In 2021, Motorola has fought tooth and nail with several competent phones in the Indian market. We felt its bets from both Edge and G series were capable of locking horns with the Xiaomi and Realme alternatives. As such when it recently launched the Moto G51 at ₹14,999, it came about as a straight challenger to a similar priced Poco M3 Pro. Although the former hit the stores at the fag end of the year, its repertoire is quite comparable to the Poco phone that had been released much earlier. So, you may also have a doubt in your mind regarding which one to pick.
Fret not! To know that, read on. And by the end, you will come to the conclusion about which of the two is the best phone under ₹15,000 for you:
Moto G51 vs Poco M3 Pro: Design
Although both phones have a plastic build, the G51 is heftier and thicker. It is hence a bit difficult to handle compared to the M3 Pro.
Now looks can be subjective but I find the Poco’s design a bit flashy whilst the Moto goes for a more subdued appearance.
However, one area where Moto has a slight advantage over the Poco phone is its IP53 spill repellence.
Moto G51 vs Poco M3 Pro: Display
Both have an FHD+ IPS LCD panel with a punch-hole cutout. The colors, brightness, and contrasts are comparable. (Actual screens look better than how they appear in the photos shared in this post).
The G51 screen is a bit bigger than that of the M3 Pro’s.
The next difference is in the supported max refresh rate which is 90Hz in the case of Poco M3 Pro and 120Hz on the Moto G51.
Also on the front, the M3 Pro sports Gorilla Glass 3 protection which the G51 lacks.
Moto G51 vs Poco M3 Pro: Software and Performance
This is one of the major deciding factors differentiating both these phones. On one hand, we have the feature-stocked but bloated and ad-ridden MIUI Android 11 skin while the other hand has nearly stock and ad-free but relatively simpler My UX Android 11 skin.
MIUI is laid on top of MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset and My UX is underpinned by Qualcomm Snapdragon 480+ processor. SD480+ is an 8nm chip with 2 Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.2GHz and 6 Cortex-A55 cores at 1.8 GHz clock speed. This setup is adept at maintaining sustained performance. Meanwhile, the Dimensity 700 comprises 2x Cortex-A76 CPU cores clocked at 2.2Ghz and 6x Cortex-A55 efficiency cores.
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You can pick the Poco M3 Pro in 4/6GB LPDDR4x RAM + 64/128GB UFS 2.2 storage (extendable up to 1TB using a shared slot) and Moto G51 in 4GB LPDDR4x RAM + 64GB uMCP storage (expandable up to 512 GB via hybrid slot).
In day-to-day performance, you shouldn’t see any big difference. However, the synthetic tests show some noticeable discrepancies. Here, give it a look:
| Benchmark | Moto G51 | Poco M3 Pro |
| Antutu 9 | 243736 | 3,21,535 |
| Geekbench 5 Single | Multi | 540 | 1658 | 551 | 1689 |
| 3DMark Wild Life | 972 | 1098 |
| Androbench Random R/W (MB/s) | 139.89 | 148.38 | 149.12 | 200.07 |
Moto G51 vs Poco M3 Pro: Battery and Connectivity
Although both handsets boast of being 5G capable, Moto G51 has support for more number of 5G bands.
The Poco M3 Pro comes with n77 & n78 5G bands in the Sub-6GHz spectrum. Meanwhile, the Moto G51 is equipped with 12 global Sub-6GHz 5G bands that include n1/n3/n5/n7/n8/n20/n28/n38/n40/n41/n77/n78.
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5G aside, both smartphones bring dual sim dual VoLTE, WiFi Calling, dual-band WiFi ac, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS (with A-GPS), USB-C 2.0, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. M3 Pro also features an infrared sensor for wirelessly controlling electronic appliances.
As for the battery department, both devices bear a 5000mAh sized cell but the charging speed is 20W on the Moto G51 and 18W on the Poco M3 Pro.
Moto G51 vs Poco M3 Pro: Camera
Poco M3 Pro comes with a triple camera setup by the back that includes a 48MP main sensor coupled with a 2MP macro shooter and a 2MP depth sensor. On the front, you get an 8MP selfie snapper.
Moto G51 has also got a triple camera stack at the back which consists of a 50MP leader, accompanied by an 8MP ultrawide shooter (which also doubles up as a depth-sensing module) and a 2MP macro clicker. As for the front, there is a 13MP camera.
As for their real-world performance, check out the photos shared in the respective reviews.
Moto G51 vs Poco M3 Pro: Pricing and Availability
You can purchase the Poco M3 Pro (review) in 2 variants viz. 4GB + 64GB at a price of ₹14,499 and 6GB + 128GB model for ₹16,499 from Flipkart. The available colorways are Cool Blue, Poco Yellow, and Power Black.
As for the Moto G51 (review), the purchase can be made from Flipkart in Bright Silver and Indigo Blue shades. The only available SKU is a 4+64GB model priced at ₹14,999.
