HIGHLIGHTS
- Motorola comes with 5G connectivity enabled by the new Snapdragon Qualcomm 750G processor.
- The Moto G 5G features a 6.7-inch FHD+ Max Vision display with support for HDR10.
- The smartphone sells at a price of Rs 20,999 in India.
This year we have seen some impressive phones from Motorola, aimed at people who want capable devices but at more affordable prices. The company is ending the year with arguably its most impressive phone of 2020. This is the Moto G 5G, which has been launched in India at a price of Rs 20,999, and among other features, it offers support for 5G that makes it a bit future-proof compared to many of the other phones available in this price bracket.
This is the first phone in India to bring 5G connectivity under Rs 21,000. It is also the first phone in India to come with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G.
But is support for 5G enough? No. And that is where the Moto G 5G holds its ground well. The phone also comes with capable hardware and some impressive features. It sure looks like a well-rounded phone at this price. Let’s take a closer look at it.
Moto G 5G: Design
Motorola doesn’t experiment with the designs of mainstream phones all that much. Nothing changes with the Moto G 5G. Having said that, the Moto G does come with impressive colour options, including silver and volcanic grey. The good colours jazz up the otherwise boring design of the Moto G 5G. For instance, in this review, you can see the phone in volcanic grey, which is basically a fancy name for burgundy by Motorola, and I find it a handsome colour that adds to the overall looks of the device.
Motorola has used a plastic back panel which tries to pass off as a glass panel with its glossy finish. The metal frame has a matte finish. The reflective panel at the rear does not look cheap to me as it has an underlying texture and the gradient finish that gives it a sort of special look. But the panel is a huge fingerprint magnet and the occasional smudges are just unavoidable. In other words, the Moto G 5G definitely needs a cover. Motorola bundles a cheap one in the box and you can use that, or get a new cover from third-party accessory makers.
On the back, there is a square camera module. It protrudes and doesn’t sit flush with the casing. In the centre, there is the Motorola logo, which also doubles up as the fingerprint sensor. Neat!
Motorola has planted a textured power button and volume rockers on the right side and a dotted Google assistant button on the left. The buttons can be distinguished easily because of the different textures given to them and are well under the reach and can be accessed seamlessly with one hand.
I find the Moto G 5G sturdy but clunky. In a way, it is a typical Moto G phone. The phone weighs a little over 200 grams. One thing I like about the phone is that its design is compact, considering it has a large screen. Despite featuring a big 6.67-inch display, it fits comfortably in my palms. It is not the lightest and slimmest phone you would lay your hands upon but it is certainly one of the most comfortable phones that I have used in the recent past.
Overall, I find the design agreeable. It is not exciting. There is nothing specifically new with the design. But it is also a practical design that gets the job done.
The Moto G 5G features a 6.7-inch FHD+ Max Vision display with support for HDR10, which ensures decent dynamic range. It has a 60Hz refresh rate, and while it may seem on the lower side compared to 90Hz phones, I don’t find it slow. This is a fairly fast phone, and scrolling, as well as animations, are smooth. The screen is vibrant and pretty big so you can easily enjoy a movie or a web series. If you are a gamer, you would be impressed by the near-perfect graphics. The viewing angles are good too and when you step out, you would not be disappointed as the display manages the brightness quite well. All in all, a good job with the display on this phone by Motorola.
Moto G 5G: Performance and battery
Motorola has introduced the Snapdragon 750G to the Indian market with the Moto G 5G. The midrange 5G chipset is also responsible for comfortably fast and smooth operations that one gets to experience with Moto G 5G. Benchmarks reveal that the Snapdragon 750G is almost at par with the Snapdragon 765G, its closest competition. Beyond benchmarks what I see is that the Snapdragon 750G, at least in this phone, is more than capable of giving good user experience. I have used the phone for over two weeks and not encountered any noticeable lag.
The apps on the phone load pretty quickly, you can move from one app to another smoothly, and even when you keep too many tabs open, the phone does not slow down. For games, I played Asphalt 9, and not even once did it heat up or close down abruptly so that was one of the takeaways for me. The Snapdragon 750G might not be the fastest processor in the market but I was not disappointed with the way it handled the basic operations.
The Moto G 5G like all the Motorola phones comes with a near-stock Android experience. This means users don’t have to endure repeated notifications from the pre-loaded bloatware, a problem on many of the other popular phones.
Inside the phone, there is a 5000mAh battery. The device supports fast charging with a 20W Turbo Charger. With me, the Moto G 5G usually lasts a little over one full day with fairly consistent use throughout the day. The 20W charger that is bundled with the phone is a huge step-up over the previous Moto phones. While it was not as fast as the 33W chargers that Realme phones come with, it is not disappointing at all. In an hour, the phone’s battery goes to a little over 60 per cent from zero. The battery is full usually with the charging of one and a half hours or so. For a phone with 5000mAh battery, this is a decent battery charging performance.
Moto G 5G: Camera
Motorola uses a 48-megapixel primary sensor in the Moto G9, the Moto E7 Plus, and now in the Moto G 5G. So, what is different? A lot actually because I find the Moto G 5G clicks better photos than other Moto phones.
On the back, the Moto G features a triple camera setup. It comprises a 48-megapixel primary sensor with F1.7 lens, an 8-megapixel camera with F2.2 wide-angle sensor and a 2-megapixel camera with F2.4 macro lens. On the front, there is a 16-megapixel camera for selfies.
I will start with the good bit. Motorola’s primary sensor captures detailed and crisp pictures taken in daylight conditions. The images are neither saturated nor over-exposed. Most cameras these days brighten up the pictures even when there is absolutely no need for that. This is something I have noticed in some mid-range Samsung phones a lot. However, Moto G captures the image the way the scene actually looks without making the pictures too bright.
In low light scenes, the quality of the picture deteriorates a bit. You would notice grains in the picture and sometimes it loses focus. You can use the flash to put some lights on the picture but that would not do much good.
The macro sensor turned out to be pretty impressive especially during daylight conditions. It again was not very effective when the light conditions were dim. I clicked a picture of a flower using the macro mode and the sensor was able to capture every pistil and petals with utmost precision. You can refer to the picture of a white rose in the image sample for a better understanding.In shots where you need blurred background, you will see the performance of the Moto G 5G cameras is impressive. For example, the statue of Lord Buddha. In this photo, details have been very well and the background is smoothly blurred.
Now coming to Motorola's night vision technology, well this mode comes in handy when you want to capture an image that has absolutely negligible lighting. This mode can be switched on when you want to capture your neighborhood from your balcony. When you apply the mode, you would notice that the pictures are sometimes too bright but the details are captured pretty well. For a better understanding, refer to the picture of a street.
The Moto G 5G uses a 16-megapixel selfie camera that captures bright and crisp selfies during daylight conditions. In low light, the performance is poor. The pictures come out grainy when the light is not sufficient. The portrait mode is supported on the front camera and it works well in a good light.
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