When the amount is more terms: review of smartphone Moto G5

When Lenovo bought Google’s long-suffering, but at the same time producing great smartphones Motorola Mobility, many fans of the brand, the question arose: will it turn a legendary brand in another Chinese manufacturer? Moto G4 seems to be successfully answered “no”, but he clearly was developed during the Google. Today we are dealing with a Moto G5, which is quite different from last year’s model and has just done under the leadership of Lenovo. But it is not lost if the fifth generation Moto G is a great balance of characteristics and rates predecessors?

What is it?

Moto G5 – smartphone midrange with FullHD-screen diagonal of 5 inches and 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor 430 c 1.4 GHz. There are two versions of the device that differ by amount of RAM and internal memory – the first one is 2 and 16 GB respectively, and the second 3 and 32 gigabytes. While the internal memory can be expanded using a microSD card, which when installed is one of the two slots for nanoSIM. The resolution of the front camera is 5 megapixels and the main – 13 mega pixels. G5 also supports fast charging, which can extend the working time of the smartphone for a few hours in just 15 minutes at the outlet.

What’s in the box?

No pleasant surprises, the standard for 2017. Inside a white cardboard box is a small manual, warranty card, USB cable-microUSB and charging. It is worth noting that the accessories are clearly not saved – as with the cable and charger are made from excellent Matt white plastic. The size of the power supply is very large, but this is not surprising because it consumes significant for smartphones 10 watts. Thanks to this Moto G5 is charging from 0 to 100 percent a little less than an hour.

How Moto G5?

There is nothing extraordinary in the design of the smartphone there. G5 looks simple, even utilitarian, as last year’s G4. The main difference between the front panel compared to the predecessor is a much more accurate fingerprint scanner, which can now operate as a touch screen navigation button. The rest are all very similar – above the screen is front camera, various sensors and the only speaker along with the microphone. The display itself is a little old-fashioned recessed into the body a couple of millimeters, thanks to the G5, you can safely put face down on the not very smooth surface.

A 3.5 mm audiojack now is not in the center of the top face and to the left. Because of this, headphones are inserted at a slight angle, which could theoretically cause inconvenience during izvlechenie smartphone from a small pocket. The bottom is a standard microUSB connector and a small hole to remove the back cover.

The left side is empty, and on the right is the volume rocker and the power button/unlock . Pleasant thing is that the latter is slightly corrugated due to this, the functional elements cannot be confused even by touch.

The rear panel is almost completely covers the aluminum insert with nicely engraved company logo. The use of metal in construction adds Moto G5 uvesistost and improves the tactile feel when using the smartphone. On top of the lid is a large round hole for camera and flash, which are behind a protective glass. It looks good, but in practice, when a phone call there almost always lies with your index finger. So the camera have to wipe very often, and over time, the glass is almost guaranteed to scratch, which can lead to deterioration in the quality of the images.

If it’s really hard to try and overcome incredibly tight clips, then the rear cover can be removed. Then you can access the battery, two slots for nanoSIM. In one of them you can also install a microSD memory card.

Overall, Moto G5 is not felt in the hands as not particularly expensive smartphone – the materials and the quality of his workmanship is very good. The ergonomics of the device is remarkable not only due to the small size of the phone, but the successful design of key controls. The only real drawback is a too large area, reserved for the camera. Although the protective glass there is the same as on the screen, a quick scratching is inevitable.

How good is the screen?

Stars in the sky it is not enough, but this 5-inch display with Full HD resolution and is not required. The picture is good and crisp, and the colors close to natural not too rich. Unfortunately, under the bright spring sun, the image still fades, but using a smartphone is quite possible. The maximum brightness is 450 CD/m^2 contrast ratio equal to 1:787. This is a good, but not perfect indicators. We should say about oleophobic coating – it is gorgeous, the fingerprints are almost not stay on the glass.

Very interested in the G5 works the brightness sensor. It is not just changing its level, but also takes into account user preferences and tries to change the screen backlight to the specified limits. There is also the possibility to change the profile display colors. There are “normal” and “bright” modes, but the difference between them in real life is minimal.

How the camera takes?

Unfortunately, a 13-megapixel module with an aperture of f/2.0 gives good shots in the daytime or under bright lighting. Even in the twilight of the autofocus and excessive noise reduction – image become very blurry. Unexpectedly good Moto G5 showed itself when shooting subjects at close range, but even in this case, you need a large amount of light.

Video is recorded in 1080p at 30 frames per second. The situation is the same as with photos. In the afternoon you can get a very good picture quality, night or in low light situation significantly worsens. Moreover, even when recording very quiet jazz concert there was a significant sound interference. Suddenly there is the slow motion mode, but the resolution when it is reduced to the ridiculous 578 points vertically.

Sample video day:

Sample video during the concert:

Sample slow motion videos:

The front camera has a small to date, the resolution of 5 megapixels. Selfie work fit only for the screens of mobile devices, at full resolution they look bad. There is also a function of elimination of defects of the skin, but sometimes it works too intensively, and creates the effect of bad Photoshop.

How fast and long does it work?

430 Snapdragon processor and 2 gigabytes of RAM on Board Moto G5 does not make the smartphone the champion of the benchmarks. In Antutu device is gaining a relatively small 44736 points. But in real life it is not so important, the interface and applications work smoothly and without noticeable delay. With games the situation is completely different – comfortable gameplay possible only in the most basic titles, Need For Speed: No Limits and Modern Combat 5 are getting a little slow down, and the back cover heats up.

But not the fastest processor small by today’s standards the screen is a huge plus: they don’t consume a lot of energy. Together with a sufficiently large battery volume 2800mAh Moto G5 quietly working for 1.5 days with full use as a smartphone. And if you limit yourself to social networks and surfing the Internet, it is possible to achieve a two-day autonomy.

Are there any features in the firmware?

Almost there. In the best traditions of Moto here is almost pure Android 7.0 Nougat. The only obvious change is the lack of call buttons General list of apps on the home screen. To access the programs you need to swipe up on the screen of the smartphone. Pre-installed manufacturer applications rather complement the operating system and not replace something in Android. Very beautiful combo widget that displays the time, weather and battery level. Clicking on the widget opens a simple but informative app with weather forecast for the days ahead. Unexpectedly useful was the “reference device”. It contains not only detailed instructions for Moto G5, but also the opportunity to watch the CPU load with the available memory.

But the most important addition in the phone’s firmware is a separate app Moto. It allows you to customize the display of notifications on the lock screen and the gestures that facilitate the use of the device. For example, a double vertical stroke of the smartphone can turn on or off the flashlight, and two sharp turnover hand launch the camera while locked smartphone or switch the camera during shooting. You can also use the fingerprint sensor as navigation button. This will disable the onscreen buttons and will save space on the screen, but to get used to this method of control is very hard.

The bottom line

At first glance, the Moto G5 does not seem something special. Not the fastest processor, brightest screen and the thinnest body, not so much RAM. But in actual use you begin to see the obvious advantages that cannot be seen in the table with features: excellent ergonomics and materials, quick charging and a chic autonomy, not crammed with unnecessary Android with useful additions. The only apparent drawback of the smartphone is the camera that refuses to give a good picture. It is therefore unfortunate that the total pleasant impression of the smartphone spoils the price tag that violate the perfect balance of price/quality, specified predecessors. For 6000 hryvnia you can buy various Xiaomi or Meizu, which will greatly surpass the G5 in performance, although will be much worse in terms of user experience. But lately, when choosing a smartphone for the past almost do not pay attention in the pursuit of gigabytes and gigahertz.So now Moto G5 will be, by and large, interesting only for fans of the brand and the people who don’t want to buy a device with a Chinese name. Only by reducing the price it will turn into a great offer the medium price range.

4 reasons to buy Moto G5

• you need a smartphone Moto
• excellent materials and workmanship
• almost two days of autonomy and the possibility of fast charging
• pure Android with useful functional additions

2 reasons not to buy Moto G5

• too high a price in the sales
• weak camera

For those who want to know more: