Motorola Moto G 5G (2024) review: Should you buy it?

Motorola’s Moto G collection feels just like the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Forgive the pained metaphor forward of time, but it surely’s true. The Moto G Play (2024) is Child Bear, providing simply the fundamentals however doing so at a low value. The Moto G Energy 5G (2024) is Papa Bear, providing the quickest charging, the most effective cameras, and essentially the most energy at a better value. As you may need guessed, that leaves the Moto G 5G (2024) to fill the function of Mama Bear, touchdown someplace between the Energy and the Play with options like 5G and NFC (after years of not having the latter for baffling causes) however slower charging and fewer versatile cameras. So, let’s discover out if this inexpensive Android cellphone is good.

Beginning with the design, the Moto G 5G (2024) seems to be and feels closest to its premium Motorola Edge inspiration. It combines the fingerprint-resistant vegan leather-based again of the Moto G Energy 5G with a digicam bump that melds easily into the remainder of the again panel, very similar to the Moto G Play. Nevertheless, the Moto G 5G (2024) swaps the black, blue, and pink finishes of its siblings for a Sage shade that’s simply the most effective of the bunch. It’s just like the shade used on the extra inexpensive Motorola Razr from 2023, showing inexperienced in some lighting and nearly grey in others.

After all, the remainder of the Moto G 5G (2024) is product of plastic — like most funds Motorola units are — however the mushy texture feels a lot better in hand than the slick plastic of the Moto G Play. Positive, vegan leather-based is technically simply dressed up plastic, but it surely makes a giant distinction over a tough, slippery again while you’re holding your cellphone for hours on finish. Motorola’s plastic body is surrounded by the standard slate of buttons and ports, planting the fingerprint reader and quantity buttons on the correct with a headphone jack subsequent to the USB-C port on the underside edge, that means you can most likely discover your manner round in the dead of night when you’ve ever used one other Moto G system.

Motorola’s dedication to the headphone jack is a love story for the ages, and I’m glad it’s nonetheless round. It’s higher than counting on the Moto G 5G’s stereo audio system (a down-firing unit and the earpiece), which have a one-two punch of issues. They’re painfully quiet at something lower than full quantity, but badly distorted when you max them out — there’s no comfy center floor.

The Moto G 5G’s 6.6-inch LCD panel is one other compromise between the Moto G Play and Moto G Energy. It shares a decrease HD+ decision with the previous (1,612 x 720) however provides the latter’s 120Hz refresh charge. On paper, the mixture needs to be an excellent one, bringing slightly further energy to the $200 value level, however the panel suffers from one of many Moto G Energy’s most vital flaws: The viewing angles are atrocious. I’m undecided if Motorola tried so as to add a privateness display protector, however the result’s that you would be able to barely see what’s on the Moto G 5G’s show until you’re wanting proper at it. That is completely nice when you’re making an attempt to maintain notifications to your self, however studying a recipe off the Moto G 5G (2024) is sort of inconceivable whereas cooking. The low decision of the Moto G 5G additional hamstrings it, with all the things from YouTube movies to watching We Personal This Metropolis on Max popping out only a bit too fuzzy.

Sadly, Motorola additionally reduce a couple of different corners to maintain the Moto G 5G’s value low. The cellphone solely comes with a Gorilla Glass 3 show, which is the naked minimal for sturdiness. You additionally gained’t discover an official IP ranking, although that’s much less of a given at this value. Motorola says its Moto G lineup is water-repellent however can’t face up to jets of water or submersion, so watch out in something heavier than gentle rain.

Including to the cost-saving compromises, let’s dig into the Moto G 5G’s software program. In case you’re acquainted with the Moto G collection, you most likely know what’s coming, and it’s not nice. Though the Moto G 5G (2024) ships with Android 14 proper out of the field, Motorola is simply promising a single Android replace, so it’ll ultimately get Android 15, which is slated to launch later this 12 months — however that’s it. Our unit additionally got here with the February 1, 2024, safety patch out of the field and is in line for simply two years of safety assist. Sure, it’s a funds cellphone, however have in mind the identically priced Samsung Galaxy A15 5G is roofed for 4 years of software program updates.

Fortunately, there are nonetheless a couple of issues to love about Motorola’s My UX expertise. It nonetheless seems to be and feels largely like inventory Android, with a number of colourful personalization choices and an app drawer nearly an identical to what you’d discover on a Google Pixel system.

Nevertheless, Motorola has bought out a number of different components of its software program expertise to maintain its value low. Merely put, advertisements are all over the place — even while you don’t notice they’re advertisements. Motorola prompts you to put in procuring, gaming, and leisure hubs as a part of the setup course of, every of which opens with a preselected record of apps that it thinks you may want. There’s no rhyme or purpose to the suggestions, and when you exit the hub utilizing the “Finished” button, they’ll begin downloading to your cellphone, additional limiting your 128GB of storage.

Worse, Motorola changed its beforehand good climate app by means of a brand new partnership with 1Weather. The brand new climate app — which has plagued the current crop of Moto G telephones, all the way in which as much as even the Moto G Stylus 5G (2024) — has advertisements in a number of locations on the primary display, a piece of movies referred to as 1Weather Shorts, and hyperlinks to climate articles from different websites — hyperlinks that hardly open below the app’s personal weight. The app can’t stand on its metaphorical ft, because it lags badly when making an attempt to scroll right down to examine the radar. Curiously, when you uninstall 1Weather, the Moto G 5G defaults to the fundamental Accuweather app, which is a greater, extra simple expertise.

Motorola’s software program overhaul doesn’t cease there, both. It’s additionally launched a partnership with Look that’s supposed to enliven your lock display however truly simply gives random information articles all through your day. I feel it’s meant to work like a pared-down model of Google Uncover, however I’ve but to discover a purpose to open a Look article over a Google Uncover one — particularly when Uncover works like a information feed whereas Look provides you one article at a time.

Underneath the hood, the Moto G 5G (2024) nails its Mama Bear billing. It lands completely in between the Moto G Play and Moto G Energy with the not-too-common Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 chipset, one thing we’ve in any other case solely seen on the Redmi Notice 12 collection. It’s backed by 4GB of RAM and an expandable 128GB of storage, that are customary for Motorola. The Moto G 5G (2024) isn’t only a middle-man on paper, both.

Whether or not it’s the all-around Geekbench 6 and PCMark assessments or the graphics-focused 3DMark stress check, the Moto G 5G (2024) lands in the midst of the funds Android phase. It outperforms extra inexpensive units just like the Moto G Play and equally priced ones just like the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G but falls behind extra premium choices just like the Moto G Energy 5G, Samsung Galaxy A25 5G, and Galaxy A35 5G. Motorola’s center Moto G doesn’t appear to thoughts being put below stress, both, handing over nearly an identical scores throughout a full 20 Wild Life runs — one thing the costlier Moto G Energy 5G can’t do resulting from its lack of particular Vulkan API extensions. Granted, the Moto G 5G’s respectable rating continues to be very a lot a funds rating, so it gained’t nail demanding video games, and the body charges are low to start with — simply good relative to the general price. Will we ever know why the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 chipset has extensions that the extra highly effective Dimensity 7020 lacks? In all probability not, however that’s the Moto G collection in a nutshell.

Anyway, the Moto G 5G (2024) places an honest shift in day-to-day life, too — offered you give it a while to heat up. I’ve seen that the cellphone struggles when leaping into apps or switching between apps after you first energy it on, but it surely tends to get with this system after a couple of minutes. As soon as it’s in control, I haven’t seen any points bouncing between gentle duties like social media and utilizing the Moto G 5G to observe recipes in my kitchen — although the viewing angles are, once more, horrible. I attempted to present the Moto G 5G (2024) an opportunity as my journey system for a current journey house however discovered myself itching to get away from the low-resolution show, occasional chipset lag, and annoying software program quirks. Positive, it’ll cowl the fundamentals, however spending extra in your subsequent cellphone will vastly enhance your expertise.

Even the Moto G 5G’s cameras are a case of Motorola discovering a center floor between its top-end and bottom-end funds units. It picks up the 50MP major digicam that’s turn into customary throughout the 2024 lineup however paired it with the lowly 2MP devoted macro sensor we’ve bemoaned for years. The upgraded major sensor is a welcome change, and the utmost aperture of f/1.8 ought to permit for faster shutter speeds and probably some higher bokeh in your pictures, even exterior of portrait mode. Nonetheless, it’s robust to see the general pairing standing up properly towards a number of the greatest funds digicam telephones.

Except you’re a big-time macro fan, you’ll most likely use the first sensor for nearly your entire capturing. It bins right down to 12.5MP photographs by default, and whereas there doesn’t appear to be a technique to seize full-resolution pictures, you’ll be able to toggle over to the Professional tab to output RAW information for slightly extra post-processing flexibility. I selected not to do this throughout my testing, as a substitute counting on Motorola’s baked-in Auto Improve characteristic, which is what most customers will most likely do as properly.

As you’ll be able to see under, the Moto G 5G (2024) is greatest described as everywhere. Generally, it palms in an honest consequence, nailing the colours of the rack of kayaks and completely pausing the waving Maryland flag, however different instances, it merely has a thoughts of its personal, like no matter occurred to the sky above the Washington Monument. The underside of the scene seems to be like the intense, sunny day that it was, whereas the sky above the bushes would have you ever consider {that a} storm was rolling in.

Additionally, Motorola’s try at low gentle on the Moto G 5G (2024) is just about unusable. Positive, you’ll be able to inform that the ship within the harbor is a ship, but it surely’s blurry, the colours look washed out, and the lights within the background are badly blown out. The shot of the neon signal isn’t a lot better, with restricted element throughout the wooden paneling and the neon letters themselves melding collectively.

The story doesn’t get a lot better while you attempt to zoom in, both — even in good lighting. On a sunny day, I headed to Baltimore’s Broadway Pier, a spot I do know properly, figuring there can be no higher likelihood for the Moto G 5G to seize colours and particulars. It dealt with the colours decently properly, with solely a slight shift as I acquired to the longer lengths, however the particulars began falling off from 2x zoom onward. A number of of the bricks seem oversharpened at 2x zoom, making them look a bit too synthetic, after which the sharpness disappears utterly at 4x zoom, with the bricks merging into one pink mass.

By some means, the straightforward 2MP macro sensor landed closest to what I anticipated on the Moto G 5G (2024), however maybe it’s as a result of I didn’t count on a lot. Each flowers under look respectable, given the meager decision, with the lengthy stem in the midst of the pink flower popping out surprisingly sharp. I’d nonetheless relatively have software-based Macro Imaginative and prescient from an ultrawide sensor, however the Moto G 5G (2024) is restricted by its value level.

Across the entrance, the Motorola Moto G 5G (2024) packs an 8MP punch gap selfie digicam. As a lot as I’d prefer to say it’s an instance of how far a low-resolution sensor can carry a cellphone, it’s not nice. Though you get some element in my face and hair, my beard comes out a bit mushy, and the world round my eyes is much too darkish. The background particulars within the non-portrait selfie aren’t good, both, with the brick promenade and water of the harbor all however wishing they had been bokeh’d away.

The ultimate nail within the Moto G 5G’s digicam coffin is that its video specs merely aren’t as much as snuff. It solely helps 1080p recording at 30fps from the entrance and rear cameras, that means your entire footage gained’t get pleasure from a clean 60fps seize charge. Motorola’s stabilization is respectable, however the digicam is sluggish to shift focus, which makes one thing like a easy pan come out jumpy. You can even file from the macro sensor when you’re into that.

Maybe the Moto G 5G’s weakest digicam hyperlink isn’t its sensors however the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 chipset. It feels prefer it’s a step or two behind when processing photographs after you press the shutter button. Now, I don’t suggest leaping into your digicam roll each time you snap a photograph, however the instances that I’ve, I’ve needed to wait so long as 15 seconds earlier than getting a last consequence. I’m not anticipating instantaneous outcomes, however 15 seconds feels exceptionally lengthy when the Moto G 5G is simply sharpening a 12.5MP picture. If you wish to have a look at full-size variations of the pictures above (and a number of other extra), you are able to do so at this Google Drive hyperlink.

Regardless of its general struggles, there’s one space the place the Moto G 5G (2024) places in a fairly good shift: its battery and charging setup. It carries the identical 5,000mAh cell that you simply’ll discover on the remainder of Motorola’s funds lineup, and the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 processor sips by means of energy relatively than chugging it. Our managed battery drain check additionally labored out within the Moto G 5G’s favor, handing over the most effective net looking and simulated Zoom assembly scores of the Moto G trio. The hole between every Moto G system wasn’t very massive, although, so the battery efficiency would most likely degree out over a typical blended day of utilization. Additionally, understand that the hole within the graph is because of the truth that not one of the Moto G units examined are able to recording video in 4K, which is a fairly obtrusive oversight in 2024. Significantly, take the macro sensor and provides us 4K video, Motorola.

While you drain the battery, the Moto G 5G (2024) settles again into its comfy spot in the midst of the street. It gives 18W wired charging, touchdown proper between the Moto G Play’s 15W wired speeds and the Moto G Energy 5G’s 30W choice. That distinction in wired velocity is a giant one, although, with the Moto G 5G taking 20 minutes longer to cost than the Moto G Energy and saving simply 10 minutes over the Moto G Play. Motorola not features a charger within the field in all markets, and when it does, it’s not able to the complete 18W charging speeds, so that you’ll most likely must seize one from our present record of favorites.

In the end, when you had been wanting on the Motorola Moto G 5G (2024) and hoping it could be “good” as a funds cellphone, you would possibly have to hold wanting. Sure, it lands between the Moto G Play and the Moto G Energy in value, specs, and measurement, but it surely falls only a bit too near the previous to make it worthwhile. Its efficiency, charging, and digicam flexibility are definitely higher than the lowly Moto G Play, however the lack of an ultrawide choice and omission of wi-fi charging make spending an additional $100 on the extra succesful Moto G Energy 5G a a lot better resolution. Then once more, perhaps none of Motorola’s Moto G choices hits the mark this 12 months, a minimum of not in comparison with a number of different budget-friendly units presently in the marketplace. Talking of…

In case you’ve determined that the Motorola Moto G 5G (2024) may not be the one for you, concern not. There are a number of different budget-friendly Android telephones to take a look at, and we’ve picked out just some of them:

• Motorola Moto G Energy 5G (2024) ($299.99 at Amazon): Though it doesn’t include a greater replace dedication, the Moto G Energy 5G does nearly all the things else higher than the Moto G 5G. It has extra versatile rear cameras and wi-fi charging, although the shortage of Vulkan API extensions makes gaming tough.
• Samsung Galaxy A25 5G ($299.99 at Amazon): Samsung’s high different to the Moto G 5G may need a smaller show, but it surely’s sharper and provides an ultrawide digicam for higher flexibility. It additionally has quicker wired charging and a a lot better promise of future software program assist.
• OnePlus Nord N300 ($228 at OnePlus): OnePlus hasn’t added to its budget-friendly Nord lineup shortly, so the N300 stays your greatest wager. It solely has one usable rear digicam, but it surely expenses 33W and nonetheless comes with a full-speed charger.
• Samsung Galaxy A15 ($174.8 at Amazon): Samsung’s entry-level Galaxy A15 5G matches the Moto G 5G on nearly all fronts and, in lots of instances, gives extra for a similar value. It has a extra versatile triple digicam setup, considerably higher replace dedication, and quicker 25W wired charging.
• Nothing Telephone 2a (£319.99 at Amazon): The Nothing Telephone 2a is likely one of the best-looking funds telephones… maybe ever. There’s one thing concerning the Pixar-esque design that simply feels proper and works completely with the corporate’s signature Glyph Interface. Simply do not forget that restricted US assist and a developer registration program requirement to even get one means this one is for these procuring in Europe and different markets, or US people prepared to undergo by means of the problems.