Motorola recently released the much awaited third generation MOTO G (3rd Gen), a successor to the hugely popular G2. Here's a rundown of what's going on inside the MOTO G (3rd Gen).
Design , Display & Hardware:
The new MOTO G (3rd Gen) has a much better design and feel as compared to the previous two MOTO G phones. The textured back feels very comfortable in your hands, the back cover is removable but not the battery (2470 mAh), mainly to cover all gaps in the handset to help water resistance. I’ve tried keeping the phone in a bucket full of water for 15 minutes and, thankfully, it survived! So don’t be hesitant if you want to take the phone in the shower!
The speaker is just below the screen on the front, while the power and volume buttons are on the right edge. Micro USB port is at the bottom edge while a 3.5mm audio port sits at the top. The phone features a 5 inch, 294 ppi IPS LCD HD display and Corning Gorilla glass 3. In terms of Hardware, you’ve got the Snapdragon 410 under the hood and the Adreno 306 GPU. There are 2 variants- 2GB RAM & 16GB ROM as well as 1GB RAM & 8GB ROM with expandable memory upto 32GB via Micro SD card. There’s minimal difference in price between them, but both supporting Dual SIM ( LTE + GSM ) features.
Software :
The MOTO G (3rd Gen) is installed with Android 5.1.1 out of the box. Android Software updates will come first to this device along with the Nexus phones. It also comes with the Moto Display feature earlier seen on the Moto X (Gen. 2) allowing you to see the date, time and other notifications on the lock screen without unlocking the phone. Then there’s Moto Assist, and Moto Migrate allowing for seamless migrations from your old device to this one. Twisting the phone to turn the camera ON and double chop gesture turns the LED ON are nifty little features.
Camera :
Thanks to the auto-focusing lens, you can tap on the screen anywhere to focus and take pictures. The MOTO G (3rd Gen) has a 13MP camera and f/2.0 aperture lens while a dual LED flash sits at the back. The front facing camera is a wide angle 5MP camera with f/2.2 lens for the selfie obsessed people out there. Outdoor photos are pretty good and HDR mode works great. Video at 1080p is not the best in terms of quality, while slow motion videos at 720p is a good addition though since very few Android phones have this feature .
Gaming & Multimedia :
Google Play Music is the default music app and works pretty well on earphones, but isn't exactly anything new when used without earphones on the phones mono speaker. A single charge got me around 6 hours of use due to extensive usage that included an hour of YouTube, with an additional couple of hours playing Asphalt 8 and FIFA 15. Recharging the battery to 100% after this took me around 3 and a half hours which is a tad more than you’d expect on a new 2740 mAh battery.
Conclusion :
The MOTO G (3rd Gen) is built exceptionally well, it's water resistance and it's USB OTG. There are downsides though, as it's doesn't have a stereo speaker and and only has a 290 ppi display, which be an issue for some. Great user experience is what matters at the end of the day, and this phone delivers!
The MOTO G (3rd Gen) gets a strong 4/5.
★★★★☆
Pritesh Khilnani
MOTO G (3rd Gen) at CeX
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