Motorola Moto G 5G Plus Unboxing, Quick Review: Nord Killer?

Motorola Moto G 5G Plus Unboxing, Quick Review: Nord Killer?

Early Verdict: Motorola returns to the Philippines with a contender that has the potential to disrupt the upper mid-range market held by market leaders like OnePlus and their Nord offering. Motorola Moto G 5G Plus’s great set of hardware on paper bolstered by an even better price tag as well as 5G capability might be just what the brand needs to re-establish its foothold in the Philippines.

The Moto G 5G Plus is priced at Php 16,990.

Pros

  • 5G-ready with a Snapdragon 765 processor
  • 90hz display
  • Excellent pricing

Cons

  • Dated 20w charging
  • Polarizing dual punch-hole design

After two years of absence in the local market, Motorola has officially returned to the Philippines, bringing with it their flagship folding phone and their bang-for-the-buck, 5G-capable mid-range device, the Moto G 5G Plus. Priced at Php 16,990, it’s clear that Motorola isn’t mucking about and wants to re-capture as much of the mid-range market that they ceded when they left, offering a really aggressive price that’s going up against established greats like the OnePlus Nord.

Unboxing and Packaging contents

The Moto G 5G Plus comes in this navy blue box with the classic Motorola logo and the phone’s name in front, along with a large, hard-to-miss 5G logo on the top right part. Inside the box, you get the phone itself with the jelly case installed already (which was also the case with the Moto E5 Plus before), 20w TurboPower charger, USB-C cable, earphones, and documentation.

Design and Display

It’s been a while since we last held on a Motorola phone, and it’s obvious that the brand has been keeping up with the times in terms of design language with their Moto G 5G Plus. The front has the slimmest bezels we’ve ever in a Motorola phone, ditching the branding at the bottom in exchange for a cleaner look.

The display is also a first for Motorola, as the Moto G 5G Plus uses a dual punch-hole to house its two selfie cameras. The dual punch-hole design is not entirely new: the Redmi K30 did also have a dual punch-hole design, but its UI cleverly hid it by blacking out the said area to resemble a pill-shaped punch-hole.

The Moto G 5G Plus’ polycarbonate back panel has a square-shaped camera module housing four cameras, a legacy Motorola logo, and an LED flash that is shaped like a strip. You don’t get any fancy gradients here: the Blue color of the Moto G 5G Plus reflects a rainbow-like spectrum depending on how the light hits it. The panel is glossy and attracts fingerprints and smudges like there’s no tomorrow so you are better off not removing the phone from the case if you don’t want to dirty up the phone.

Unlike with most Motorola phones where the Motorola logo at the back acts as a fingerprint scanner, the Moto G 5G Plus employs a side-mounted fingerprint scanner that doubles as a power button. Above it are the volume controls, while the left side has the SIM tray and Google Assistant button. At the bottom, you have a headphone jack, USB-C port, and loudspeaker.

The Moto G 5G Plus has the largest display ever on a Motorola phone, measuring in at 6.7-inches. You get Full HD resolution and a 21:9 aspect ratio, making it ideal for consuming video content. Its IPS panel also comes with a 90hz refresh rate for smoother scrolling and overall user experience. You can set the screen to 60Hz if you want to conserve battery life.

Cameras

The Moto G 5G Plus packs a total of six cameras. For the front, you get a 16-megapixel f/2.0 main camera and an 8-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle camera for those socially-distanced selfies. For the rear, you get a 48-megapixel f/1.7 main camera, 8-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide-angle camera, 5-megapixel f/2.4 macro camera, and 2-megapixel f/2.4 depth sensor.

That’s a pretty solid set of cameras for a mid-range phone, as it covers various photo and video shooting needs. Speaking of video, the front cameras can shoot up to Full HD 30FPS while the main rear camera can shoot up to 4K at 30FPS.

Performance and Battery

As a 5G-ready phone, the Moto G 5G Plus is powered by a Snapdragon 765 processor that is paired with 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage. The RAM capacity is quite special for the Philippine market, as other versions of the Moto G 5G Plus only comes with 6GB RAM.

What’s worth noticing is that the Moto G 5G Plus uses a vanilla Snapdragon 765 processor and not the Snapdragon 765G that is used on the ultra-premium (and nostalgia-inducing) Moto RAZR 5G. The Snapdragon 765G runs at 2.4Ghz, while the vanilla Snapdragon 765 runs at 2.3Ghz. The difference is also the same on the GPU side, where the Snapdragon 765G is claimed to be 20% better than the Snapdragon 765. We will have to do our usual set of tests to confirm how much of a difference is the Snapdragon 765 over the Snapdragon 765G.

Like with previous Motorola phones, the Moto G 5G Plus comes with Android that is close to stock and has Motorola’s unique set of features with Moto Actions.

Just like with most 2020 phones, the Moto G 5G Plus comes with a 5000mAh battery that should last you at least a day even on all-day 5G connectivity. Charging is done via USB-C, though we find its 20w TurboPower charging a bit dated, considering that the competition is already offering 33w and even 65w wired charging speeds.

Wrap up and conclusions

Motorola is definitely back, and they are doing it with a bang. While the spotlight is on the Moto RAZR 5G, the Moto G 5G Plus is just as exciting as its aggressive sub-Php 17k price tag means that Motorola wants 5G to be more accessible to people who are eager to try it out.

Those who want to get their hands on the Moto G 5G Plus have to wait a little longer, as Lenovo Philippines said that it will become available on shelves by December. That’s a bit of a wait for a new phone but then again, good deals are worth waiting for.

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