusion+ and the Poco X2 both run Android 10, and our review units of both phones were running the April security patch at the time of this comparison. The Motorola One Fusion+ has a UI that’s very close to stock Android, and a few gesture-based shortcuts called Moto Actions have been added. It does not have any preinstalled bloatware or any significant customisation. Poco, on the other hand, offers a fair amount of customisations and there’s some bloatware on the device. We also encountered spammy notifications on the Poco X2 when we reviewed it. Both these smartphones have customisations which suppress notifications while you play games. I prefer the clean near-stock Android approach that Motorola has taken.
Poco X2 vs Motorola One Fusion+ performance
The Motorola One Fusion+ and the Poco X2 both offer good performance and I did not notice any lag or stutter on either of the devices. The Poco X2 with its 120Hz display definitely felt smoother while scrolling through the menus. Both smartphones have fast fingerprint scanners. The Poco X2 also has quick face recognition, which the Motorola One Fusion+ lacks, though this isn’t a dealbreaker in any way.
Both smartphones’ screens get bright enough when outdoors, but while watching videos I found the Motorola One Fusion+ to have the better output with superior contrast. The bottom-firing speaker on this device is also louder which adds to the overall experience.
The Motorola One Fusion+ and the Poco X2 were put through the same benchmark tests to see how they fare. In Antutu, the One Fusion+ managed to score 273,407 points, whereas the Poco X2 managed 280,912 points. In Geekbench 5’s single-core and multi-core tests, the Motorola One Fusion+ scored 548 and 1,691 respectively while the Poco X2 managed 548 and 1,759. We couldn’t compare graphics performance through benchmarks, as the Poco X2 refused to run 3DMark and GFXbench. The differences between the two smartphones in terms of performance aren’t very significant, considering we had the top-of-the-line 8GB RAM variant of the Poco X2 with us.
The Poco X2 (front) and the Motorola One Fusion+ (rear) sport quad-camera setups
You will be able to game on either device easily. Both defaulted to high preset in PUBG Mobile and could run the game without any lag or stutter. Battery life on these smartphones is also similar and you will be able to go about a day and a half before needing to charge either of them. In our HD video loop test, it was the Motorola One Fusion+ that came out on top thanks to its higher capacity battery, managing 15 hours and 45 minutes. The Poco X2 on the other hand managed 13 hours and 45 minutes. Charging times are different, and the Poco X2 benefits from its faster charger and a smaller battery.
Poco X2 vs Motorola One Fusion+ cameras: Mixed results
Most new mid-range smartphones these days have four rear cameras, and these two devices are no exception. Both sport 64-megapixel primary cameras and deliver 16-megapixel pixel-binned shots. They also both have 8-megapixel wide-angle cameras and 2-megapixel depth sensors. The Motorola One Fusion+ has a 5-megapixel macro camera while the Poco X2 has a 2-megapixel macro camera. The camera apps on both these devices are a little different but are easy to use.
I shot several photos using both smartphones in the same conditions to see how they fare. Both were quick to lock focus and meter light in the daytime. These devices also managed very good details but the AI on the Poco X2 was a tad too aggressive for my liking, bumping up the contrast excessively. The wide-angle camera on the Poco X2 fared better, delivering better details compared to the Motorola One Fusion+, and surprisingly the colours weren’t boosted aggressively.
Motorola One Fusion+ and Poco X2 daylight camera samples (tap to see larger image)
Motorola One Fusion+ and Poco X2 wide-angle camera samples (tap to see larger image)
For closeups, I found the Motorola One Fusion+ to be quicker to lock focus while the Poco X2 struggled a little. Both phones simulated depth of field very well, but the AI on the Poco X2 boosted colours making its shots look artificial. When shooting portraits, it was the Motorola One Fusion+ that managed better edge detection and more accurate colours.
Motorola One Fusion+ and Poco X2 close-up camera samples (tap to see larger image)
Motorola One Fusion+ and Poco X2 portrait camera samples (tap to see larger image)
For macros, the Motorola One Fusion+ produced better details thanks to its higher resolution sensor.
Motorola One Fusion+ and Poco X2 macro camera samples (tap to see larger image)
Low-light performance isn’t very good with the Motorola One Fusion+. The Poco X2 managed to capture much brighter photos with better details. With night mode enabled, the Motorola One Fusion+ kicked things up a notch in terms of quality but the Poco X2 still outperformed it with slightly better details and less grain in the output.
Motorola One Fusion+ and Poco X2 low-light camera samples (tap to see larger image)
Motorola One Fusion+ and Poco X2 night mode camera samples (tap to see larger image)
Motorola One Fusion+ and Poco X2 low-light close-up camera samples (tap to see larger image)
For low-light closeups it was the Motorola One Fusion+ that performed better with more natural-looking colours and better details.
Motorola One Fusion+ and Poco X2 daylight selfie camera samples (tap to see larger image)
Motorola One Fusion+ and Poco X2 low-light selfie camera samples (tap to see larger image)
The Motorola One Fusion+ has a 16-megapixel selfie shooter that pops up when required, whereas the Poco X2 has a dual-selfie camera setup with a 20-megapixel primary camera and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. In daylight, it was the Motorola One Fusion+ that managed better results whereas the Poco X2’s selfies had a yellowish tinge. In low light, too the Poco X2’s shots had a slightly warmer tone, but the level of detail was on par with what the Motorola One Fusion+ captured.
Both phones are capable of 4K video recording. In daylight, while shooting in 1080p, both phones managed decent video stabilisation. Colours on the Poco X2 are saturated while the footage from the Motorola One Fusion+ looked sharpened. 4K video was good on both these devices but the Poco X2’s output showed an occasional shimmer. Low-light video performance is slightly better on the Poco X2 for both 1080p as well as 4K video recording.
Verdict
The hardware of the Motorola One Fusion+ and the Poco X2 is pretty evenly matched, especially considering that both these phones use the exact same processor. If you prioritise looks and design on a smartphone, the Poco X2 will grab your attention thanks to its premium design and shiny colour variants.
The Motorola One Fusion+ excels elsewhere, offering a better display coupled with a louder speaker and cleaner software. It does not have any bloatware preinstalled and you won’t be bombarded by spammy notifications. The cameras are a bit of a mixed bag though, and both smartphones could do with some improvements through software updates.
If I had to pick one of these two, I would go with the Motorola One Fusion+, which I found to be easier to live with overall. Surprisingly, even with a hike in its price, the Motorola One Fusion+ still manages to undercut the similarly specced Poco X2 by Rs. 1,000, which helps tip scales in its favour.
