It has only been a few hours since Motorola unveiled the Moto G8 Plus and so far, the phone has received fairly positive response. The Moto G8 Plus marks the comeback of the Moto G series with good specifications and a highly appealing price tag of Rs 13,999. While the sales are yet to commence, the Moto G8 Plus already looks promising. However, the Moto G8 Plus has a couple of well-equipped rivals, and even if we ignore Motorola's own One series phones, the G8 Plus has strong competition from Xiaomi's Mi A3.

The Xiaomi Mi A3 came out a few months ago and while it may not have received the same enthusiastic response as its predecessors, it is still a great option for someone looking to buy a stock Android phone for less than Rs 15,000. The Mi A3 gets Xiaomi's great cameras, stylish design and with solid build quality as well as clean stock Android experience. And the best part is that you can buy it for Rs 12,999.

Therefore, if you are willing to spend less than Rs 15,000 and are choosing between these two phones, which one should pick up?

Design and build: Style matters for both these phones

A sub-Rs 15,000 phone needs to look and feel good. That's a fact. Both Xiaomi and Motorola know this by heart and both of them have tried to get that part right in their own ways. The Mi A3 shows best of what Xiaomi has to offer with a premium-looking glass rear panel with curved edges and beautiful gradient finishes. The gradient finish is complemented by the absence of a fingerprint sensor which is good as the phone features an in-display fingerprint sensor. And that means it has an AMOLED display panel at the front but still holding noticeable bezels and a waterdrop notch.

The Moto G8 Plus goes for a similar premium looking design but in order to keep the costs low, Motorola opted for a plastic rear panel. While plastic doesn't feel as premium as glass, it keeps the overall weight light. The G8 Plus also gets a gradient but it's a very subtle one and appeals to someone looking for a classier design. The front looks similar to the Mi A3 with its 6.3-inch notched display but this one is using an LCD panel. Hence, you will see a fingerprint sensor at the back.

Both these phones looks modern but the Mi A3 has a slight edge over the G8 Plus with its additional zing.

Specifications: Neck-to-neck

The Mi A3 and the G8 Plus are quite similar when it comes to what powers them. Both the phones get the new Snapdragon 665 chipset which is quite similar to the old and popular Snapdragon 660 in terms of architecture and performance. And since in both cases it is dealing with a stock Android interface, the performance is fairly smooth and fast on a daily basis. Both of them have 4GB RAM and 64GB storage as standard on the base variant, which ensures decent multitasking performance. Both of these phones also come with a similar 4000mAh battery (the Mi A3 has a 4035mAh battery) and the power-efficient chip ensures a day's backup under full charge.

However, while both the of them run stock Android interfaces, the Mi A3 is part of the Android One program and is guaranteed to get the next two Android updates after Android 9 Pie . The G8 Plus isn't an Android One phone and Motorola has only guaranteed an Android 10 update as of now. Hence, if you are looking for timely updates, the Mi A3 seems like a better bet.

The Mi A3 also pulls out a slight advantage over the G8 Plus in terms of the display. It gets a 6-inch HD+ AMOLED display which despite its lower screen resolution offers punchier colours and high contrasts. The Moto G8 Plus gets a 6.3-inch Full HD+ display which is bigger and sharper but the LCD panel looks dull in comparison to the Mi A3's display.

Cameras: Triple cameras with different options

The Mi A3 came out with the same popular 48-megapixel Sony IMX586 sensor as its main camera at the back along with an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera and a 2-megapixel depth camera. This camera proved itself with great results in various lighting situations. The 32-megapixel camera at the front is also great at taking sharp and vibrant selfies. Xiaomi's custom camera app along with smarter algorithms aim for rich colours with higher contrasts, thereby giving you enhanced look always.

The Moto G8 Plus goes slightly unconventional with its triple camera setup. The main camera is a 48-megapixel quad-pixel main camera with F.17 lens whereas the second camera is a 16-megapixel wide-angle Action Camera and the third one is the 5-megapixel depth camera. Motorola is using the Samsung sensor and the G8 Plus algorithms always try to get very natural colour tones. The camera struggles with exposures often over brightening the photo at times. However, the Night Mode is impressive and it captures tons of details. The Action Camera offers highly stabilised video samples and thanks to the off-axis 90-degrees sensor mounting, you can record the video in landscape orientation while holding the phone in portrait orientation.

It all comes down to the price

The Xiaomi Mi A3 seems to have a slight advantage over the G8 Plus so far and at Rs 12,999, it is certainly the more affordable one. The Android One affiliation means it will get two guaranteed Android updates and the AMOLED display will make watching content on this screen a great experience.

However, if you want a sharper Full HD+ display and a unique camera setup that's more suited for video recording, the Moto G8 Plus makes more sense at Rs 13,999. The Night mode on the G8 Plus is impressive and it will appeal to the shutterbugs a lot.