We all have our expectations of what a $200 phone should do. It should cover the basics: run core apps, make calls, send texts, post to social media, and… well exist. We don’t buy these phones for a mind-blowing experience, we buy them to get us through the day. But, the $200 phone is not what it was years ago. I was given the opportunity to review the Motorola Moto G 5G (2024), and this is a $200 phone that exemplifies that fact.

Since I’ve reviewed several devices across different price points, it’s easy to assume that I know exactly how a phone should perform at every price point. I should know how a $200 phone should perform compared to a $500 phone compared to a $1,300 phone. But, that’s not the case; some phones have the tendency to surprise people, blur lines, and offer value outside of their price bracket.

Regardless, I admit that I had my preconceived notions about this phone going into the review. Putting a $200 phone through its paces doesn’t seem like it’d yield much compared to doing the same for a flagship phone. It’d be like searching for gold in a sandbox versus a gold mine. However, This just means that whatever nuggets of gold you find in the sandbox are that much more significant. So, let’s see how much gold the Moto G 5G (2024) has to offer.

Table of Contents

Moto G 5G (2024) Review: Design

I’ve used cheaper Motorola phones with nice designs in the past, and I always walked away with the impression that Motorola has mastered how to make cheaper phones look good. Be that as it may, I wasn’t prepared for the sight I saw when I unboxed the Moto G 5G.

This phone goes beyond just looking nice; it is breathtaking in my opinion. It foregoes having a flashy and cutting-edge design and, instead, opts for more of an understated and elegant aesthetic. The back of the phone is made from a faux leather material that adds so much character to it. It gives this phone the same type of elegance as a business suit. There’s an air of professionalism to the design.

One thing I like about the design is that the leather material doesn’t cover the full back. The frame of the phone extends about a millimeter into the back. I can’t place my finger on it, but something about that adds to the overall design.

The camera package is a rounded rectangular bump that gradually rises from the back of the phone. It resembles the camera package in the Motorola Edge (2023)(Review). It doesn’t extend from the phone much, but looking at it head-on makes it look more significant. When I tilt the phone on its side, it almost looks like there’s no bump at all.

Looking at the frame takes just a bit of magic out of the overall experience. When I look at the back, I get the feeling that I’m looking at a premium material. It doesn’t matter if it’s not real leather, what matters is that it looks real. It’s the illusion that makes the phone look more premium. However, that illusion doesn’t extend to the frame of the phone; I know that I’m not looking at metal.

The frame is plastic, and it’s not easy to cover that up. It’s easier to fake leather than it is to fake metal. It only subtracts from the premium look of the phone, but it doesn’t take away from the overall look.

Overall

Years ago, one thing I noticed was that many professionals used iPhones, so the iPhone became synonymous with professionalism. I was less likely to see an accountant or doctor sporting the latest Galaxy phone. However, phones like the Moto G 5G (2024) really challenge that notion. More importantly, they break it.

There’s something elegant and professional about this phone’s aesthetic. The understated beauty and overall refinement go hand-in-hand to create a design that’s not just nice for the price; it’s nice in general. I can see any professional wielding this phone and not bat an eye.

Moto G 5G (2024) Review: Build Quality

While I didn’t know what to expect with the design of this phone, I had a pretty good idea of the build quality. Motorola phones in this price range tend to have pretty solid builds. When I first held this phone, I was met with a familiar feeling.

The build quality of the Moto G 5G (2024) is above what you’d expect from a $200 phone. It’s generally solid. This phone feels like it can take a good amount of abuse without giving in. It feels like the company used quality materials. I know that the frame is made from plastic, but it doesn’t feel like a cheap plastic.

One factor that lends to this phone’s nice feeling in the hand is the feeling of density. Phones that are lighter in weight tend to feel cheaper. That is only made worse when a phone is light while being notably thick. That makes it feel hollow. This is one gripe I had with the Tecno Pova 6 Pro.

While the Moto G 5G (2024) definitely has some thickness to it, there’s a satisfying heft to it. This makes the phone feel more dense, and that lends to the overall solid feeling in the hand. I feel secure when using this phone. If it happens to drop, I know that I won’t need to rush to get a new phone.

I bent the phone just a bit from both the front and the back (not enough to cause damage), and I heard only the slightest amount of creaks. Maybe a tiny pop here and there, but it was negligible.

The feeling in the hand is not going to rival the latest iPhone or Galaxy flagship, admittedly. However, for $200, I’m impressed with the overall build quality. Motorola definitely put some thought into making it a sturdy phone. One thing to note is that the screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. So, you might want to get a screen protector, as that’s a pretty old standard of tempered glass.

Moto G 5G (2024) Review: Display

So, the theme of this review has been that the Moto G 5G (2024) has qualities that go beyond what its price would indicate. The display complies with this theme. Be that as it may, I’m pretty conflicted about how I want to sum up this display’s performance. Before we get into that, let’s talk about the display itself.

Brightness

Brightness used to be the downfall of all displays back in the day, whether we’re talking about flagship phone displays or budget phone displays. No matter what phone you had, you’d still need to cover your phone’s display whenever you’re out in the sunlight.

This is a reality that still plagues affordable phones, but the Moto G 5G (2024) has managed to offer some decent brightness for being such an affordable phone. It won’t go up against flagship phones with 1000+ nit displays, but it manages to remain notably visible in bright daylight. I’d place this display at about 900 nits. I feel like that’s about the threshold between a screen with good daylight visibility and bad daylight visibility.

When I’m trying to look at the screen in the sun, I’m met with my reflection more than I’d like, but I think that it’s bright enough to view comfortably. The brightness isn’t this screen’s best quality, but it’s still pretty good.

Colors

When it comes to the color saturation of this screen, I constantly find myself wanting just a bit more. Like the brightness, it’s good, but it’s right on the edge of being exceptional.

Out of the box, this phone’s screen is set to Saturated mode, so you’re seeing how punchy the screen can be right off the bat. This being an LCD display, there’s a limit to how much color can be stuffed into it. So, when I first looked at the display, I knew to expect the colors to be relatively washed out. And they are.

The colors are as punchy as an LCD display on a $200 phone could be, but that’s not to say that they’re bad in any way. I found that warmer colors produce the most pleasing saturation. Reds, oranges, and yellows look nice and punchy. Once the colors cool down, they start to lose some of their luster. At worst, the blues and greens look mundane.

So, pictures and videos of warm sunsets and red flowers will give you the most satisfying saturation. The colors won’t impress as much, but they’re far from offensive.

Contrast

This being an LCD display, there’s also a limit to how much contrast it can have. Getting dark gray areas where there should be blackness is unavoidable. However, I praise this display for offering some nice contrast. Looking at content with a ton of contrast, I’d say that the blacks are pretty dark. They’re the darkest of most LCD displays that I’ve reviewed so far.

Extras

The only extra feature that this display has is the 120Hz refresh rate. This makes the screen very fluid.

Overall

I’m heavily conflicted about how I should place this phone’s display. The Moto G 5G (2024) has a generally nice display as far as budget phones go. However, I’ve reviewed phones such as the Tecno Camon 20/Premier and the Infinix Note 30 Pro. These phones retail for not too much more than the Moto G 5G, but these phones’ displays are absolutely jaw-dropping. Their quality goes far beyond what their prices would indicate. Compared to those screens, the display on the Moto G 5G (2024) looks laughable. There’s just no competition, and they’re in a similar price bracket.

However, those phones aren’t offered in the US market. Most techies know that the US market is heavily missing out on a ton of amazing devices from companies overseas. Displays on sub-$400 phones from companies like Tecno and Infinix give $800+ Samsung phones a run for their money.

So, compared to the phones mentioned above, the display on the Moto G 5G (2024) is mediocre at best. However, if we’re talking about the US and other markets that don’t get those phones, the screen on the Moto G 5G (2024) is genuinely nice. I can enjoy watching content on it.

Moto G 5G (2024) Review: Speakers

My experience with the speakers on cheaper Motorola phones hasn’t been the greatest. They’ve always been average at best. When companies make cuts to bring a phone’s price down, the speakers typically take some of the biggest cuts. I’ve reviewed phones that had stellar displays, great software, and smooth performance, but the speakers would sound extremely dull.

So, reviewing the speakers of one of the most affordable Moto phones I’ve ever reviewed, I didn’t expect stellar results. To test the speakers, I listened to six short pieces of music, and each of them emphasizes one key aspect of speakers: Loudness, Distortion (this uses the same test piece as loudness), Bass, Treble, Balance, and Vocals.

There are a few things to note. Firstly, these speakers come with Dolby Atmos enabled by default, and there’s no way to shut it off. Also, there are a handful of deep customizations you can make to cater your sound to your liking. So, realistically, I won’t be able to cover how they sound with every customization made.

So, I’ll be reviewing the speakers based on the out-of-the-box settings. The software is set to automatically adapt to the type of content that you’re listening to. I’ll base my review on that.

Loudness

This is a pretty powerful set of speakers. When I played the loudness test piece, the sound was loud enough to fill an entire room with sound. I went inside a small closet and put a sound meter about a foot away from it, and the audio peaked at about 87db, so that’s pretty good. If you’re trying to listen to content in your room or outside, these speakers will suit you just fine.

Distortion

When it comes to distortion, I don’t hear the audio quality start to degrade until I reach the top two volume levels. Even at full volume, the audio doesn’t sound all too distorted. You won’t want to listen to these speakers at full volume. However, if you have to, then you won’t really have a bad time doing so.

Bass

This is one area that surprised me. Most of the time, speakers on cheaper phones tend to be a bit flat in the bass department. So, going in, I didn’t really expect these speakers to have much depth. But, they actually surprised me in that department.

The piece that I used to test the bass was a short clip of music that’s extremely immersive and bass-heavy. When I played the piece, I was impressed with just how much depth these speakers were able to produce. I could hear the lower notes sing through clearly.

Not only is there a good amount of bass to the sound, but there’s also a lot of space to it. Sometimes, companies make their speakers bassy without thinking about the sound stage. This is one thing that makes speakers sound cluttered and muddy rather than bassy.

So, I was impressed with how well these speakers produce low tones. They can come in handy when listening to action movies and certain genres of music.

Treble

Sometimes, it’s easy to overlook just how important the treble is when it comes to speakers. The higher tones add clarity and character to the sound, so being able to properly produce them can add to the quality of your speakers.

The speakers on the Moto G 5G (2024) do a commendable job when it comes to the treble. The test piece, as you can imagine, has plenty of high tones, and they all project nicely.

Balance

The intersection of the bass and treble is a very important aspect of music. While they’re important on their own, it’s crucial that they interact with each other nicely. The Balance test piece is a well-balanced piece that pays attention to the lows, mids, and highs. I listened for how the speakers projected these sounds and listened to hear if anything was overpowered.

Overall, I think that these speakers do a fine job of producing a nice and balanced sound. However, I think that the bass does overshadow the treble just a bit. It’s not bad, but you’ll notice just a bit more rumble in your sound.

Immersion

This is one of the most important aspects of the sound if you want to watch content. It’s how much the sound sort of surrounds the ears. With the overall balance, depth, and space that these speakers provide, I’d say that they’re pretty immersive. I listened to the short example piece along with some other music, and I really liked the performance.

Overall

Going in, I had my doubts about these speakers. There are phones that cost twice as much and don’t produce great audio quality. However, I think that these speakers pull their weight and more. They’re definitely higher quality than most of the speakers I review from phones at this price range. Even though I’ve heard better speakers from more expensive phones. I honestly enjoy using these speakers.

Moto G 5G (2024) Review: Performance

The Moto G 5G (2024) has been an overachiever so far, but the performance is an area where this phone starts to show some cracks in the armor. It’s using the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 SoC. This is a processor that’s hip-deep in the budget phone market, and it shows in a few areas.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not running into a ton of stutters or dropped frames while using it. In fact, instances of these are few and far apart. I think navigating the interface is generally smooth, even with the screen set to 120Hz. So, the software doesn’t slow the processor down to the point where everything freezes.

However, I can tell that the processor struggles, and I see this in less obvious areas. When I tap on an app, there’s a noticeable hesitation before the animation starts. The same thing happens when I tap the home button; it takes just a second for something to happen. When I open the camera, it takes a second or two for the actual viewfinder to load. After tapping a setting, it takes a second before it’s applied.

So, the sluggishness doesn’t happen during animations, which results in dropped frames. It happens in between animations. The sluggishness happens before the app animation happens, during splash screens, etc. Visually, that’s much better. I’d rather wait a second for a smooth and seamless animation than to see a stuttery animation right away.

The only issue is that it still slows down the experience. If you’re using the phone, and everything is taking a bit of time to process, it doesn’t matter where the lag happens, it still happens. Just about every action I perform on the phone takes just a bit of time, and it can be a bit much at times.

Benchmarks

I know that benchmarks aren’t a proper measure of a device’s performance. However, it can be nice to see where a device sits in terms of numbers. Firstly, I ran the Moto G 5G (2024) through Geekbench 6, and it got a single-core score of 849, which is decent for a budget phone.

As for the multi-core score, this phone was able to score 1931. These scores aren’t great, but they definitely get the job done.

Next, I rendered a one-minute video in CapCut in 1080p resolution, and it took quite some time to finish. It took the phone 30.09 seconds to render the video from start to finish. This isn’t great, but it’s not the worst. It was able to outpace the Poco X6 (32.17 seconds) and the HONOR Magic6 Lite (44.66 seconds).

Overall

I’d say that Moto G 5G (2024) is much smoother than most other phones in this price range. Motorola did a great job of optimizing the software to work with the chip. However, we can’t avoid the fact that this is a very budget chip. Optimization can only go so far, and there’s a limit to how far software optimizations can push a chip.

I’ve gotten generally smooth performance, but this phone is no speed demon. You’re going to use the Moto G 5G (2024) for the basics, and that’s what it’s good at.

Moto G 5G (2024) Review: Gaming

When it comes to gaming, this phone surprised me. The Moto G 5G (2024), being a budget-centered phone, isn’t meant to be your pocket gaming console. So, you’re going to have to download apps with the expectation of a sluggish time.

Be that as it may, Motorola was able to create a phone that can handle a fair bit of what the Google Play Store can dish out. It was able to crush Survivor.IO. This is a 2D game that’s not shy about displaying a massive number of sprites on the screen at once. While 2D games aren’t the most graphically intensive games, if a phone hiccups on those, then it sets a dark tone for the rest of the gaming review.

I then moved into some moderately graphically intensive 3D games. Some of the go-to games I use are Dragon Ball Legends and Asphalt 9. Dragon Ball Legends ran like butter; I had no issues with that one, and Asphalt, aside from one slight stutter, it ran smoothly as well. This was with the graphics turned up to full. We all know how intense this game gets during races.

Most phones that I’ve reviewed can play these games without any issues. But, a real test of a phone’s gaming chops is playing games like Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail. This phone has been full of pleasant surprises, but I was not expecting any miracles when it comes to these games… and yet.

Genshin Impact

Okay, so let’s start off with Genshin Impact. Hands down, this is the worst performer of any phone I tested with this game. Usually, I’m able to get somewhat smooth performance by knocking the graphics down to their lowest setting. However, in the case of the Moto G 5G (2024), there was none of that. At the highest setting, this game is unplayable. Nothing about it runs smoothly. That’s to be expected, so I won’t hold that against the phone.

When I cranked the settings all the way down, I still got consistently choppy gameplay. I’d usually recommend getting a game even if it’s a little stuttery, but I can’t in this case. If you’re a Genshin Impact fan, then you’ll want to pass up this phone.

Star Rail

Genshin Impact and Star Rail are some of the best-looking games on the Google Play Store; if a phone is struggling on Genshin, then it’ll struggle on Star Rail. Well, that’s what I THOUGHT. I started up the game and was surprised at how smooth the title animation was. It was much smoother than on the Tecno Pova 6 Pro.

Then, I did my ritual of starting the game and cranking the graphics to their highest settings and expected to watch the gameplay turn into a slideshow. Then, I was met with some decently smooth gameplay. I wasn’t getting a fluid 60FPS or anything, but the game didn’t lock up or drop too many frames. Maybe there’s a hiccup here and there, but it’s not that bad.

Heat performance

While playing games or using it, I never experience any excessive heat. Honestly, the Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 is a very efficient processor, so it was able to keep the temperatures down.

Overall

The performance was night and day compared to Genshin Impact, so I’m a bit conflicted on how to sum up the performance. I’d say that the performance is good for most 2D and low to mid-level 3D games. Once you start to approach more graphically intensive games, your results will vary. You’re not going to want to get this phone for gaming.

Moto G 5G (2024) Review: Camera

There are certain areas where budget smartphones tend to overachieve and deliver an experience that makes you question why you’d buy more expensive phones. Well, the camera department is rarely one of them. Most of the time, no matter how great the screen, performance, speakers, or build quality, the camera quality on affordable phones is laughable.

What makes it worse in this case is that Motorola does not have the best track record for cameras. I haven’t reviewed a Motorola phone whose camera impressed me. The camera on the Moto Edge+ (2022) was lukewarm at best.

So, how is the camera with the Moto G 5G (2024)?

Exposure/Contrast

The camera in the Moto G 5G (2024) leans more toward overexposure. Pictures typically have blown-out highlights in spots. Sunny patches on the ground would turn white. That’s natural for cameras, but it happens more than I’d like. The images, overall, are pretty bright, which can throw off the whole mood of the image.

I’d recommend hopping into the Pro mode and cranking the ISO down a few stops.

In terms of contrast, I don’t know how to properly describe what I’m looking at half the time. Images both lack contrast and have too much contrast if that makes sense. The images have that almost washed-out appearance of a camera that doesn’t have proper dynamic range. It makes it hard to discern what you’re looking at.

However, at the same time, the images have some pretty epic extremes. Bright spots are extremely bright and the dark spots are pitch black, and I mean BLACK. Shadows have the life crushed out of them. I’d take a picture of a tree in the daytime with shadowy areas, but the camera extracts absolutely no information from them. They fall to black so quickly. It’s surreal because, in real life, if you’re standing outside in the sunlight, you’re not going to see completely black areas because of ambient occlusion.

I think that the contrast is completely off with this camera, and that has a negative effect on the final product.

Colors

I might have to get treated for whiplash because of how much the colors flung me back and forth. There are times when the colors look nice, and there are times when they look weird. Sometimes they’re saturated, sometimes they’re washed out; sometimes they’re warm, sometimes they’re cool. I don’t know how to place the colors.

For example, I don’t know what’s going on with the first images of the green bush. There’s this weird tint to it. This wasn’t even close to the color of the scene.

Then, I get pictures like these where the colors are actually pretty nice. I’d say that this is the best one. The yellow of the flower is nicely accentuated and the green in the leaves is nice and juicy. I wish I could say the same thing about the rest of the pictures.

All in all, the colors all have this weird tone to them that just throws the whole scene off. Below are some examples of the worst offenders.

I don’t know what Motorola is doing with its color science, but I think that a software update could clear it up.

Details

Honestly, for as iffy as the camera quality has been so far, the camera is able to capture some nice details. I’m able to zoom into the scene a fair bit before the details get muddy.

Video

When it comes to video, this camera is not taking home any prizes. I think that the color reproduction is better. However, looking back at the footage I took, I found that videos suffer from the same contrast issue that photos do. The shadows are still heavily crushed far beyond what they should be.

However, I think that an aspect of the video recording capabilities is the stabilization. Moving, walking, panning, etc. is incredibly smooth. While walking, I could barely see my steps. I think that this is a great camera when it comes to stabilization.

Let’s talk about my main annoyance

Here’s one thing that annoyed me about the camera interface. Usually, when you see a phone’s camera interface, you know what the camera’s capable of; when you choose the resolution, it tells you. The same thing goes for the video resolution. Yet, For some reason, Motorola decided to treat its users like babies and withhold specs for the sake of simplicity.

For starters, when inside the interface, I don’t know what resolution I’m taking pictures in. In the settings, I’m only presented with Standard and High-Resolution modes. Come on, Motorola, you don’t have to simplify things that much…

Also, there’s no option to change the video resolution. There’s only one video resolution, and it doesn’t tell us what it is. It’s like the company is focusing so much on simplifying everything to make the most user-friendly experience. However, this is the only time I’ve ever seen this amount of babying in a camera interface.

Overall

This is a camera that you’re going to use to take pictures, and that’s it. It has several flaws that put it in the group of good affordable phones with crappy cameras. You won’t choose this camera for its detail, dynamic range, or its color reproduction. Instead, you’re going to use it because it’s there. It performs the job of taking pictures, but it’s not much more.

Moto G 5G (2024) Review: Battery

Motorola doesn’t have the best track record for cameras, but it has a great track record for batteries. Its phones generally have really good battery life, and the Moto G 5G (2024) was able to do a decent job.

Along with using the battery in my daily life, I tested the battery by charging it to 100% and streaming looping video until the battery died. The phone lasted 10 hours and 21 minutes. That’s quite a bit behind most flagship phones; some phones cross the 23-hour mark.

While this phone is far behind those phones, it’s still good enough to last you a day on a single charge. I was able to start the day with a full charge and make it to ben without needing to reach for a charger. If you’re going to be doing a lot of heavy gaming and video-watching, then you’re going to want to plug in before bed.

However, if you’re a moderate user, then you’ll get some serious mileage from this battery. The Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 is an efficient SoC, so the standby time will be great.

Moto G 5G (2024) Review: Software

I sometimes think of Motorola’s My UX as near-stock Android, but the company has really developed a special identity for its software. It has the classic Google Material You aesthetic, but certain bits of the software have been “Motorola-ified”. You’ll mostly notice these elements in the Personalization menu and the animations.

Aside from the visuals, what really characterizes Motorola’s software are the gestures. If you’re familiar with Motorola phones, then you should be familiar with some of the gestures that the company has maintained over the years. Features like the double-chop to activate the flashlight and the triple-finger swipe to take a screenshot are some examples.

I don’t have any complaints about the software. You’ll love it if you’re looking for a near-stock Android experience with a few extra features.

Moto G 5G (2024) Review: Final Verdict

The Moto G 5G (2024) is one of the best kinds of products for reviews to look at. While drooling after the latest and greatest $1000+ beast to hit the scene, we typically turn a judgemental eye to phones that cost under $300. We write them up as cheap slabs that just get us through the day. I admit that this is what I initially thought about this phone. I got the box and said, “Well, here it is…” This was all while using the Galaxy S24+ as my daily driver.

But, phones like the Moto G 5G (2024) exemplify one of the BEST skills that a smartphone OEM can have, being able to craft a solid smartphone experience on a budget. Cherry-picking and juggling compromises in order to create the most optimal experience that a person can have for not too much money. This is the driving force behind the mid-range and budget smartphone markets. Before the whole “smartphone killer” craze, phones under $300 were devices you’d get with the expectation that you’re going to have a bad time; choppy performance, crappy speakers, useless camera, terrible display, etc.

However, The Moto G 5G (2024) is a testament to the fact that times are different. People can buy a phone for less than a quarter of the price of a Galaxy S24 Ultra and still have a generally nice experience. It’s not a flagship phone by any means, but it comes with a beautiful design, solid build quality, a nice display, some surprisingly good speakers, decent performance, good battery performance, and some pretty good gaming chops.

If you’re looking for a phone that performs way better than its price will let on, then you should definitely consider picking up the Moto G 5G (2024).

Mar 26, 2024