The IT Nerd

Not everyone wants a Samsung Galaxy S4 or a iPhone 5S. Some people just want a basic phone that does what they need it to do and nothing fancy. Motorola has recognized that and come up with the Moto G to fill that need. It’s an exclusive with Telus and Koodo Mobile and they are both the first to have the phone in North America. Now let me hit the specs up front so that you can see how Motorola defines basic:

• Android OS 4.3 Jelly Bean
• 1.2Ghz quad-core processor
• 1GB of RAM
• 4.5-inch display (1280 x 720 resolution)
• 5MP camera with a 1.3MP front-facing camera
• 8GB of internal storage
• HSPA+, WiFi, Bluetooth

So, that’s pretty basic. But it works. Here’s why.

First it is slightly bigger than an iPhone 5/5S and it is easy to hold. The rubberized back plate makes sure you have a good grip on the phone. I should also note that you can get the back in different colours so that you can make the phone reflect your personality. Though you’ll have a tough time removing the back. I broke a nail doing it so that I could get the SIM card in. Another observation, the battery is NOT removable even though the back is and there is no MicroSD slot. If you want additional storage beyond the 8GB (of which just of 5GB is free) it comes with, the cloud is your only option. The Moto G has a water repellent coating which means you’ll be able to whip it out in the rain without fear of killing it. But it is not waterproof. The screen is bright and sharp and is truly the star of show. The reason being is that it is a 1280 x 720 display with a 329ppi pixel density. To put that in perspective, it’s a bigger, higher resolution, more defined display than the iPhone 5S. Pretty impressive for a phone that is designed to be basic. I should also note that the phone is light and feels very solid. So it’s clear that Motorola didn’t cheap out when it came to the construction of the phone.

The phone actually felt very quick and I think it could easily compete with the higher priced Galaxy S4. Again, that’s says a lot for a basic phone. However, since this phone is only HSPA+ and not LTE, it’s not going to be quick surfing the net. Using Speedtest.net, I got an average of 2.45 Mbps downstream and 2.80 Mbps upstream. Those who are the target market for this phone will not care. It comes with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, and it’s pretty stock. No cool customizations as is the case with Sony or Samsung. But I have no issue with that as it doesn’t interfere the ability to use the phone. Plus again, the target market for this phone will not care. It also comes with some extra features:

• Motorola Protect which acts like Apple’s Find My iPhone. You can remotely locate the phone, lock the screen, change passwords and more.
• Motorola Assist which is like Apple’s Do Not Disturb feature. It silences your phone either when you’re sleeping (after you set that up of course) or when you’re in a meeting. The latter it figures out by itself if you use Google Calendar. There’s also a handy auto-reply feature.
• Finally, there’s Motorola Migrate, which helps transfer data from your old phone over to the Moto G. But only if you have another Android device.

Now when it comes to the camera, it’s basic at 5MP. It has the same interface as the Moto X which makes it easy to use. Swipe from the left of the screen and you get all the controls that control the camera. Swipe from the right of the screen and you can browse the pictures you’ve taken. Zooming in and out is a one finger operation. Place you finger in the middle of the screen and swipe up and you zoom in. Swipe down and you zoom out. It has the ability to automatically turn on HDR automatically which may be handy for those who want to make sure that they get the perfect shot. But you cannot control things like white balance or ISO. It’s also on the slow side to take pictures if you are someone who likes to take rapid fire shots. In short, this camera is best aimed at the point-and-shoot crowd. So what do pictures look like from this camera? Let’s find out by going to  Pearson International Airport and taking some shots of planes landing. Click the picture to see it at full size:

For a 5MP camera, it’s actually quite good. It’s sharp and there’s nothing here that I can complain about. So, how about the video? It shoots 720p video and actually doesn’t do a half bad job. Though the video does seem slightly blurry to me. Take a look at the sample below and set it to full screen and 720p resolution:

One thing to point out. With the lack of storage, you’re not going to be shooting a lot of pictures and videos.

Now on to battery life. If the screen is the star of the show. Battery life is the co-star. You will get well beyond a day of usage. When I used it as my daily phone, I found that I could over get a day and a half on a single charge with heavy usage. That’s very impressive.

So what is this phone going to cost you? At Telus, it’s going to cost you $0 on a two year term or $200 outright. At Koodo it’s $0 on a tab or $150 outright. That is beyond affordable for those wanting to either buy their first smartphone, a parent who wants to get their child a phone, or someone who needs a low cost phone. Assuming of course you can look past the less than 8GB of storage and HSPA+ connectivity rather than LTE. If that’s you, you’d be insane not to look at this phone and it should truly be your only choice. Motorola has hit a home run with this phone and deserves to dominate this end of the marketplace.

This entry was posted on December 9, 2013 at 8:08 am and is filed under Products with tags Motorola. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.