Third Gen. Moto G Hands On Review: Exactly What You Need (and More), at an Unbeatable Price
People naturally gravitate towards flagship phones for obvious reasons: they pack the best technology that's currently available, often come with unique features, and, of course, they're what everyone is talking about.
But a practical smartphone, one that's both cheap and thoughtfully designed, is what most consumers really want when they're about to reach into their wallets. Even more so because wireless contract subsidies for flagship smartphones are quickly disappearing: the difference in sticker shock between the $200 two-year contract iPhone and the same handset at a $650 full price can be hard to take.
That's where the third generation Motorola Moto G shines. Its full price starts at $200, it packs some nice extras that are hard to find below the premium level, and it was feather-balanced from stem to stern by Motorola to maximize practical value at the lowest cost.
Design
The first unique premium-like feature of the third generation Moto G is that it's available through Motorola's popular customization web app, Moto Maker. With it, you can customize the phone with a black or white front, various (detachable) back panels, metal accent colors, and a personalized inscription on the back. Unfortunately, wood and leather options for the back are not available as they are with the Moto X.
You can also choose to double the internal storage and RAM from 8GB/1GB to 16GB/2GB, which puts cost of the phone just over $200 but is highly recommended for anyone that uses their smartphone regularly at all. And despite its low-level internal storage options, the Moto G comes with a microSD card slot for up to 32GB expansion on the cheap.
As for styling, the Moto G looks a good amount like the Moto X 2014, which is a great-looking flagship phone. It won't have the instant cachet of a new iPhone or Galaxy S6, but it won't look like any other mid-tier or budget smartphone, especially with the Moto Maker customization.
Physically, the Moto G is small enough for nearly anyone to use with one hand. And while it's going to feel heavier and thicker than any iPhone and most flagship Android handsets that put an emphasis on lightweight, slim design, its heft actually makes the Moto G feel sturdy and solid. The textured back gives a sure grip in any case. It's not a phone that will easily slip out of a pocket or a hand.
Speaking of smartphone accidents, this year Motorola added a new feature to the Moto G 2015, and it's one you can't find in most premium flagships -- and certainly not in other budget devices: The Moto G is IPX7 certified for up to 1 meter underwater for 30 minutes.
That's only if the back of the phone is securely clicked in, but Motorola went out of its way to demonstrate each click point you need to lock in for water resistance, both right out of the box and upon the Moto G's first startup.
Hardware Specs
The Moto G is a budget phone and so its specs are anything but top-of-the-line. However, Motorola did a great job designing it with solid hardware all around, plus it included a couple bonus flagship-level pieces of equipment.
Display
The Moto G has a 5-inch IPS LCD display, which is bright and clear at a 720p resolution. That's certainly not QuadHD or 1080p, but the lower resolution is certainly a money-saver if you're not picky about pixels, and it helps keep the device's daily battery life longer.
Gorilla Glass 3 covers the display, and while that's not this year's standard, it was the standard for most of 2014's flagship Android devices. It means the Moto G will be tougher against scratches than what the average budget device.
Performance
Powering the device is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 running at 1.4GHz. That's a quad-core, 64-bit system on a chip, so it's relatively future-proof and snappy. And once again, a bit more than you'd expect from most budget devices.
You shouldn't expect to be able to play one of those brand new, console-style 3D mobile games on the Moto G, but expect anything the average smartphone user might need to run smoothly. But again, it's recommended you opt for the 2GB Moto G for $40 extra.
As far as connectivity, every third generation Moto G has LTE capability, along with a relatively up-to-date WiFi receiver, Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy, and GPS. A quirky extra for the Moto G is a built-in FM radio.
The Moto G comes with a decently large 2470mAh battery that is non-removable, despite the swappable back panels. It easily lasts all day. Since the Moto G runs pure Android 5.1.1 out of the box -- meaning an upgrade to Android 6.0 Marshmallow will come sooner to the handset than most other 2015 premium flagships -- you'll soon have "Doze" mode to extend the battery life even further.
Camera
Here's where the Moto G is unlike any budget phone in its class.
A boon to budget-minded shutterbugs, Motorola has put the same 13-megapixel camera that the super expensive 2014 Nexus 6 had into the $200 Moto G.
It's a premium camera on a budget phone: It has an f/2.0 aperture, a dual-tone LED flash, auto-HDR, autofocus, and face detection. Motorola is known for having slow-to-focus cameras, which is one point against this shooter, but you won't find a sensor on any other budget phone with all of these features and then also the high-level 13-megapixel resolution.
Ironically, the Moto G's camera can record video in 1080p at 30 frames per second, meaning it shoots video in a higher resolution than its own display is capable of rendering. The front-facer is nothing to sneeze at either, as it's a 5-megapixel unit with auto-HDR, making this "selfie" camera the same resolution as the current iPhone 6s.
Conclusion
Earlier this year, I raved about the Moto X 2014 in a six-months review, calling it the perfect unlocked phone for the unsubsidized future of wireless. That phone was also incredibly thoughtfully designed and practical. But even now it still costs more than $300 unlocked at base price, which is a lot to put down either at one time or in installments.
But then Motorola did even better with the third generation Moto G. It's not as flashy or feature-rich as other more expensive options out there, but it is likely the best $200 price-range smartphone of the year, and probably one of the best budget smartphones created so far.