Normally, CES isn’t a big show for smartphones, but that hasn’t stopped Motorola from giving a big refresh to the entire Moto G range to start the year, along with a new version of the more affordable 5G phone Motorola.
With the arrival of the new Moto G family and the new Moto One 5G Ace, Motorola will have a range of brands new phones for basically all price ranges under $ 400.
Motorola revived the Moto G Play, which starts at $ 170, as the most affordable phone in the group and while it’s pretty basic, it has most of it covered essentials. You get one 6.5-inch 1600 x 720 screen (yes, this is HD, not Full HD), a Qualcomm Snapdragon 460 chip, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, a microSD card slot and a fairly large 5,000mAh battery.
There’s also a fingerprint sensor built into the Motorola logo on the back, and what appears to be two cameras but which is actually a—the Moto G Play includes a 13 MP main camera and a 2 MP depth camera to help you take pictures in portrait mode. And to top it all off, the Moto G Play has a relatively durable matte plastic back with a slight water resistance designed to protect against small spills or rain.
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Then we come to what could be my favorite phone of the group, the Moto G Power, which retains the same 5,000 mAh battery that was used in the Moto G Play, but adds slightly better specifications. Depending on where you get it, the G Power will be available in two configurations: a $ 200 model with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage or a $ 250 model with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage .
Regardless of the configuration you choose, the G Power also features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor, a slightly larger 6.6-inch 1600 x 720 display, a microSD card tray, and three rear cams (48-inch main macro). MP, 2 MP macro and a 2 MP depth cam). For me, the G Power it reaches the cheapest point of the budget and is able to cover most of the bases without adding many additional volumes, although I would have liked to see Motorola include an ultra-wide camera or telephoto lens instead of this macro lens .
Then there is the Moto G pencil, which it starts at $ 300 and does its best Be one much more affordable alternative to Samsung’s high end Galaxy Note line. This is because, including an included stylus (stored inside a convenient slot on the side of the phone), it has no additional wireless buttons or features like they get from Samsung S-Pens.
To Supports all your drawings and notestaking into account the needs, Moto has updated the Moto Notes app while increasing the screen size of the G Stylus to a 6.8-inch FHD + screen, with the GStylus also gets a small increase in performance the G Power with a Snapdragon 678 chip and 4GB of RAM and 128GB of standard storage. Still, with a smaller 4,000 mAh battery (and a larger screen), don’t expect the G Stylus ’battery life to be as good as its less expensive siblings.
However, behind the G Stylus has three real cameras: a 48 MP main cam, 8 MP ultra wide cam and 2 MP macro (plus a fourth depth sensor). And instead of one rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, both the G Power and G Stylus have side-mounted fingerprint readers located just below the power button and the volume rocker on the right.
Finally, although technically not part of the Moto G family, there is also the new Moto One 5G Ace. Starting at $ 400, the Moto One 5 Ace is now Motorola’s cheapest 5G phone and $ 100 less than the original Moto One 5G (which was released last fall), although it comes with the warning that it only supports sub-6Ghz 5G and not faster mmWave 5G. Apart from this little detail, the rest of the specifications of the Moto One 5G Ace it looks great for the money. That comes with a Snapdragon 750G chip, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and a large 5,000 mAh battery, some retailers also offer a model with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
In front, there is a 6.7-inch FHD + screen of 2400 x 1080 and a 16 MP selfie camera (which also gets the G Stylus), while at the back has a camera configuration similar to that of the G Stylus, with a 48 MP main camera, an 8 MP ultra wide camera and a 2 MP macro camera.
All in all, with the new Moto One 5G Ace and the Moto G family, it looks like Motorola wants to get even more involved in the budget and mid-range phone market. It is possible that Moto has made too much of a phone, because if we look at its specifications and functions, there are not as many differences between models as we might expect.
But there are some nice consistencies on all these phones, including retention of a 3.5mm audio connector, a generally clean version of Android, and improvements to many basic applications and features, such as Moto night camera mode.
Still, I still find it weird that while the Moto One 5G has NFC support, which you have to use apps like Google Pay, Motorola hasn’t added NFC to any of the less expensive Moto G phones. But what could be even more annoying is that all these phones will come with Android 10 and not Android 11, which was officially launched in September. And while Moto says it will provide an Android 11 update sometime in the future, this is the only major Android update that can be obtained from these phones, which is a problem for anyone to think about holding these phones for over a year.
But if you’re looking for a new budget phone, Moto start the year by giving you lots of options. Starting January 14, the new Moto G family and the Moto One Ace 5G will be available unlocked by several retailers.