Motorola is a brand that offer a wide compass of smartphone tiers . It has its flagships like theMotorola Edgeand even the signatureRazrflip phone , but it also offer plenty of more budget - well-disposed option .
If you ’re the sort of person who does n’t need the fancy campana and whistles of flagships and or else just necessitate a basic sound for wide-eyed tasks and amusement , Motorola has the Moto G lineup . Today , we ’ll take a look at the $ 200 Moto gigabyte 5 G ( 2024 ) , the latest affordable Android earpiece in Motorola ’s lineup .
Moto G 5G (2024): design
The Moto gravitational constant 5 thousand ( 2024 ) swash a uncomplicated and elegant design for a telephone in this damage compass , though it only comes in one colour : Sage Green . It feature a plastic systema skeletale with rounded edge , which is have a bun in the oven for a $ 200 earphone , but it does n’t finger chinchy once it ’s in your hand . I aboveboard found this surprising .
Another interesting aspect of the conception is that the back is not field glass , but vegan leather , with Motorola ’s theme song “ M ” logotype in the middle . This means it ’s fingerprint - disgustful , and , in my opinion , the leather add a dainty grip to the earphone , making it more well-situated to hold and use versus a phone with a standard glass or plastic back .
The Moto guanine 5 M ( 2024 ) does n’t feel cheap despite the formative anatomy .
The fabric that Motorola used for the Moto G 5 G ( 2024 ) also entail that it ’s pretty H2O - repellant . In other words , you should n’t need to worry about inadvertent spills , splashes of body of water , sweat , or light pelting . However , the phone doesnothave a proper IP military rank , so you ca n’t deluge it underwater , and it ’s not rated for dust resistance .
The television camera bump is almost sit around affluent with the rest of the back , which I thought was nice . When it seems like every phone is just get larger and expectant camera bump , this very low bump on the Moto G 5 GB is a welcome mint .
On the left edge of the plastic frame is where you will find the SIM card tray , which also domiciliate a slot for a microSD card ( up to 1 TB ) if you want more than the 128 GB of internal repositing . The opposite edge has the volume and rest / wake buttons . Along the bottom sharpness are the USB - coulomb charging port , speaker , and — pant — a 3.5 millimetre earphone jack . In a world where it ’s almost unsufferable to find earpiece jacks on a phone anymore , this should be welcome news to those who still habituate wired headphones or earbuds .
The small camera hump is a welcome ken .
Thanks to the rounded sharpness and leather back , I find the Moto G 5 G quite comfy to carry and utilise . Overall , it ’s a clean , childlike , and understated design that you do n’t typically see with budget phones . Motorola did a great job here .
Moto G 5G (2024): display
On the opposite end of the spectrum , the video display is where you may really see that the Moto universal gravitational constant 5 G ( 2024 ) is a $ 200 speech sound , unfortunately .
With the Moto G 5 guanine ( 2024 ) , you have a 6.6 - inch HD+ 720p ( 1612 x 720 resolution , 267 pixels per inch ) LCD screen with a 120Hz refresh rate . For an LCD display , colors look adequate enough , and school text is OK , but when most phones use OLED these day , this just falls shortsighted . Plus , it only gets up to 430 nit of peak brightness , so if you are outdoors in brilliant , sunny condition , it can be a real struggle to employ .
And even though it has a 120Hz refresh charge per unit , scrolling is far from the smooth experience you get on other telephone . However , I believe this has more to do with the other specs , which I ’ll get to in a minute .
The display can be a struggle to use in burnished sun .
You also have a hole - punch cutout at the top for the selfie television camera , which is passably standard . There are also some rather unsightly bezels around the exhibit , with the thickest at the bottom . In a time when gadget bezels continue to shrink in size , the Moto G 5 gram ( 2024 ) deposit out like a sore quarter round .
Moto G 5G (2024): software and performance
The specs for the Moto G 5 K ( 2024 ) are another big downside . in spite of appearance , it is equip with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 bit , and it only comes in one configuration : 128 GB of storage with 4 GB RAM .
Yes , you read that right field : 4 GB RAM . That’spainfulwhen the fact is that most phones these days have at least 6 GB RAM or more . Motorola tries to rectify the RAM proceeds through software with the RAM boost feature , which is on by nonpayment and set to 2 GB . With RAM cost increase , you’re able to extend the read/write memory by 1 GB , 2 GB , or 4 GB by partition off available storage space . So , as long as you have enough available memory board , you could boost that RAM up to 8 GB if you really require to .
The Moto G 5 G ( 2024 ) follow withAndroid 14and Motorola ’s My UX customs interface installed . As far as software updates go , however , the Moto G 5 G ( 2024 ) is only going to get one major Android osmium update to Android 15 and three year of semimonthly security measure updates .
Using this phone has been painful as the lusterless spectacles have lead to performance issues .
For a $ 200 phone , you should n’t expect the best performance . cost have to be cut somewhere , and lesser carrying into action is usually expect fromcheaper smartphones . Even so , using the Moto G 5 G has been a bit painful . There isverynoticeable stave and stutter , even when just opening apps , navigating through the phone , and scrolling . It ’s because of this that the 120Hz refresh rate does n’t sense like the great show fringe benefit it should be .
Even adjusting the bulk is a pain . I weight-lift the loudness clit and then tap on the “ more ” button on the sieve to hunky-dory - tune my sound , and it takes a good two to three seconds before the speech sound and vibration menu pops up , at least with the first attempt . It seems to get just after that , but it ’s pretty jarring that there is even a delay to begin with when bringing up the auditory sensation and vibration carte .
I also tried the Glance lock screen feature , which is supposed to show live and relevant information on the lock chamber screen . I recollect it would be relevant for my gustatory sensation , but so far I ’ve just seen random news articles for topics that I do n’t manage about .
Similarly , when you initially set up the phone , Motorola will hear to preinstall random apps like LinkedIn , Booking.com , Walmart , Wayfair , random games , and more . I made sure to deselect all of these because I do n’t care redundant rubble instal that I do n’t involve or even want , but it ’s easy to miss if you ’re not give aid .
On the bright side , Motorola has some cool single gestures that make using the Moto G 5 GB easier . For example , you could do a chopping gesture twice to turn the flashlight on and off , or twist your radiocarpal joint twice quickly to open up up the camera app at any clip . These have been standout features on Motorola phones for a few years now , and they ’re very ready to hand .
Moto G 5G (2024): cameras
Though it looks like it has a dual photographic camera setup , the Moto G 5 1000 ( 2024 ) really has a single - camera organization .
The camera module on the back of the machine is a 50 - megapixel lens system , and there ’s a useless 2MP macro lens to go with it . Motorola uses a quadrangle - pixel binning system , which means four nanopixels to a single pel , so the end results will show up as 12.5MP images . For the selfie camera , it ’s a pretty canonic 8MP lens .
I ’ve try using the Moto 1000 5 K ( 2024 ) television camera , and it really will a mass to be desired . There ’s always something wrong with the photos I take . It has trouble focusing , especially when there ’s a thin chip of movement or even a easy breeze . The shutter is slow , so it would really captivate the image a 2d after what I thought it had . It does n’t handle vestige very well at all , leaving people half - visible in photos . color are too undimmed , details are too gentle , and do n’t even endeavor to whizz along in on anything , because it just gets bad as you soar in more .
I was n’t expecting the best photographic camera with a $ 200 phone , but there really is n’t anything redeeming about any of the images I take away with the main tv camera . And the 8MP selfie camera ? It made me appear pale and sickly with uneven skin tint behind my methamphetamine hydrochloride . It ’s really bad .
Moto G 5G (2024): battery life
If there ’s a unassailable peak for the Moto G 5 G ( 2024 ) , it has very good battery life . It packs in a 5,000mAh battery inside , which will easy get you through a full day and then some with heavy usage .
But again , I found using the telephone to be quite harrowing , so my utilisation was very light . Still , with my basic social media custom and subject matter with some video playback , I barely made a nick in the battery .
Motorola includes a USB - one C overseas telegram in the Moto gram 5 guanine ( 2024 ) box , but no business leader adapter , and it only has 18 - watt profligate charging pep pill . With a 5,000mAh cadre , it will take a while to go from empty to full . There is no support for wireless charging , either .
Moto G 5G (2024): price and availability
The Moto M 5 G ( 2024 ) comes in one colouring material and configuration , which costs $ 200 retail . It ’s available now from T - Mobile and Metro by T - Mobile , and it will come to other carriers at a later date . If you want to buy the phone unlock , you ’ll need to look until May 2 .
There is also theMoto G Power 5 G ( 2024 ) , which is marginally good than the Moto G 5 G ( 2024 ) and be $ 300 . With the Moto G Power 5 G , you have a slightly larger 6.7 - in LCD projection screen with Full HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate . It has 8 GB Aries the Ram and a MediaTek Dimensity 7020 chip , so it has a little more force , though it ’s nothing liken to more expensive telephone set . And it has a dual camera system with an ultrawide lense , but that ’s not the best either .
trueness be told , there are good option in this price cooking stove that do n’t add up from Motorola . There ’s theOnePlus Nord N30 5 gram , which also has a 6.7 - inch liquid crystal display video display , but it really looks good and is bright enough to habituate outside . The Snapdragon 695 chip is also much quicker than those in both of the new Moto G phones . It also has a slightly better camera organisation with a 108MP main hitman , though it miss visual picture stabilization . It also has 50W cable rouse for the 5,000mAh stamp battery .
You could also consider theOnePlus 12Rif you could stretch that budget a little further . For $ 500 , you get a beautiful 6.78 - inch AMOLED panel , a dynamic refresh rate between 1Hz and 120Hz , and a visor brightness level of 4,500 nits . It uses Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and has a 50MP main gun for hire with an 8MP ultrawide camera , a 2MP macro camera , and a 16MP selfie tv camera . The 5,500mAh battery will last almost two full daylight , and it has 80W wired charging speeds . It ’s basically a 2023 flagship phone for just $ 500 , which is an incredible value . You could also go for the newGenshin Impactversionfor a small more at $ 650 .
Moto G 5G (2024): verdict
At one point , Motorola was arrive at some reasonably good Moto G earphone . unluckily , the Moto G 5 G ( 2024 ) is not one of them .
While I like the overall design of the Moto G 5 G ( 2024 ) , with its vegan leather back , small camera prominence , and curved edge , that ’s not enough to ransom all of the earpiece ’s other flaw .
The low - res LCD display just feel so out of berth given today ’s standards . There are budget phones out there that employ OLED panel , so still relying on a low - tone liquid crystal display screen is grueling to accept . Combined with the low luminance tha makes its next to impossible to see outdoors , it ’s a really disappointing setup .
Use your $ 200 on something better .
Not to cite , the public presentation isbad . The Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 with just 4 GB Aries is barely operable , and even when it is , it ’s not gratifying with all the lagging and stuttering . The 120Hz refresh pace exhibit does n’t keep you from janky scrolling . The camera is lacking in almost every agency potential . Battery lifetime is good , but again , 18W charging speeds are definitely boring compared to other options on the market .
The Moto G 5 one thousand ( 2024 ) is n’t the very worst telephone you could buy for $ 200 , but it ’s also far from the best . With a little bit of inquiry and a slightly bigger budget , your money is better drop elsewhere .
