Motorola has not been a contender in the smartphone wars, at least not in South Africa, for the past two years now. Although the company has produced a few talked-about products for the international market, these phones have not reached our shores. But Motorola is a company with an impressive track record and its latest midrange smartphone shows that the company is still a force to be reckoned with.
The Moto G 4G should have Motorola’s competitors worried. The smart-looking, 4,5-inch phone is taking on the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini and the Sony Xperia M2, but offers a much better value proposition than these devices. Indeed, at less than R3 000, this midrange handeset may the best in its class.
The first thing Motorola got right with the Moto G 4G is the build quality. Although it has a plastic body, the materials feel good to the touch and it’s not flimsy like some other phones in this class.
The removable back cover features a matte finish that assists with grip, while the tapered edges give the 143g Moto G 4G a slim feel.
There are only two buttons, a power button and the volume rocker, and they are both positioned on the right side of the phone. The 3,5mm audio jack is positioned at the top of the phone, in the centre.
Motorola has crammed decent hardware into the G’s small body. There’s a quad-core Snapdragon 400 chipset with a quad-core 1,2 GHz Cortex-A7 processor and 1GB of RAM.
Although we would have liked the Moto G 4G to have had more than its 8GB of flash storage, the microSD slot accepts cards up to 32GB.
This smartphone is also one of the few devices in its class that offers 4G/LTE. The integrated Wi-Fi supports the b/g/n variants.
One of the more impressive aspects of the Moto G 4G is its display. The screen is bright and colour saturation is very good. The 4,5-inch LCD has a display resolution of 1 280×720 pixels for a pixel density of 326ppi. To put that in perspective, the iPhone 5S has the same pixel density.
The front-facing camera is a fairly low-end, 1,3-megapixel affair, while the rear-facing one is a decent 5-megapixel shooter that produces quite respectable pictures for the price. It takes video at 720p at 30fps, too.
The Moto G 4G has a 2 070mAh non-removable battery. Battery life is not bad, but isn’t the phone’s standout feature. During our time with the phone, the battery lasted the average day before needing recharging.
Motorola scores high points to sticking with the vanilla version of Android (KitKat 4.4.4) with zero overlays. There’s very little bloatware installed and the user interface is as clean as Google intended. You’re also guaranteed the latest Android updates from Google the moment they’re available.
The phone does come preinstalled with an app called Motorola Alert, which sends your location to family or friends when activated.
Other features include a built-in radio tuner, assisted GPS, and it even sports a water-repellent coating. While it won’t survive a dunk in the pool, it can be used without much worry if you get caught in a bit of rain.
The Moto G 4G is a great smartphone and, for its price, it’ll be difficult to find a more compelling offering. At R2 890 on the Orange online store this is, without a doubt, our top pick of the current crop of midrange smartphones.
Take note that you’ll have to buy the Moto G 4G for cash from an online retailer as Motorola Mobility does not have a presence in the country and so stock is not avaialable through the usual channels. — © 2014 NewsCentral Media
