Motorola Moto G4, Moto G4 Plus Target Budget-Conscious Buyers

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Motorola is looking to carve a niche in the overcrowded smartphone market by appealing to the consumer's interest in customization with the Moto G4 Plus and Moto G4 Play, the two latest editions of the Moto G family.

The company also announced a thinner, fourth-generation Moto G4, which boasts a 5.5-inch full HD display and a 13-megapixel camera. It lets users customize the device by switching up colors with interchangeable shells.

Addressing the common complaint that smartphones lack sufficient battery life, the Moto G4 features a robust 3,000 mAh battery. When a battery boost is needed, Motorola's TurboPower provides six hours of power in 15 minutes.

The Moto G4 also comes with free storage with Google Photos, which lets users stay automatically backed-up and organized, and provides two years of storage at original quality.

Users also have the option of expandable memory by adding an up to 128GB microSD card.

The 16 MP camera on Moto G4 Plus has two additional rapid focus technologies -- laser focus and phase detect autofocus -- and features a fingerprint reader to instantly wake up the device. It can also be used to authorize purchases on the Google Play Store.

The Moto G4 Plus also features 5 MP front camera with a wide-angle lens for group shots.

The Moto G4 Play features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor with a quad-core CPU and 2GB of memory and a 2800 mAh battery, which boosts performance by running a pared-down version of Google's Android operating system.

Cash-strapped consumers in North America are going to miss out on this opportunity for the time being. The Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus will be only be available in Brazil, while the Moto G4 Plus will be available in India.

However, the company noted both versions would arrive soon in various countries across North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific, while the Moto G4 Play will be available globally starting later this summer.

[Read about Lenovo's mobile and PC announcements from MWC.]

The company declined to publish the exact price of the smartphones, which are aimed at budget-conscious users, hinting coyly that, "You only have to spend a little for a phone you'll love a lot," and noting the "exceptional price" of the Moto G4.

"When it comes to smartphones, sometimes we feel let down. The things that matter most -- like taking great photos at our kids' soccer games, video chatting with mom or having all-day battery life -- simply don't live up to our expectations," according to a May 17 blog post. "It shouldn't be this way. Smartphones should focus on technology that prioritizes the things people really care about."

Lenovo completed its acquisition of Motorola Mobility from Google in October 2014 for just under $3 billion, although Google has maintained ownership of a majority of the Motorola Mobility patent portfolio.

According to the terms of the deal, Motorola received a license to this portfolio of patents and other intellectual property, and will retain over 2,000 patent assets and a large number of patent cross-license agreements, as well as the Motorola Mobility brand and trademark portfolio.