Its been exactly a month today, when I got my hands on my mew Moto G, delivered by Flipkart in just 22 hours after booking it. Its my first android phone, so I decided to share my experience of using it for over a month.
I was looking for a budget smartphone in range of 10-12k because I broke my Nokia Lumia device which I really loved. So I badly wanted a phone to fulfill my needs like Google search, Navigation and for social networking. Since my budget was too low for a good (or you can say fancy) smartphone, my choice was restricted. There are hell lots of good and high configuration phones in this price segment in market from makers like Micromax, Karbonn and many more. But I personally think it’s better to use a Nokia feature phone (yes I am a Nokia fan!) rather than spending money on these phones. After reading reviews and the specifications, I decided to get a 16GB Moto G, and booked it on the launch day itself from Flipkart for 13,990 rupees.
I got the phone the next day and the first impression of the phone as soon as I opened the box was like WOW! It’s a pretty cool phone, feels really comfortable in hands, with a perfect screen size and shape. The thing which impressed me is its display. I think it is the best screen size for regular phone. More than 4.5” screen size is somewhat difficult to handle with single hand. It is bright enough to use the phone in direct sunlight. The picture quality of the screen is crisp and vivid.
So, after setting it up, I quickly installed few of my favorite apps and games. All the apps worked great without any hassle. Main speaker is loud and clear. The 5 megapixel camera on the back is OK. The image quality is not so good but it’s acceptable considering price of the phone. Front facing camera works well during video call on Skype. Many games which require good graphics memory ran very smoothly, which failed to deliver the same performance on my roommate’s Samsung Galaxy Note N-7000!
Time for the good news! After a week, as promised by Motorola, I got android software update to its latest version KitKat (4.4.2) and a hell lot of application updates! Thanks to my college WiFi, I downloaded everything in no time ;). With the update, I got many new features as listed here.
Things I loved about the phone:
• Moto G does not feel like a cheap phone in hand. It is made of though plastic and the touch screen is very smooth and responsive.
• I really like its big bright display. It feels great to watch HD videos and surf the web.
• Google Now is really helpful while travelling. It comes pre-installed and learns the things we usually search like news of personal interests, local weather and directions to most visited places with traffic details!
• Google Maps works great with GPS on. It shows accurate results of places with traffic details.
• Amazing battery life! Lasts up to 24 hours after casual use, which typically includes approximately 1 hour call, internet for 8-10 hours, (WiFi + 2G & 3G), 20 – 30 minutes music playback.
Things that should be fixed:
• The major problem I found was with the charger which is included in the box. It is very low powered for a phone with such a big battery. It literally takes around 4 and half hours to charge the battery from 10% to 100%. So I bought Nokia AC-50 micro USB charger, which is fast enough to charge it fully in about half time.
• Although Google map is the best map service in the world, I miss the turn by turn voice navigation which was in my old Nokia. Nokia still beats Google Maps in terms of voice guided navigation.
• When both (2) sim cards are active (especially on BSNL 3G), the phone heats up and battery drains VERY quickly. I mean it dies in just 12 hours. With single sim on, it works fine. So, porting out to Vodafone soon 🙂
Final Words:
Motorola launched their product in Indian market after a long time. With the phone, they have also reopened many closed service centers for after sales service. So, people who were afraid that Moto G will not be repaired officially in the service centers, cheers!
I am extremely happy with what I’ve got after spending 14k on a ‘cheap’ smartphone. It fulfills all my needs in a day to days’ activities. So, people who are planning to get a descent android smartphone in this price segment, go for Moto G. You won’t be disappointed. As always, comments are welcomed 🙂
Hi there, awesome review u have there, basically the same as what I’m experiencing when I bought it in Malaysia on the launching day itself on January 21st for dual-Sim model and now gonna be almost 2 months I having this budget phone so I would like to share my reviews too:
Pros:
– Cheap price tag (bought mine for RM730 only)
– Sharp display (compared same like my bro’s iPhone 5S)
– Long battery life (can last me for 6 hours on 3G constantly without Wifi)
– Customizable back cover (I already have 4 different colours- blue,yellow,white,black but still planning to get the other 3 colours)
– Nice handling (the rubberised-matte back part very easy to hold)
– Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, upgradable to Android 4.4 KitKat (i upgraded mine last month and performance top-notch although I must admit that Jelly Bean was more ‘battery-saver’)
– Good enough quad-core processor (I’m quite a hardcore gamer and this phone can play Asphalt 8 easily with medium graphics settings and other high-end games (kinda makes me to show off to my friends, hehe)
Cons:
– Unimpressive camera quality (unless u turn on HDR but zooming vise it gets blurred) but its acceptable for the cheap price tag
– Limited internal storage (8 GB version on 5.52 GB user available)(12 GB version on 12.92 GB user available)- but for me is 16gb is more than enuf to store mostly my games 😛
Overall: If you are planning to get a mid-range phone that serves you like high-end phones but you don’t mind compromising some features such as camera and storage, then Moto G is the phone for u!!! – from a 100% satisfied customer 😉