Why You Can Trust CNET New Moto G adds 4G LTE, 13-megapixel camera for $180 (hands-on)
Motorola's new Android smartphone won't break the bank.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That appears to be Motorola's stance with its budget-friendly Moto G smartphone. The newly announced third-generation model retains many of the qualities users loved in older models, while adding a faster processor, an improved camera, and making the phone water-resistant up to 1 meter for 30 minutes.
Hardware, however, is only half of the story when it comes to the
. A large part of what has made the phone so popular is its price, and that's not going to change. The third-generation will be available for $180 without a contract. That price converts to about £115 in the UK and AU$250 in Australia.Shop for Motorola Moto G Late 2015 (16GB, black)
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is equipped with the same 5-inch 1,280x720-pixel resolution display as last year's model. That works out to about 293 pixels per inch, which is just shy of the iPhone 6 (326 ppi). While the design is largely the same, the phone has received a welcomed hardware boost.
The phone is powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor with Adreno 306 graphics. A major complaint with last year's model was the lack of 4G LTE support. This has been addressed in the new
, which includes LTE support on all models.The rear camera has also received a boost from 8 megapixels to 13, while the front sensor has been bumped up from 2 to 5 megapixels. A company spokesperson explained that the
uses the same sensor as the $600 Nexus 6. Other features include a MicroSD card slot for extra storage and a battery that, according to Motorola, will last more than 24 hours with mixed usage. The Moto G is also running Android 5.1 Lollipop, which is the most recent version of the operating system.How does it feel?
We have a review unit of the Moto G (review coming in the next few days or so), and have started setting it up and using it. The construction and physical design feel great -- in a lot of ways, this feels like the return of the comfy hand-feel that was in the original Moto X. Or, it resembles a fancier Nexus 5.
The white patterned plastic shell on our unit looks and feels sturdy, and the display is sharp and bright. Colors aren't as rich as on other premium phones, but it's really good for a budget device.
It's already clear that the Moto G isn't a particularly fast phone as far as benchmarks or running graphically intense games (even Hearthstone slows down a bit), but the Google Lollipop OS and interface, not to mention app-loading, all feel nice and smooth and fast if you're after basic email, messaging, Web browsing and movie watching. SIM card access is accomplished by popping the back cover off with a fingernail. On the outside, there's just power button and volume rocker, headphone jack, and a micro USB charge port.
Last year's
featured a special nano-coating that helped the phone withstand water splashing, however it was never intended to be fully submerged. This third-generation model now carries a water-resistant rating of IPX7, which means it can be fully submerged in as much as a meter of water for up to 30 minutes.The new
will also be the first of Motorola's budget phones to be available from the company's MotoMaker website, which was previously only available for Moto X. This allows users to customize the phone's front, side and back colors, along with choosing storage capacity and special welcome greetings.Two configurations will be available at launch. The base model is equipped with 8GB of internal storage and 1GB of RAM. If that's not enough storage for you, however, there is also a $220 (about £140, AU$300) model with 16GB of internal storage and 2GB of RAM.
The Moto G is available in over 60 countries starting today.