Moto G review

[jimbouk]

As noted in another thread, I bought a Moto G! So here's a quick review for those wondering about the phone themselves. Other reviews and questions welcome

Hardware:
No not just the specs, but the phone itself! It's not much to look at, understated would be an understatement. Unadorned with markings other than the Motorola 'M' on the rear, this is very much a rounded of rectangle. On the front the speaker grill on the top looks nice, breaking up the black slab. The front facing camera next to it spoils the otherwise clean looks, with the LED and other sensors on the top being barely visible. On the right side you get power and volume rocker, but no camera button which I would consider an oversight. Top is a headphone jack and on the bottom, rather foolishly in my opinion, the micro-usb slot. Trying to use your phone whilst charging, that'll be a pain then. Rear has the jumbo looking camera hole, no idea why it's so big considering it's a fairly standard 5MP affair. Single LED flash, speaker grill and the 'M'. As noted, nothing about the phone really stands out. Personally I napped my girlfriends white rear case so we can tell them apart, available in a range of colours (and cover styles) I think these will save it from being a very dull phone.

It is worth noting that the glass covering the screen is set slightly back from the frame. This is great to stop it getting scratched when being placed face down, however isn't a great fit so gathers dust in the tiny gaps around it. Again, poor design.

Will it win awards for being the slimmest phone in the world? No. Is it uncomfortably large? No. For the size of screen it's slim enough, fitting well in your hand. The battery is also very good (for a smartphone), no need to hunt for a charger before the end of the day.

Software
Mostly standard Android which is nice. What isn't nice is not being able to use this phone without accepting Motorola (now Google) spying on you. You may well ask why anyone would buy an Android phone who cares about privacy? Well you can use one without attaching a Google ID and agreeing to the Google Play (and associated) T&Cs. You can opt out of the worst of the data grabbing, but not all of it. Shame on you Motorola/Google, shame on you. Without rooting you can disable a large chunk of the Motorola spyware, but not all.

Apps on the phone are all nippy, even switching between them. GPS locks on quick, wifi connects without trouble. I haven't used it extensively but, for example, Ingress is very quick and responsive, and looks lovely on the large bright screen.

Storage will be discussed as it's no user expandable, here are my thoughts. You get 5.5GB of user storage on the 8GB model after all the built in bits. I'm not a 'mega user' with 100s of apps, but do have about 1GB off offline maps and a few apps leaving 3.5GB for 'other content' such as music or videos. That's about 21 hours of my mp3s so is fine for me. Enough for you?

Conclusion
Should you buy this phone? If you're only got around £100 to spend on a new phone and any of the following doesn't put you off then yes:

• Motorola non-optional spyware
• Poor hardware design, screen inset badly
• Limited storage

For the money it's a damn fine phone, nothing else touches it.

Link: Thread that tipped me over the edge to buy one. Includes discount codes and unlock links.

[garreh]

Great review. If only I could get my hands on one from Tesco. They have been out of stock for a while for the 16 GB locked to Tesco Mobile @ £129. It works out very, very cheap if you add in the Tesco Direct 'first time shop' voucher for -£10 and get an unlock code from eBay for £2 and for this price it's a cracking phone.