The Moto G Pure is the uncommon $160 telephone that works nicely sufficient that you simply overlook you’re utilizing a sub-$200 machine. Yes, Motorola made some compromises to ship a telephone at this low worth level, however it nonetheless nails all of the fundamentals that it is best to care about: good construct high quality, good battery life, and good cameras for the value.

That is to not say the Moto telephone is ideal. Its processor is only a second slower in most duties, it solely works on 4G networks, and its paltry 32GB of inside storage is simply not sufficient house to make use of for lengthy. But for its worth, it’s onerous to argue in opposition to the Moto G Pure — it will get quite a bit proper.

Design

For a giant telephone with a 6.5-inch display screen, the Moto G Pure feels comparatively compact, measuring 0.34-inch thick and weighing 0.41lbs. Thanks to its rounded corners and sloped edges, the G Pure is comfy to carry for lengthy stretches, although it’s a bit tall (the display screen has a 20:9 facet ratio) to make use of single-handed for my small arms.

Available in deep indigo, the G Pure has a refined sheen to its textured, matte again cowl. Its plastic materials may be very onerous and slippery, regardless of that texture. In reality, I’ve misplaced rely of the variety of occasions the telephone has magically slipped off an ottoman or desk and nonetheless works. Yes, this $160 Moto telephone is kind of sturdy, however I wouldn’t take a look at the smartphone gods — you’ll nonetheless be higher off with a case.

It has a quick fingerprint sensor beneath the Motorola emblem, in addition to Face Unlock to offer you a hands-free choice to unlock your telephone. I like that the Moto software program provides you extra management over how this works. You can use your face to unlock the telephone (no must press the facility button first), and ask the telephone to convey you to the final app or webpage that was opened (quite than the lockscreen). With good lighting, Face Unlock works nicely sufficient, however the fingerprint sensor is quicker and extra constant.

Hardware & Performance

As a part of the associated fee slicing to hit the G Pure’s low worth, Motorola determined to make use of a weak processor and minimal RAM, and it reveals. At the guts of the Moto telephone is the MediaTek Helio G25 processor, which is comparable to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 however really lags behind that 2018 Snapdragon chipset. Everything from opening a web site, switching between apps, to opening the digicam app to take a photograph simply takes an additional second on the Moto telephone. While this doesn’t sound like a lot, these further seconds actually add up over the course of a day and might make you query your sanity.

It has simply 3GB of RAM to help its under-powered processor and a meager 32GB of inside storage. At this level, 32GB is just not sufficient capability for a telephone, particularly when most individuals are hanging onto their telephones for longer. After simply two weeks of sunshine use — putting in updates and some apps, plus taking some photographs — I’ve already burned by means of 18.04GB (56 % of storage) on the G Pure. With Motorola promising one OS replace and two years of safety updates, you’ll doubtless run out of house earlier than you run out of software program help. Good factor it has a microSD card slot, the place you possibly can develop its restricted capability with as much as a 512GB card.

The G Pure’s 6.5-inch LCD display screen could look vibrant with its brightness set to 100%, however it’s only a 720p show, with a low 269 pixel density. At 1600 x 720p decision, The Spider-Man: No Way Home Trailer appears to be like extra pixelated and dim on the Moto than on the OnePlus 9’s 2K show. Day to day, you most likely wouldn’t discover simply how low-res the show is, however when you have any higher-quality screens in your life, it can stand out and never in a great way.

I performed some Pokemon Unite to emphasize take a look at it, and efficiency was higher than I anticipated, at the least as soon as I used to be in a position to launch the sport totally. It took three tries and a number of power quits on it earlier than I may really play. Once the sport lastly loaded, I used to be in a position to transfer my pokemon across the battlefield with out lag, with the battle music blaring from the lone speaker.

Using solely 4G service to check the G Pure’s 4,000mAh battery, I spent the day toggling between two electronic mail accounts, sharing content material on Twitter and Hangouts, and taking part in some Pokemon Unite. The G Pure stayed cool to the contact irrespective of how a lot I used to be stressing it. Although the battery didn’t fairly stay as much as the 2 days of use declare from Motorola, I acquired about 16 hours out of it (or about seven hours of screentime) earlier than needing to hit the charger. Don’t count on a quick cost, although: It took me about two hours to recharge this battery with the included 10W charging brick. In all, the battery ought to final you a full day at minimal, or perhaps so long as two days for a lightweight person.

Camera

For a $160 telephone, the cameras on the Moto G Pure are higher than anticipated, particularly for photographs that you simply’ll doubtless solely share on-line. Rather than squeeze one other lackluster ultrawide or macro digicam onto the again, Motorola made a smart move to maintain it easy with only a rear dual-camera system — a 13-megapixel fundamental digicam and a 2-megapixel depth sensor — plus a 5-megapixel front-facing digicam (f/2.4) for selfies.

The 13-megapixel fundamental digicam with f/2.2 aperture was surprisingly succesful at capturing particulars in low-light conditions. At a latest indoor occasion with tough lighting, it had no issues focusing with numerous mild sources in darkish rooms, and it managed to {photograph} small particulars within the artwork installations.

Like different smartphone cameras on this class, coloration accuracy appears to be a difficulty with the G Pure. Most photographs look advantageous, however there are a number of points, just like the pumpkins that look too pink with stems that look too blue to be lifelike. Likewise, the yellow door ought to look extra orange, and the blue door ought to look extra teal (with extra inexperienced) than blue.

My greatest gripe with the G Pure’s digicam is its slider interface for zooming. Unlike different digicam apps the place you possibly can faucet to pick probably the most optimum digital zoom presets, Moto’s zoom slider doesn’t robotically seem within the app. In addition, your hand will most likely block your display screen as you attempt to body your shot and navigate the slider bar on the identical time.

Grid View

Sample photographs from the Moto Pure G.

At $160 — or much less if you happen to catch a sale or service deal, as this telephone works on many 4G networks in America — it’s onerous to disclaim that the Moto G Pure might be ok for most individuals in search of a primary funds telephone for beneath $200. After all, it has an all-day battery, a flexible fundamental digicam, all in a well-designed, sturdy package deal.

It’s a disgrace it doesn’t have a quicker processor, extra RAM, or extra onboard storage, which might make it a transparent winner. I’d quite Motorola cost a barely increased worth just like the $190 TCL 20SE, which provides 128GB of inside storage, has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 460 processor, and is supported by 4GB of RAM. At least you wouldn’t must consistently fear about backing up the recordsdata out of your telephone.

But these points may not be deal-breakers for extra informal customers or these with a strict funds. Not many nice telephones can be found at this worth level, and the Moto G Pure is kind of the catch.

Photography by Gloria Sin / The Verge