Motorola G. Review of the Motorola Moto G5S smartphone: an excellent budget phone. Mobile device batteries differ from each other in their capacity and technology. They provide the electrical charge necessary for their functioning.

The premium scanner comes with the budget bestseller on Android.

Verdict

With a shiny new metal body, a super-sleek fingerprint scanner and decent specs, the Moto G5 offers real value for money. This is another obvious choice for bargain hunters. Motorola Moto G5 review more...

• Modular housing at a low price;
• Clear, bright Full HD display;
• Fingerprint's scanner;

• Still no NFC;
• Not the fastest chipset;
• Limited availability;

Motorola's G series is the best-selling phone range in the world and the latest entry into the budget segment is the Moto G5.

Manufacturer Lenovo (the new owners of the Moto brand) has decided to up the budget segment, with a metallic design and an impressive array of extra features that you wouldn't normally expect from a cheap phone.

Like the Moto G4 last year, the Moto G5 starts its pricing at around 10,000 rubles, but plastic has given way to aluminum, and you also get a killer fingerprint scanner (though the larger and more expensive G4 Plus was the first G phone to offer this feature ).

The Moto G5 also runs on the latest Android 7.0 Nougat, which boasts user-friendly gestures and options.

But the chipset has received a strange downgrade, and the screen has become smaller, is the G5 really becoming a worthy receiver? Read our Moto G5 review.

Moto G5: Price and release date

• Motorola Moto G5 price from 9,000 rubles;
• Not available in the US;
• You'll have to pay about 1,000 rubles extra for 3 GB of RAM;

The basic model of the Moto G5 smartphone with 2 GB of RAM is available in Russia for 9,000 rubles in Euroset retail stores, DNS and other sellers.

Typically the phone comes in gold or gray, but some sellers boast an exclusive blue model of the phone. You can pay an extra RUB 1,000 to get 3GB of RAM and dual SIM support if you buy the smartphone online through Motorola's website, and we recommend doing just that.

Some markets will be limited to just the 2GB RAM version, but the Moto G5 in our review has 3GB RAM and a gray design, as well as a slot for a second SIM card.

Premium for everyone?

• More expensive appearance;
• Great camera on paper;

Lenovo's new policy of 'Premium for All' is immediately evident in the design of the Moto G5.

While the Moto G series has always delighted buyers with great specs in affordable phones, it has never been a hit in the style department. But everything changes with the Moto G5.

It's a good-looking phone with a satisfying weight thanks to the aluminum back panel. It has a fingerprint scanner embedded under the glass bezel, with a thin metal strip around the speaker on top.

A silver circle surrounds the large camera module on the back, along with an eye-catching M logo etched into the metal panel. It's easily the best-looking Moto G phone we've ever seen.

The Motorola Moto G5 smartphone also has a 13-megapixel main camera with auto focus and a 5-megapixel camera with a wide-angle lens for group shots. These are impressive specs on paper.

Add in fast charging and the usual array of connectivity, and it's clear that the Moto G5 brings a lot to the table. At first glance, the only obvious omission is NFC.

Truly, premium for everyone.

Design and display

• Gorgeous shiny metal frame and brushed metal finish;
• Decent 5-inch 1080p display;

While the Motorola Moto G5's design is impressive, it doesn't grab the eye like it does. We can say that the smartphone looks good, but here it’s worth adding a tricky “for your money”.

If we compare it to last year's Moto G4, which was all plastic and didn't offer a fingerprint scanner, the growth is clear.

The metal back panel looks and feels great, giving way to plastic bumper sections on top and bottom that promise extra durability in case of a drop.

However, it is not as premium a smartphone as the , which boast all-metal bodies made, as the name suggests, from a single piece of aluminum.

On the bottom edge, you'll find a Micro USB port and a small indent to help you reveal the removable battery, SIM card slots, and MicroSD card slot (up to 128GB).

You'll also find a standard 3.5mm headphone jack there, and the right side has a notch with a textured power button.

On the front of the phone, you'll find a front-facing camera and speaker on top, the Moto logo there, and a concave fingerprint scanner and microphone at the bottom.

The display is a 5-inch IPS-LCD with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. It's actually a very sharp screen at 441 pixels per inch, on par with the Moto G5 Plus. It's also bright and easy to use for reading, watching videos or playing games.

The large bezel around the screen is one of the few hints towards a budget phone, but you can't get everything for its price.

Interface and reliability

• Pure Android with a convenient Moto application;
• A smart fingerprint scanner can replace navigation buttons;
• Android Nougat bundled with Google Assistant;

It's great to see the latest Android 7.0 Nougat on a budget smartphone, and we're glad Lenovo is opting for Google apps. Chrome is a familiar browser, and the Photos app lets you automatically back up your precious photos and videos, there's simply no need for the duplicate apps that many other manufacturers include.

Android has long been sleek, attractive and accessible, with lots of useful features, so there's no need for a lot of extra features. Navigating the phone is quick and easy, and we didn't experience any problems with the interface.

If you've used Android before, everything will be familiar. Settings and notifications remain the same, the only major change to the interface is the floating bottom dock for applications.

Everything Lenovo adds is mostly useful. The Moto app gives you the ability to use some handy gesture combinations and connect convenient features like time without having to wake up your smartphone. We'll go into more detail about the camera app below.

The star of the show here is without a doubt the fingerprint scanner, with a feature Lenovo calls "One-button nav".

This solution allows you to maximize screen real estate by getting rid of on-screen navigation buttons and using a fingerprint scanner instead. Just tap it to go back to the home screen, swipe left to go back, or swipe right to open the app list.

Movies, music and games

• The 5-inch display is clear and colorful;
• The speaker sounds terrible, but there is a 3.5mm headphone jack;
• Snapdragon 420 is not the best choice for gaming;

The Moto G5's 5-inch screen is perfect for every need. We had no problems reading or watching videos on it.

Turn up the brightness outdoors and the screen image remains legible. It won't be able to compete with Super AMOLED, but the colors look convincing enough and the smartphone is great for YouTube or Netflix.

One speaker is an obvious weakness. It sounds harsh and unpleasant, and it also makes the Moto G5 vibrate if you turn the volume up above half.

It's not a huge surprise for a budget phone, but you'll definitely want to use the 3.5mm port to listen to music or watch videos.

For casual gaming, the Moto G5's performance is sufficient. For example, we had no problems with Super Mario Run, and Asphalt 8 didn't sag either. We were able to play on the highest graphics settings, but experienced dropped frames from time to time. Game loading speeds also remained quite slow.

One of the problems that you may encounter, especially if you want to download movies or music on your phone, as well as install large games, is a lack of memory.

Motorola Moto G5 has a capacity of 16 GB, of which only 10 are available to the user. Luckily, there is a MicroSD card slot that supports cards up to 128GB.

Benchmarks and Performance

• Lots of possibilities for classic tasks;
• Applications/games are a little slow to load and close;

The Moto G5 smartphone combines the Snapdragon 430 chipset with the Adreno 505 GPU, which is enough for most basic tasks. Browsing the web, messaging and scrolling were no problem, the only time we experienced slowdown was when loading apps and games. But the slowdown occurs only during loading and unloading, the work continues to be smooth.

The Motorola Moto G5 review is the 3GB RAM version, and we'd definitely recommend spending the extra RUB 1,000 to get this model. We suspect that app loading lags will be worse with the 2GB model.

With an average score of 2,377 on Geekbench 4, the Moto G5 was a bit of a disappointment. Last year, the Moto G4 managed to squeeze out 3104 points, and scored 3824 points in the same test. Continuing the comparison, I scored 3275 points.

But the Moto G5's score isn't all that bad. The slightly more expensive X has the same chipset and 3 GB of RAM, but its score is 2016 points.

Battery life

• Fast charging, very fast;
• Requires daily charging;

The Moto G5's battery life is typical. On a typical day of mixed use, charging will be required overnight. We never had the battery drop below 10% overnight, even on busy review days that included photography and gaming, but the phone didn’t last for more than a day and a half.

At the end of the 90-minute HD video playback test, the Moto G had lost 22% of its battery capacity, which is a respectable result, although not as good as its predecessor, which only lost 17%.

This can be explained by the fact that Lenovo has reduced the battery size from 3000 mAh to 2800 mAh, although the manufacturer has also reduced the screen size by half an inch.

Playing a game drains the battery quite quickly, and this is true for the Moto G5. He lost about 8% in 20 minutes of playing Asphalt 8 and 7% in 20 minutes of Super Mario Run.

However, the 10W fast charger is impressive. If the battery is low, you can get your smartphone back into service very quickly, although the charging speed drops as the percentage increases. Just 20 minutes is enough to charge your phone from 20% to 50%.

Overall, Lenovo's claim that you can get hours of use out of just a few minutes of charging holds up.

Camera

• Poor pictures in poor lighting conditions;
• The camera app includes PRO mode;
• The 5-megapixel wide-angle front camera is good for group photography;

On paper, the Moto G5's 13-megapixel main camera is impressive. However, the camera doesn't have the dual-LED flash that its big brother G5 Plus has, or the large f/1.7 aperture that improves photos in low-light conditions.

The G5 Plus's camera may only be rated at 12MP, but it has the excellent Sony IMX260 sensor.

The Moto G5's camera is decent, but not remarkable. In good lighting conditions, when you take your time, you can take some pretty impressive shots. Performance in the less than ideal conditions that most of us actually shoot in isn't that good.

If there is any movement then the photos come out blurry, noise creeps into the photos when the scene lighting is worse than a bright sunny day.

The Moto G5 has the same camera app as the more expensive G5 Plus. It's an easy-to-use app with automatic HDR support. You can tap and hold to lock on a subject to focus on, and there's a brightness wheel next to the reticle.

There's also a PRO mode that lets you adjust ISO, white balance, and a few other details. There is also a Slow Motion and Panorama mode, but neither of them can boast of high quality. Video recording has a base format of up to 1080p and 30 frames per second.

The 5-megapixel front-facing camera features a wide-angle lens for group selfie enthusiasts, as well as a variety of capture features that make it easy to use without having to reach for the shutter button.

Sample photos

The camera does a good job of capturing fine details in close-ups, but you can see some minor noise since the shot was taken indoors.

Ideal lighting conditions allow you to take bright, detailed photos.

Summing up

If you don't want to take any chances with an unfamiliar brand, the Moto G line remains the best budget option in the Android trenches.

There are significant improvements over the Moto G4 in terms of design, with a shift from plastic to metal. The inclusion of an excellent fingerprint scanner is also a nice bonus, as is the fast charging feature.

However, the Motorola Moto G5 takes a slight step back in terms of performance as battery life and overall performance remain average.

Who is Moto G5 for?

Any user on a budget who still wants decent levels of performance in a phone that's not embarrassing to take out of your pocket.

The latest version of Android, as well as a robust design, camera and fingerprint scanner promise great value for RUB 12,000, although we think it's worth spending a little more (around RUB 1,000) for the 3GB RAM model.

Worth buyingMotoG5?

There is no better Android smartphone in the sub-Rs 12,000 price range, so if that's the limit of your budget, yes, you should buy the Moto G5.

If you want to play demanding games, or you want to use NFC for mobile payments, then you'll likely have to spend a little more.

The Motorola Moto G5 is one of the very best phones available to you in this price range, but the following three competitors remain excellent options if you can spend a little more or plan to spend a little less.

CompetitorsMotorola Moto G5

Moto G5 Plus

The difference between last year's Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus was not great, but this year the brothers differ much more. G5 Plus costs about 16,000 rubles.

The metallic design and excellent fingerprint scanner are virtually identical, but the extra money buys you a Snapdragon 625 chipset with Adreno 506 GPU, a slightly larger 5.2-inch screen and 32GB of storage.

Perhaps most importantly, the G5 Plus has a 12-megapixel Sony IMX260, f/1.7 camera, which is much better than the G5's camera in low-light conditions. This is essentially the same camera module that you'll find in , although it doesn't reach the same highs.

The G5 Plus also has a large 3,000mAh battery, which seems to handily beat the G5 based on our testing.

More details: .

MotorolaMotoG4

Last year's Motorola Moto G is available to you for even less, and this deal may be more tempting for bargain hunters. The Moto G4 has a larger 5.5-inch screen, better battery life, and a faster Snapdragon 617 chipset.

Lenovo has put a lot of effort into making the Moto G5 a great phone, but the fingerprint scanner is by far the best addition. This is exactly what the Moto G4 lacks. However, the Snapdragon 430 seems like a compromise and we would have preferred to see the same Snapdragon 625 found on the Moto G5 Plus.

If you're on a budget and style isn't an issue, then we recommend choosing the Moto G4 over the Moto G5.

Honor 6X

Huawei's Honor 6X is definitely worth a look at this price point. It costs about 14,000 rubles and also offers a metal body with a good fingerprint scanner, although it is located on the back of the Honor 6X.

To tempt you even more, there is a 5.5-inch Full HD display, an octa-core Kirin 635 chipset and 3GB of RAM. As if that weren't enough, Huawei also offers 32GB of internal storage, a large 3,340mAh battery, and a dual 12MP camera.

If you can cover the difference of a few thousand rubles, the Honor 6X is an irresistible alternative.

Great!

Review of the Motorola Moto G5, the budget Moto smartphone of 2017 and the continuation of the most legendary series of cheap phones. Now a fingerprint scanner!

Moto G is indeed the latest authentic Motorola smartphone: as you know, on January 29, the American company was bought by Lenovo. Yes, Motorola lost its independence back in 2012 when it was absorbed by Google. However, the Motorola products that came out after this event, in my opinion, were still authentic: Google is not an “iron” company, and it is unlikely that it seriously interfered in the process of creating devices. Lenovo is another matter: this manufacturer has its own vision of the right smartphones and extensive experience in creating them, so the next Motorola devices may already have a noticeable Chinese flavor. (In this case, “Chinese flavor” should not be understood as low quality, but rather the touches characteristic of a Lenovo device - design, software, and so on.)

Lenovo K900 and Moto G

One way or another, today we will talk specifically about the Moto G. On the Internet, it is customary to praise this device - they say, it is the best budget offer, an excellent smartphone for a fraction of the cost, a killer of products from local Russian brands, and so on. Yes, indeed, I’ll get ahead of myself now and say that the smartphone is worthy. And it is very possible that I will leave it for a couple of months as a second device. But, at the same time, I can’t help but grumble a little - fortunately, I, as a user of a number of Motorola Android smartphones from 2010-2011, have enough reasons for this.

Why have I always liked “Motors” with Android inside? An unusual approach to design and software. (It’s worth mentioning right away that I’m not a fan of the stock versions of this OS and love all sorts of shells with small nice features.) For example, the Motorola Milestone XT720 is one of the last Motorola devices supplied to Russia.

Motorola Milestone XT720

Yes, it was very buggy, did not receive the promised firmware with Android 2.2 and took terrible photos (despite an 8-megapixel camera with a xenon flash), but what it looked like! I don’t know about dear readers, but I was delighted. All this asymmetry, coupled with the blue velvety coating and metal back cover, did their job - I put up with the glitches for six months.

Later I used Motorola RAZR XT910. And again I’ll sing an ode to design: small thickness, cut corners, Kevlar insert on the “butt”... It was painful to look at the Samsung Galaxy S II - it looked so faded against the background of the new incarnation of the “razor”.

Motorola RAZR XT910

Meanwhile, with the software of this very “razor” everything was more than decent: convenient Smart Actions program for automatically configuring the smartphone depending on the situation (like “I came home, and the device realized it itself using GPS and turned off the sound”), dark blue background of the main menu with a gradient (well, I don’t like the black background that can be seen in 90% of smart phones, including Moto G), a client for accessing the computer’s hard drive over the Internet, screen locking in the style of turning off a tube TV, close integration of the gallery with Facebook, and the music player from last.fm... In total, this created a new feeling from the smartphone, making it stand out from others. (All of the above is relevant for firmware with Android 2.3.6, because then the update came from 4.0.4 and 70 percent of the features disappeared.)

It is clear that many goodies can be added using third-party software. But, in my experience, proprietary applications built into the firmware often work more stable than those downloaded from Google Play... For example, the Samsung Galaxy S4 has a “black list”, and it functions like a clock. But the Moto G doesn’t have it, I’ve already tried two third-party programs, and they regularly miss messages from the operator.

So, now I’m holding a Moto G in my hands. Branded features in the software? No, this is practically “naked” Android (I’ll tell you about a few unusual applications below). Design? He's definitely nice. But nothing more: there is no revolutionary spirit, which was clearly visible in the old “Motors” on Android. Google’s influence? Perhaps.

Contents of delivery The smartphone is VERY modest. That's right, VERY. Because it only includes scrap paper and a white USB cord. There is no headset or charger unit - the developers assume that you already have such accessories in your household. (By the way, phones and smartphones for the Japanese market also very often come with only one cable - the reason is exactly the same as I indicated above.)

The box is quite compact - slightly larger than the smartphone itself



Included USB cable

Next, it’s worth mentioning that the Moto G is sold in black, but replaceable panels are available as an option. Regular boat covers cost $15, protected ones with a rubber bumper cost $20, and options with a flip (a la Flip Cover for Samsung models) cost $30. I have a device with a red panel for $15, and The black cover that came with the kit is missing.

Lids for $15

By the way, the packaging of additional backdrops is very convenient - you can open it in no time without tearing or breaking it:

To assemble the device no complaints - it is very tightly packed, and removing the back panel is not easy (I usually help myself with a plastic card). You only have to remove it to install/remove the SIM card. The thing is that the smartphone's battery is non-removable, and there is no slot for a flash card. That's why I recommend buying the Moto G with 16GB of storage - it's priced at $199 in the US. The version with 8 GB drive costs $20 less, so it makes sense to pay more. I’ll also add that there are several versions of the device - a model with support for “global” GSM, a version with an emphasis on American GSM, and also a CDMA version. There is also a modification with support for two SIM cards - for Brazil, India and other emerging markets.

TO ergonomics There are almost no questions. The vertically convex shape of the back panel provides a very comfortable grip. The power and volume buttons are located on the right side of the case, and they are well spaced - you don’t get confused, as is the case with some other devices, where these buttons are also located next to each other.

The material of the back cover is quite difficult to describe. Let's just say that this is one of the soft-touch options, and not the softest possible. But it is very pleasant to the touch. Let me add that the owner of a Samsung Galaxy Win, trimmed with typical Samsung plastic, whistled when he picked up the Moto G - he liked it so much. The disadvantage of the coating is that it quickly becomes greasy and begins to shine unevenly. At the same time, it may not be possible to erase stains and fingerprints “on a shirt”.

I recently came across a video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVaTKG5q4YI. In it, Moto G is dipped in water for half an hour, and the device is at least a henna. In fact, it is better not to conduct such experiments. You never know... In general, Motorola says that the Moto G only has a water-repellent coating; it means that the drops will not remain on the body, drying out and leaving spots/smudges, but will simply flow off. The RAZR XT910 had the same feature: www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5s-xDynVXc.

[Turns on the grumbler again] I don’t like devices where the control keys are on the screen - like Nexus ones. They eat up the useful display area (although some developers have learned to deal with this - the panel with buttons can be hidden, say, in the Lexand A811 tablet), and in general... Personally, I never cease to be nostalgic about hardware buttons for accepting/hanging up calls. Specifically in the case of the Moto G, the arrangement of the keys on the screen leads to the following: in the “Camera” application (and it’s proprietary here), the last photo is called by swiping from right to left on the right side of the screen, but instead of displaying the photo, Google Now is often launched.

Dust particles are constantly getting clogged under the side of the front panel

Otherwise, the design and ergonomics are very pleasing. I’ll also add here that the microUSB port is on the bottom (it’s convenient to talk on the phone while charging), while the 3.5 mm headphone jack is on the top edge.

The earpiece and speech transmission in general are excellent, and the multimedia speaker “screams” perfectly, and due to the convexity of the rear panel, it does not overlap when the smartphone is lying on the table. As for the sound in headphones, it’s difficult for me to evaluate it; I’m far from an audiophile. But I listened to the same song on the Sony Walkman S763 and Moto G, and I clearly felt the difference. The difference, alas, is not in favor of the smartphone.

Display Moto G is covered with Gorilla Glass 3, and the touchscreen is very sensitive - it’s a pleasure to operate. The image quality is also excellent. Motorola doesn't reveal the screen technology, saying something like "the Moto G uses LCD." The viewing angles are wide - not AMOLED, of course, but still not bad. The white color does not turn yellow, the black color is “gray”, but not so much as to be upset about it. The ratio of diagonal (4.5 inches) and resolution (1280 x 720 pixels) gives very good picture clarity. I personally don’t see much difference in smoothness with the Galaxy S4, and in terms of color reproduction, the LCD in the Moto G is somewhat nicer than the Super AMOLED in the SGS4.

Hardware The Moto G isn't exactly super powerful, but it's far from weak either. In this case, the developers decided not to use their “own” Motorola X8 chipset, but used the Qualcomm platform. (The word “own” is in quotation marks, since the X8 was the same Qualcomm, modified by Motorola specialists.) Moto G is based on the 28-nanometer MSM8226 Snapdragon 400 chipset, which includes four ARM Cortex-A7 cores with a peak frequency of 1. 2 GHz and Adreno 305 graphics. (Moto G, by the way, is the first and only “quad-core” Motorola smartphone.)

In general, Qualcomm likes to use proprietary Krait kernels in its platforms, but unmodified ARM is also found in solutions for low-cost devices.
So, the performance is quite high - it is enough for most tasks, although there is not too much RAM here, namely 1 GB. In AnTuTu 10, the smartphone scores about 17 thousand points - about the same as devices based on MediaTek MT6582, which is logical, since this chipset also has four Cortex-A7 cores.

Interface It's fast, games run without any problems or lags. Here, for example, is a screenshot from Asphalt 8, graphics settings are set to maximum.

Qualcomm MSM8226 Snapdragon 400 includes Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n) modules, as well as a GLONASS/GPS receiver. I did not find any problems with all this equipment. My particular device, a 16 GB “American” (XT1034), supports GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz and UMTS/HSPA+ 850/1700(AWS)/1900 MHz networks. Of the 16 gigs of memory, about 12.9 are available; as I already said, it cannot be expanded. This is partly compensated by 50 GB of space on the Google Drive service, which are given for use for a period of two years to all Moto G buyers.

The situation with USB OTG support is interesting. I read the forums - for some it works, for others it doesn’t, but for me it’s somehow half-assed: the device didn’t see any of the three USB flash drives on the farm, but the wired mouse worked fine.

Next we have a camera, or rather cameras. The front one is 1.3 megapixels, suitable for Skype. The main one has a resolution of 5 megapixels, autofocus and LED flash. The image resolution cannot be selected, only the aspect ratio is 16:9 or 4:3. It is possible to add geotags, panorama mode, HDR and a couple more options. Autofocus is available, touch focusing is supported, although in a unique way: you need to drag a special circle with your finger across the screen and stop where you want to focus. If you simply point your finger at some place on the left or right, the Moto G will take a photo with focus in the center of the frame.

As I already said, the camera application interface is proprietary - and simplified compared to what you can see in stock Android. It looks like this:

The quality of pictures in sunny weather seems to be quite good, but you shouldn’t idealize the Moto G – the developers had to save on something. We saved money on the camera, and although it still produces above-average images, I would not classify this device as a “replacement for a point-and-shoot camera” (unlike the SGS4, for example).

Once again, I am very annoyed by the constant random launch of Google Now instead of opening the last photo. Well, very much so.

The smartphone records video in a maximum resolution of HD720p.

I’ll also add that the flash can act as a flashlight, but there is no special application for this. Ever since the days of the Motorola RAZR XT910, I have been using a program for this from Motorola itself - called DroidLight.

Regarding the software. Moto G went on sale with Android 4.3, but the developers immediately promised to release firmware with Android 4.4.2 KitKat.

The situation with my smartphone is as follows: the first owner Russified it (initially there was no great and mighty in the Moto G firmware) using folk methods, got root - in general, experimented with the software. It didn’t turn out very neatly: let’s say that for some reason two email clients were displayed in the menu, and when I tried to launch one of them, it gave an error and closed. I had to remove this client using Uninstaller Pro. But there are no questions about Russification: the interface has now been translated by 90 percent, and menus and other bits in English appear occasionally. If you need a device that is Russified out of the box, then you should take the Moto G Google Play Edition - it immediately has the Russian language. But there is no pre-installed software from Motorola.

Moto G Google Play Edition

What software are we talking about? The first program is Motorola Boot Services. As I understand it, it can change the animation when turned on depending on the time of year, holiday or other factors. Assist is a kind of analogue of Smart Actions; the application, for example, can automatically turn off the sound at a certain time (when you go to bed), while making an exception for specified important numbers.

Motorola Migrate is designed to “move” to Moto G from some other smartphone running the Android operating system or even an iPhone.

I was somewhat surprised (in a positive sense) by the developers' approach to updating individual firmware components. This is how it happens - if programmers find a glitch in the Camera application, they will only be able to fix it in the next firmware, which will have to be installed in its entirety. The Moto G has a different situation: “Camera”, “FM radio” and “Gallery” are updated from Google Play, which is very convenient.

Initially, the “Gallery” was standard, from Android, and then the device suddenly downloaded and installed a proprietary one, which replaced the standard one. The photo album is simple, but livable, although personally I’m unlikely to ever change QuickPic.

A couple more unusual, but not too important points. There is an item in the settings that allows you to enable the sending of information, which in theory will allow developers to make Motorola smartphones better. And there, in the settings, you can enter your email and get a Motorola Device ID, which will allow, say, to search for a phone on a map. Although this option is already basic in Android, so there is no particular benefit from it.

I also note that the smartphone comes pre-installed with a very nice set of wallpapers. Motorola is generally one of the few companies that know how to competently select preinstalled content. I noticed this back in the days of the Motorola Z6.

There is nothing more to say about the software; everything works stably and quickly. There were only two glitches during the month of operation. The first one looked like this:

I turned the screen off/on a couple of times and everything went away.

The second glitch concerns screenshots. Above I gave a screenshot from the game Asphalt 8, and so it turned out to be attempted with the fifth one. When I pressed the bottom of the volume rocker and the power button, the Moto G began taking screenshots non-stop, but then they were not stored in memory. A trifle, of course, but still.

For order, here are a few more screenshots of the interface:

A few words about battery life. Moto G lives stably for up to two days - provided it is connected to a 2G network and about an hour of calls a day. Occasionally photos, a bit of games, correspondence in “contact” and, in principle, that’s all. I think it will be quite easy to discharge a smartphone in a day with active use.

Finally I'll say one more thing. When I received the Moto G and used it for a day, I experienced déjà vu. The device seemed very familiar. Then I realized what was going on. The Moto G is very similar to the Highscreen Omega Prime Mini I carried in the fall. Jokes aside. Yes, it is Moto G that is similar to Highscreen, and not vice versa, since Highscreen was announced and went on sale much earlier - in mid-autumn. (Naturally, this is just a curiosity; no one copied anything from Highscreen.)

Highscreen Omega Prime Mini and Moto G

How are smartphones similar? Both are compact by modern standards - once (Highscreen 4.3-inch). Both have non-removable batteries - two. Both have a front panel with a small side - three. Both have a Qualcomm platform (although the Moto G is much more modern) - four. In both cases, the emphasis is on colored covers - five (with Highscreen, five panels are included, but for Moto G you will have to buy them in addition). The finish on the back of the Moto G is very similar to some of the Highscreen Omega Prime Mini's covers in terms of tactile sensations - six (the Highscreen's red and orange panels are matte, while the blue, black and white panels are slightly rough, just like Motorola's). Plus the screens are similar in color rendering. In general, if you close the logos, it may seem that these are products of the same company. On the Moto G side there is a higher screen resolution, a more powerful battery (2,070 versus 1,600) and hardware, as well as a fresh version of the operating system. On the Highscreen side there is support for two SIM cards, a slot for a memory card, an 8-megapixel camera and a noticeably thinner thickness.

Highscreen on top, Moto G on bottom

Let me summarize my impressions. Did I like the Moto G? Definitely. Would I buy it for myself? Yes, I already bought it. But only for the role of a second device: for the role of the first, in my particular case, it has a small screen, a poor camera, and not enough built-in memory. If all this is not critical for you and you are not afraid of the lack of a guarantee, then go ahead, this is really one of the best options for your money. Moreover, it’s better to order a Moto G “from abroad” on your own: in Russia they can charge 10-11 thousand for the 8 GB version, and 12-13 thousand for the 16 GB version. And this is already a bit expensive.

Let's talk about our little brothers. I mean, not about top-end, but about low-end smartphone models. Let's do this using the Moto G5S as an example. Moto is famous for its sophisticated toys with unbreakable screens and mods; there are no frills here, but everything you need is left. So now I’ll tell you what the youngest of the family, Moto G, can do and why it’s good.

Metal guy

Moto G5s is all so metallic, strict and weighty. The body is monolithic and non-separable; cards are inserted from the side through a separate tray. The case is quite slippery; it happens that the phone is lying on the table with the screen down, you try to grab it, and your fingers slip. So it’s better to place it with the screen facing up, it will be easier to pick up.

By the way, when you pick up the phone or turn it over, the screen backlight turns on for a few seconds - you can see unread notifications. Yes, it’s not Always On like on AMOLED displays, but it’s also convenient. You can also disable the on-screen buttons and use the touch pad for navigation. To lock, you can not only press the power key on the side, but also hold your finger on the fingerprint scanner.

As you may have noticed, the fingerprint scanner is located under the screen, which is convenient; you can immediately place your finger on it. The scanner is agile, fast and easily recognizes the owner’s hands.

Bright screen

The display is large - 5.2 inches, resolution 1080x1920 pixels and tempered glass with curved edges. It looks beautiful, the image is bright, rich and without color distortion. It's fun to look at, all that remains is to put beautiful wallpaper on the background, and it's time to master a new gadget.

Little power, a lot of volume

Quickly about the hardware: Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor, 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal memory are normal for a budget model. The phone is playful and fast, but it is not designed for hardcore gaming; people’s favorite “Tanks” will only run on low graphics settings. And yes, the memory card slot is in place, you can increase the space if desired.

It’s cool that NFC works here, you can pay for purchases via Android Pay or check the remaining trips on your metro card.

The speaker is located on the bottom end, so when you play, you cover it with your palm and muffle the sound. The same goes for watching videos - it’s not very convenient when you want to watch YouTube while lying on the couch without headphones, but you can get used to it.

The speaker itself is loud, I walked around with the phone for a week and kept flinching when the Hello Moto signature melody started ringing. The others shuddered along with me, this is good, you won’t get bored.

You take the Moto G5s in your hand and wonder why it’s so plump - perhaps there’s a high-capacity battery hidden deep in the case? But no, there is a regular-sized 3000 mAh battery. Not a little, but not a lot either; the phone could have been made a little thicker and the battery stuffed in fatter. The phone charges via microUSB and supports fast charging. I didn’t have the original power supply included, so I charged it with whatever I could get my hands on, preferring a 12W iPad charger.

In terms of autonomy, everything is at an average level: that is, there is always enough charge for a day, or even 1.5 or even 2 with 4–5 hours of active screen. For example, I managed to watch a video on YouTube for about 3 hours, played Mini Metro for about an hour, and at the same time used social networks and other functions throughout the day. Not a record figure, of course, but normal.

Let's take a photo

The 16-megapixel camera takes normal photos automatically, although it tends to brighten the picture a little. The lens protrudes impressively from the body, there’s a whole launch pad sticking out. It looks solid, but the camera is rather weak, and you have to wait for sunny days to get beautiful photos.

In the meantime, in the grayness of Moscow it turns out something like this.

If you don’t like the automatic mode, use the manual shooting mode, but that’s not for everyone. The phone takes quite a long time to take HDR shots in low light; stitching is not instantaneous, as on more powerful devices. An interesting addition to the front camera - it has a flash, helping to capture bright images in low light.

I also remember the signature Moto gesture: when I turned the phone in my hand, and the camera turned on itself. Just like in expensive Moto models, cool.

Verdict

When I took the Moto G5S for acquaintance, I was interested in understanding how this smartphone could be good against the backdrop of the ubiquitous Chinese. Although Moto is also a Chinese brand, it is expensive China. What can you complain about? Average camera and performance, for the same 14,990 rubles you can easily find a more powerful Chinese: Xiaomi and Meizu, ZTE and Honor - there are many options.

It turned out that there are a lot of interesting things here: launching the camera with a deft gesture, clean and correct Android, convenient notifications on the locked screen, a good quality screen, a high-quality speaker, quality communication and NFC. And if you don’t worry about games, if you’re an adult and not a gamer at all, you’ll be happy. Yes, it's not optimal, but it's a nice purchase.

Specifications Motorola Moto G5S

• Display: 5.2″, IPS, 1920×1080 pixels
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 1.5 GHz
• Android 7.1.1 Nougat
• RAM: 3 GB
• Built-in memory: 32 GB
• Memory card support: microSD
• Camera: 16 MP (flash, Full HD video recording), 5 MP (flash)
• Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.2 LE, NFC, two SIM cards.
• Battery: 3000 mAh, TurboPower fast charging
• Dimensions: 149.95 x 73.5 x 8.9 mm
• Weight: 157 grams

The battery life of the Motorola Moto G6 Plus turned out to be decent, considering the huge screen area that this mobile phone has. However, the image quality could be better. Summing up the results of the test, we can say that the price-quality ratio at the time of testing is good, but other smartphones for the same money can offer a little more.

Advantages

large and bright display
top performance
Dual-SIM and memory expansion cards

Flaws

mediocre photo quality
is not dust- and moisture-proof
no status LED (OnScreen notifications only)

• Price-quality ratio
  Great
• Place in the overall ranking
  43 of 48

• Price/quality ratio: 86
• Productivity (20%): 78.7
• Equipment (20%): 72.5
• Battery (20%): 82
• Display (20%): 81.5
• Camera (20%): 61.3

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Motorola Moto G6 Plus test: chic giant

Motorola Moto G6 Plus, like the smaller Moto G6, is made in black and dressed in Gorilla Glas 3. With its large display in a modern 18:9 format, it should not be embarrassed by its appearance in front of top-end devices. Despite the large display area, the device still fits quite well in the hand.

However, users with small hands may find it difficult to grasp the smartphone with their fingers and operating the device will not be as comfortable. The workmanship is good, but there is still a noticeable thin joint between the frame and the back. The corners of the case are nicely rounded.

Without the clear silicone case that Motorola kindly includes when purchasing the Moto G6 Plus, the dual camera setup on the back of the case will look unusual. It's also a shame that the device isn't waterproof.

Despite the large screen size, the Moto G6 Plus still feels good in the hand

Motorola Moto G6 Plus: Bright 5.9-inch display

The Moto G6 Plus, unlike many models that follow modern trends, does not have any “notch” on the top edge of the display. But the lower part of the frame turns out to be a little wider, since there is a thin fingerprint scanner here, which responds quickly to touches. The side frames are also slightly wider than those of other such models, for example, the Huawei P20, but in the case of the G6 Plus this bothers us just as little as with the G6. By the way: those who don’t want to unlock the G6 Plus with their finger can also use the face recognition function - it also responds reliably and quickly.

The 5.9-inch diagonal LC display offers a very large image area, displaying content in great detail with a resolution of 1080 x 2160 pixels. Plus, it offers powerful colors and contrast, and without ambient light, it shines at a remarkable 590 cd/m2. In sunlight, the content remains highly readable.

It's a pity that Motorola continues to abandon the LED status indicator for displaying notifications in the G6 line. In this case, the device displays information on the screen in Stand-by mode. To do this, just a gesture (even without touching the display) above the device is enough.

Fast navigation via fingerprint scanner

Those who want to get even more space on the G6 Plus screen, as already in the case of the Moto G5 Plus, can activate the “one-button navigation” mode via Moto-App, and thus use a fingerprint scanner to control the smartphone instead of on-screen navigation buttons finger

Touching it in this case replaces pressing the “Home” button, swiping on the side opens the application manager or forces the system to take one step back. The practical use of this function is quickly unlearned.

It is also possible to launch several more functions, for example, a quick screenshot (tap with three fingers), rotation to activate the “do not disturb” mode, or swipe left or right at the bottom to reduce the working area of ​​​​the screen. This makes it much easier to control your smartphone with one hand. But what’s annoying is the fact that you can’t return the picture on the screen to normal mode with the same simple swipe. This can only be done through the deactivation button in the Moto-App settings menu.

Moto G6 Plus: mediocre camera

The dual camera setup on the back of the Moto G6 Plus is unchanged from the G6 or even its predecessor, let alone improved. The main camera has a resolution of 12 megapixels and has a really fast f/1.7 aperture.

The pictures produced by the camera are ordinary, but not good. In some, but not all, images, the bottom area appears blurry. The camera has difficulty focusing quickly, sometimes taking more than a second before the shutter releases. Fine structures such as hair and yarn are also somewhat noisy and difficult to distinguish. At low levels of ambient light, photos take on a watercolor-like quality and appear very softened. There is not enough sharpness, textures are almost indistinguishable. At the same time, the texts look quite clear.

The additional 5-megapixel front-facing camera takes compelling portraits, which can be applied to the "augmented reality" filters known to everyone from Snapchat, for example. With Automatic Portrait Enhancement, users can eliminate wrinkles and other clutter from their portraits.

Moto G6 Plus test: powerful processor

The G6 Plus's 3,200mAh battery is exactly the same size as the Moto G6's. But battery life during tests with the display activated was only about half an hour: 8 hours 58 minutes was recorded by our watch - this is a decent figure considering the screen area.

More durable smartphones that can work in this mode for up to 13 hours can be found in ours. While the Moto G6 managed a very short charging time of 96 minutes, the G6 Plus took approximately 20 minutes longer to replenish the battery's energy reserves. However, this charging time can still be considered good.

When it comes to the processor, the Moto G6 Plus allows itself to relax a little. However, the Snapdragon 630, although it does not provide the highest performance similar to that coming from the most powerful 845 installed at the moment, installed in devices such as the OnePlus 6, but in all everyday use scenarios the system runs smoothly, and large applications and websites run nicely fast.

64 GB of internal memory and 4 GB of RAM are more than decent for this price segment. Those who take a lot of photos and videos can also use a Micro-SD memory card. Particularly practical: the Moto G6 Plus can accommodate two SIM cards and a memory card at the same time. Many other Dual-SIM smartphones have a so-called hybrid slot, which means the user has to choose whether to use a second SIM card or a memory card.

The manufacturer installs the current Android 8.0 (Oreo) operating system here. Important security updates should arrive every two to three months. The security system patch at the time of testing (mid-June) was dated April 1, 2018. The G6 Plus should receive an update to Android 9, but whether it will receive support after that remains to be seen.

Motorola Moto G6 Plus test results

Alternative: Honor 10

Although it costs a little more (about 25,000 rubles), it offers a chic design and decent photo quality. Moreover, it has a faster processor.

Its design and performance are cool, and the dual camera, powered by artificial intelligence, takes decent photos. Solid, although not phenomenal, is the battery life.

Motorola Moto G6 Plus Specifications and Test Results

Motorola Moto G (3rd Gen.) is the latest, and undoubtedly the most successful generation of the popular inexpensive smartphone from Motorola. A huge number of satisfied users and the overwhelming majority of positive reviews are direct confirmation of this. In this review, we will look at the most popular modification of the model – Moto G XT1550.

Appearance and body of the Motorola Moto G 3gen smartphone

The packaging of the smartphone is as spartan as possible: the box contains the device itself, a charger with a built-in microUSB cable and paper documentation. The design of Moto G 3 is fully consistent with the brand's signature features, and at the same time looks fresh and attractive. There are only two color options for the case - white and black, but there are as many options for the back cover. 10 different colors.
The front panel of the smartphone is covered with tempered protective glass Gorilla Glass 3. At the bottom and top of the display are grilles for multimedia and conversational speakers. Also, above the display there is a front camera eye and a light sensor. The side frames of the Moto G XT1550 are made of plastic, but due to the fact that they are gray in color, they are painfully reminiscent of metal. All physical buttons of the gadget are located on the right side of the case. The button to turn the smartphone display on and off has a ribbed surface, and the volume rocker is smooth, so you won’t be able to confuse the control buttons by touch.
The back panel of the case has a semi-circular shape, due to which the smartphone fits in the palm of your hand like a glove. It contains the same branded plate with the main camera, dual LED flash and the Motorola brand logo. On the top edge of the case there is a 3.5 mm audio jack and an additional microphone, on the bottom end of the case there is a microUSB input. The removable back cover of the device is made of polycarbonate with a white silver surface. Under it there are two slots for MicroSim format SIM cards and a slot for microSD memory cards up to 32 GB. The lid fits very tightly, making the Moto G 3 gen 2016 look quite monolithic.
The dimensions of the smartphone are quite standard for its class. The length of the device is 142.1 mm, width 72.4, and maximum thickness 11.6 mm. At the same time, the 3rd generation Motorola Moto G weighs 155 grams. The phone is protected from dust and moisture IPX7- this means that it will withstand a 30-minute immersion in water up to one meter deep. However, we do not recommend specifically testing the phone in this way - let it remain a pleasant bonus in case of rain or an accidental fall into the water.

Motorola Moto G 3rd smartphone display, specifications and performance

The display of the Motorola Moto G 3 gen smartphone is made using IPS technology and has a diagonal of five inches. The display resolution is relatively low - 1280 by 720 pixels(HD), but thanks to the high pixel density (294 ppi), graininess is not observed. The matrix has wide viewing angles and a good reserve of brightness - even in the sun the screen remains readable. The display's capacitive sensor supports up to ten touches simultaneously, allowing you to play games that require multi-finger MultiTouch.
The smartphone is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm MSM8916 processor. Snapdragon 410 with a clock frequency of 1.4 GHz and a Qualcomm Adreno 306 graphics chip. The Moto G XT1550 has 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal memory, which can be expanded using a microSD memory card up to 32 GB. This “set” is enough for the phone to work comfortably with most applications and smooth operation of even quite demanding games.
True, only at medium graphics settings. In the performance test in Antutu Benchmark v6.1.4 The smartphone scored 32,310 points – not the highest among competitors in its price category.

Motorola Moto G gen 3 smartphone cameras

Motorola Moto G Dual 3rd generation received fairly high-quality cameras, which can be the envy of some smartphones from a higher price segment.
The main camera of the Moto G 3 has a 13-megapixel module with f/2.0 aperture, autofocus and dual LED flash. In good lighting, the camera produces images of excellent quality, with fairly natural colors. In the evening, the quality of the photo, of course, “sags”, but still remains at a very good level. The number of settings for the main camera is quite modest, but no one forbids using alternative applications for photo and video shooting with a wider number of settings. In addition, the main camera of the Motorola Moto G 3gen works great in automatic mode - so you are unlikely to need third-party cameras.
The front camera of the smartphone is 5 megapixel with fixed focus. The module has an f/2.0 aperture, and the display can be used as a flash in low light conditions. The quality of photos and videos from the front camera is quite good for both selfies and video conferences. Both Moto G 3rd cameras can shoot Full HD video permission 1080p. The videos taken are of excellent quality, the frames do not “sag”, and the picture has practically no defects. The main camera of the smartphone can also shoot in Slow Motion mode.

“Clean” Android and some nice features of Moto G 3gen

The Moto G XT1550 smartphone runs on a “clean” version of the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow operating system - without any additional shell from the manufacturer. Thanks to this, the device’s RAM is maximally unloaded – another plus for the gadget’s performance. Any missing software can always be downloaded from Google Play Market.
The device has several interesting features. For example, there is a function to activate the flashlight by double “shaking”, with deactivation using the same method. It is also possible to display notifications on the turned off smartphone screen after the user picks it up.
Motorola Moto G 3 battery has a capacity 2470 mAh. It should be enough for 24 hours of moderately active use of the device.
True, it will take quite a long time to charge it – about 4 hours. The reason for this is the weak included 550 mA charger.

Video review of the Motorola Moto G 3gen smartphone from Allo.ua

Moto G 3rd is not the cheapest, but a superbly balanced smartphone

Motorola Moto G gen 3 is a great example of what a mid-range smartphone should be. Balanced characteristics will help you complete most tasks and run even the latest 3D games, the smartphone’s cameras will take high-quality photos and videos, and the appearance of the device will not leave indifferent even the most demanding users in terms of design. The price of the 3rd generation Motorola Moto G smartphone today is about $230 - many direct competitors, especially Chinese ones, are significantly cheaper, for example the new budget smartphone Meizu M3s mini. But this is Motorola, and this device is well worth its price.