Motorola Moto G Review
by Brian Klug on December 18, 2013 2:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Motorola
- Mobile
- *VA
- Cortex A7
- snapdragon 400
- Moto G
Making an affordable smartphone for the masses that aren’t willing to spend the dime on flagship-tier devices is a pitch I’ve heard a few times. Usually the device starts out great, but software support ends up being negligible from the start, or the device has serious caveats in actual practice. The number of mid to low end phones I’ve seen which promised to be halo devices of the mass market but are stuck running the same software they launched with could fill a few desk drawers.
I’ve been using Moto G as my daily driver since getting it, and absent a few features (camera, LTE, always on voice and display tuning), the device is surprisingly close to offering a similar kind of experience as the Moto X. Form factor is roughly equivalent, it’s like a Moto X that has put on a few pounds and a few millimeters around the edges. The physical differences aren't huge, and I'm glad that Motorola didn't sacrifice anything major by adding removable back shells.
On the display side I'd actually opt for an LCD over AMOLED to begin with for power reasons, although with emphasis on calibration. Resolution and contrast is excellent on the Moto G. I miss the camera activation flick gesture from the Moto X, and to a lesser extent the always on voice activation, but trading those off in favor of a lower price point makes a lot of sense given their reliance on extra dedicated silicon and more expensive display.
The previous generation of Snapdragon 400-based phones that I played with for some reason never really was fast enough to smooth over the demanding parts of Android 4.x. The four Cortex A7s and Adreno 305 in MSM8x26 seem competent enough to run Android at a decent clip without hesitation or dropped frames. I’d wager Motorola’s continued use of F2FS which started with the Moto X also helps the system feel speedy and storage I/O competitive. The storage sizes available are comparatively small at 8 and 16 GB, and given the small price delta between the two there's really no reason anyone should opt for the smaller of the two. I'm eager to see how much the Android 4.4 KitKat update improves memory occupancy on the Moto G, since occasional app suspension is my only usability complaint on Moto G.
The Moto G grew on me considerably in the time I've spent with it, just like Moto X did before it. The question is ultimately whether the Moto G delivers a good overall experience for the price – I'd argue it definitely does.
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Death666Angel - Wednesday, December 18, 2013 - link
Um, what? Just did a bit of googling, the Nexus 4 had 4.4 at the end of November (25th is what I came up with most) and Moto X got 4.4 6 days ago on the 12th. Nexus 4 already has 4.4.2. So I have no idea what you are talking about, because it doesn't seem to be reality.cmikeh2 - Wednesday, December 18, 2013 - link
It's dependent on the carrier, but the Verizon version of the Moto X actually got 4.4 before the Nexus 4 did.shaduck007 - Saturday, January 4, 2014 - link
thanks for Mentioning the Lumia, it's 1/3 the price of the MOTO G.Thinking of what is the best value!!
Sam
fortelv999 - Wednesday, December 18, 2013 - link
?? They announced some weeks ago that the RAZR HD, MAXX HD and RAZR M would all get Kitkat sometime soon-ish, even the ATRIX HD i think, all the Snapdragon S4 familyfokka - Wednesday, December 18, 2013 - link
the atrix HD? i believe that when i see it.Bob Todd - Wednesday, December 18, 2013 - link
If you think a few months time is enough for a new parent company to take over and magically transform device support for phones that were in the pipeline for over a year, you don't know much about how acquisitions work or how long those kinds of transitions take in a large corporate environment.The proof will be evident once we see how quickly, if at all, the Moto X and Moto G are updated beyond 4.4. Being the absolute first non-Nexus device with 4.4 on the X, and getting it right around the same time as the still supported Nexus line was a great start. We'll see if they can keep it up. I'm cautiously optimistic, and I say all of this as a former Atrix owner who never got some planned updates.
Death666Angel - Wednesday, December 18, 2013 - link
"If you think a few months time" Google bought Motorola on August 15, 2011.Bob Todd - Thursday, December 19, 2013 - link
I should have looked it up before replying, but I was mainly responding to the "The phone was out several months AFTER Google's acquisition" comment. And what I said still holds true. Google announced plans to acquire Motorola Mobility on 8/15/2011. The acquisition didn't actually complete until 5/22/2012. The phones in question came out around September/October of 2012, which is indeed just a few months after the acquisition, and not long enough for Google to really have anything to do with their product planning.trynberg - Wednesday, December 18, 2013 - link
I guess you missed the news that Moto was upgrading the RAZR HD to 4.4 in 2014? Confirmed on Moto's website weeks ago.ollienightly - Wednesday, December 18, 2013 - link
i really don't know what you are wining about. razr hd has already been given green light for kitkat update. all you have to do now is being patient.