Moto G5

Moto G5 brings in a lot of upgrades from Moto G4, kicking things up a notch in terms of performance and looks. Priced at low-range Rs. 6,399, it is a handset that stands out because of looks but doesn’t back down concerning the power it packs.

Though Moto G5 has some small issues like the warming up of the phone during intensive tasks, it still manages brilliantly and gives a fair fight to its competitors. Moto G5 comes with a tagline ‘Premium for all’, and it acts every way like that – premium.

Moto G5 has a distinct look which stands out against its competitors. Lenovo claims that it is made with Aluminium 6000. The rear panel looks like hardened plastic with a metallic colour that gives it a premium look. It fits well in hand, and its chrome lining in the front looks appealing. Flipping it over, you can see the camera in a flush, unlike the G5 Plus’ protruding one. It is heavier at 145g than Redmi 3S Prime. It is a bit thick at 9.5mm, but the rounded edges make it handy. A liquid-repellent nano-coating make it splash resistant. However, the front of the phone can attract a lot of fingerprint smudges. It has a removable battery, a design which is slowly becoming obsolete and is not present in G5 Plus.

Moto G5 has a 5-inch IPS LCD with a resolution of 1080×1920 pixels and pixel density of 441ppi. It can give you a cinematic experience while watching movies, but a bigger screen is always desirable. The IPS LCD is crisp and can manage to get accurate colours on the screen. It has adequate sunlight legibility, and viewing angles do not bring out other tones. Images and text both appear sharp. There are two modes – Standard and Vibrant (Default) You can change to Standard to get less saturation.

Moto G5 has an octa-core Snapdragon 430 processor which is clocked at 1.4GHz. It handles multitasking with ease and can also give you a good gaming experience when you run medium graphics game on it. However, heavy games may lag a bit because the Adreno 505 GPU is not capable enough to tackle heavy games. App launching is quick, and the set is sensitive to touch. The fingerprint scanner is snappy as well. However, there is a problem with warming up. A 20-minute gameplay of graphics-heavy games like Asphalt 8 can get the back panel very warm. Benchmark scores put Moto G5 at 44,062 while GPU benchmarks put it at 5,633. The Lenovo K6 Power which has the same processor gave similar scores. Moto G5 is almost equivalent in performance with its rivals.

Moto G5 is fitted with a 13-megapixel rear camera with an f/2.0 aperture, coming with phase detection autofocus (PDAF) and an LED flash. It can go up to 8X digital zoom for photos. The primary camera is a snappy shooter and can focus very fast. Good lighting can produce impressive shots capturing plenty of details. It also had minimal noise and little distortion.

Even in low-light situations, the camera worked well, adjusting on the basis of the light contrasts.

Improving the dynamic range can be achieved by turning on the HDR mode, but it might be difficult for moving pictures. The 5MP selfie camera captured a couple of decent selfies which was social-media worthy. Video recording can go up to 1080p, and the quality is quite decent.

Moto G5 comes with a removable 2800mAh battery. Real-time use of the battery found it a bit disappointing. It could last only for about 13-15 hours after heavy use. Light to moderate use can last it for a day. An HD video loop battery test saw it chug on to an average of 10 hours and 15 minutes. Fortunately, it supports fast charging and can get the phone from 0% to 50% in 30 minutes – an edge over what its flagship rivals offer.

Moto G5 will not disappoint you. It has a great performance, decent camera and it comes in good style. However, the heating becomes a substantial issue, and the battery is not up to the mark. The fast charging tech that it comes with is the only saving grace. If you don’t want to put your handset to demanding tasks, then this phone will work great for you. Moto G5 is for those looking for budget flagships and trusts Moto as a brand.