The Moto G 5G (2023) is the latest budget-friendly smartphone from Motorola that offers 5G connectivity, a 120Hz display, and a long-lasting battery. But is it worth buying? Here’s my review.
Design and build quality
The Moto G 5G (2023) has a plastic body with a glossy finish that attracts fingerprints and smudges easily. It comes in two colors: Ink Blue and Harbor Gray. The phone feels solid and well-crafted, but it also feels cheap and slippery in the hand. It has a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB-C port, and a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner that works reliably. The phone is not water-resistant, but it has a water-repellent coating that can protect it from minor splashes.
The Moto G 5G (2023) has a 6.5-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels and a refresh rate of 120Hz. The screen is bright and smooth, but it also has low pixel density, poor viewing angles, and poor sunlight legibility. The screen also has a noticeable chin and a teardrop notch that houses the 8MP selfie camera.
Performance and battery life
The Moto G 5G (2023) is powered by the Snapdragon 480 Plus processor, which is an entry-level chipset that can handle basic tasks and casual games, but it also struggles with multitasking and heavy apps. The phone has 4GB of RAM and either 64GB or 128GB of internal storage, which can be expanded via a microSD card slot.
The Moto G 5G (2023) supports sub-6GHz 5G networks, which means it can access faster speeds and lower latency than 4G LTE, but it also depends on the availability and coverage of your carrier. The phone also has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and FM radio, but it lacks NFC, which means you can’t use it for contactless payments.
The Moto G 5G (2023) has a 5,000mAh battery that can last for two days on a single charge with moderate use. The phone supports 15W wired charging, but it does not support wireless charging. The charging speed is decent, but not very fast.
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Cameras
The Moto G 5G (2023) has a dual-camera setup on the back, consisting of a 48MP main camera and a 2MP macro camera. The main camera can take decent photos in good lighting conditions, with good colors and details, but it also suffers from noise, blur, and lack of dynamic range in low-light situations. The macro camera is mostly useless, as it produces low-quality images with poor focus and distortion.
The Moto G 5G (2023) can record videos up to 1080p at 30fps, but the quality is mediocre at best. The videos lack stabilization, sharpness, and contrast, and they also have poor audio quality. The selfie camera can take acceptable selfies in daylight, but they also look soft and washed out in darker environments.
Software
The Moto G 5G (2023) runs on Android 13 with Motorola’s near-stock interface. The software is clean, simple, and easy to use, with some useful additions like Moto Actions, Moto Display, and Moto Gametime. The software also has minimal bloatware and ads, which is appreciated.
However, the software also has some drawbacks. Motorola only promises one major Android update and two years of security updates for the Moto G 5G (2023), which is disappointing for a phone released in 2023. The software also has some bugs and glitches that affect the performance and user experience.
Conclusion
The Moto G 5G (2023) is not a bad phone for $250, but it’s also not a great one. It offers some nice features like 5G connectivity, a 120Hz display, and a long-lasting battery, but it also compromises on many aspects like screen quality, camera performance, NFC support, and software updates.
If you’re looking for a cheap phone that can access 5G networks and run basic apps smoothly, you might consider the Moto G 5G (2023). But if you’re looking for a better overall experience or more future-proof device, you might want to look elsewhere.
