Motorola seems to be invigorated now, after Google gave the company
a new lease of life. The results are for all to see with the latest
Moto phones, the X and its younger sibling, the G. The Moto X impressed
one and all with its many neat tricks and high level of hardware
customizations. On paper, the Moto G might come across as a cheap
rip-off of its feature rich cousin, but don't let the specs fool you,
this is one nifty device. Besides, the two phones are meant for
completely different audiences. I would, through the course of this
review, draw comparisons between the two phones as they are rather
similar, yet couldn't be more different. The X was marketed as a premium
device, the G is more of a budget phone. Truth be said though, if it
hadn't been for the surprisingly low sales of the X, the G would
probably never have made its way out of the drawing board.
We may
have come to expect a budget phone to be rather cheap, but the Moto G
will definitely get you to reconsider. The G springs in quite a surprise
with its build quality and rich feature set that it offers. This does
not mean that corners haven't been cut to justify the low price point,
but most of these are things we can surely live with. Without further
ado then, here's jumping right in to an in-depth review of Motorola's
latest offering.
Dimensions 129.9 x 65.9 x 11.6 mm
Weight 143 g
Chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 400
CPU Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7
GPU Adreno 305
RAM 1 GB
Storage 8/16 GB internal storage
Screen 4.5" Capacitive LCD
(~326 ppi pixel density)
Camera
Primary/Secondary 5 MP/1.3 MP
OS Android v4.3 Jelly Bean
Battery 2,070 mAh Li-ion
Price 179/199 USD
(off-contract)
At first glance, the Moto G is hard to tell apart from the X. Hold
it in your hand though, and you would definitely feel the added weight
and bigger waistline.
The device sports a dimension of 129.9 x 65.9 x 11.6 mm, but fits
snugly in the hand. We love the use of high-quality plastics used for
the phone-soft-feel for the back, and high gloss for the front. Weighing
in at just 143 g, it will comfortably slip into your pocket unlike
other phones these days that feel lighter in the pocket, but can be a
perfect replacement for your dumbbell. The front is occupied by the
display, above which, you will find the earpiece under a metal grille
flanked by the secondary video-calling camera to the left, and the
ambient light and proximity sensors to the right. The left side is
absolutely bare, with the only hardware keys―power key and volume
rocker―finding their way to the right. At the top is the 3.5 mm
headphone jack square at the center, with the secondary mic for
noise-cancellation sitting to its side (no ASR magic here). The bottom
houses the microUSB port and the mouthpiece. At the back is a similar
layout as that on the Moto X-camera with a metal ring, speaker, and
single LED flash. The only difference being that the speaker is to the
left, and perforations for the speaker seem to be a little bigger. Below
the LED flash sits the Motorola symbol in the same circular indentation
that we've really come to like. The back cover itself is removable,
although this can be just a little tricky. Underneath, you will find the
micro-SIM slot and the non-removable battery.
The back panel is available in 7 color choices.
Hardware and Storage
The phone packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset, ably supported
by a quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7 CPU. Now that is a very impressive
package considering the price point. The phone has no problem handling
all the Android functions and is a delight to use. The 1 GB of RAM does a
fine job of handling multitasking, and will leave you wondering if you
really are handling a budget phone. Don't get me wrong here, there are a
lot more capable devices out there, but that is precisely the point―you
will never notice the difference unless you physically compare two
devices side-by-side. The important bit here, is that the hardware is
capable enough to execute all the tasks that are assigned to it. Another
premium (and might I add, generous) addition is the water-repellent
coating on the internal circuits of the phone. This is definitely not
something that we expected to find on a device that retails off contract
at a mere 179 USD for the 16 GB model.
Storage options are
fairly limited, and you can opt in for either an 8 or 16 GB model. This
would mean that you would have roughly 5 or 12 GB of storage space to
play around with as there is no Micro SD card slot on here. Google, once
again, has been generous enough to offer free 50 GB of Google Drive
storage for all Moto G customers. That ought to make up for the low on
board storage space, but then again most of the competition offers just 4
GB of storage.
Graphics and Display
On powering on the device, we were pleasantly surprised to see a
bright 720p LCD staring at us. The 4.50-inch screen has a high pixel
density of 326 ppi. To put things into perspective, the iPhone 5s, which
would set you back by a small fortune, has the same pixel density on
its 4-inch screen. The screen has good contrast levels and sunlight
legibility is no issue as well. It also has wide viewing angles, with
the colors looking faded out only at extreme angles. The high pixel
density screen makes text look crisp, and multimedia experience is
nothing short of spectacular. Graphics are powered by an Adreno 305 GPU,
which ensures smooth and lag-free screen transitions. The phone even
handled high-end games with relative ease without any noticeable lag.
Motorola undoubtedly have done a great job of accommodating a wonderful
screen at such a low price point. Corning Gorilla Glass 3 literally acts
as the icing on top, and provides the display with good scratch resistance.
Battery life
The phone has a Li-ion 2,070 mAh battery, which should easily see
the phone through a day of moderate use. The 720p display does not eat
into the battery by much, and even the processor seems to be on a power
diet. The battery itself is non-accessible as has been the trend in most
recent .
The Good
1) great economic design
2)best in class display
3)good clean UI
The Not-so-good
Low on storage space (8 GB/16 GB)
No Micro SD card slot
Non-removable battery
Source:buzzle.com
