Moto G 2nd Generation review – not as exciting as the 1st Gen

Motorola recently launched the new Moto G in India, they call it the 2^nd Gen (generation) Moto G. It is using the same hardware that was used on the 1^st generation Moto G and the price is cheaper than the 16GB Moto G (1^st Gen). The new Moto G is priced at Rs. 12,999.

Box Pack
Inside you will find the handset, user guide in Hindi and English languages, warranty booklet, travel charger with micro USB point and standard Motorola earphone. SAR Value: 1.5W/kg (head) and 0.89W/kg (body).

Design and Display
The 2^nd Gen Moto G is upgraded version of the Moto G 1^st Gen handset, it is slightly bigger with a little extra weight (148 grams with built in battery). Dimensions are 70.64mm x 140.50mm x 10.69mm.

Build quality and finishing is very good. The handset is curvy, slimmer on the edges and thicker in the center. Because of the curvy design the handset is comfortable to hold. Moreover the rear panel is with matte finish with rubber like material, that gives a very good grip.

There are dual speakers on the front with stereo output and dual mics for noise cancellation. Power button and volume rockers are on the right, micro USB at the bottom and 3.5mm audio jack on the top.

It is a dual SIM handset with dual standby mode. Both the SIM slots are micro SIM and you can use 3G on any of these SIM slot. There is micro SD card slot too.

This Moto G comes with a bigger screen of 5 inches, its LCD IPS with corning gorilla glass 3 protection. The supported resolution is 1280 x 720 pixels. There are no dedicated hardware buttons and hence some area on the display will be used for on-screen navigation buttons. Touch is very smooth, viewing angels are very good and so is the colour reproduction. There is LED notification (single colour – white). There are accelerometer, proximity, light, Gyro and magnetic sensors.

Memory and Storage
This handset comes with 1GB RAM, 16GB storage and 32GB external card support. On the first boot free RAM is 407 MB and of the 16GB storage free space for apps is 12GB. OTG is supported I could connect a micro USB pen drive and it worked. There is no file manager app, but you can download one from Google Play.

App / Games however installed on the internal storage, but there is option to move them to external. I tried moving Asphalt 8 and MC4 but only a small part moved. The main data files were still on the internal storage. So not all of the apps can be moved – if you are downloading big games they will be on the internal storage.

Performance, OS and Benchmark
The Moto G 2^nd Gen is powered by ARM cortex A7 1.19 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad core processor coupled with Adreno 305 GPU. The chipset is MSM8226 same as seen on the Moto G 1^st Gen. Performance is very smooth and lag free.

The handset runs KitKat 4.4.4 out of the box.

Benchmark scores

Camera
The rear camera has been upgraded it is 8MP in 4:3 and 6MP in 16:9 aspect mode. There is LED flash on the rear. Front camera is 2MP. The camera quality has definitely improved when compared with the 1^st Gen Moto G. Video quality is also very good, but once the video recording is on you cannot focus close up objects. You can click images when the video is being recorded.

The rear camera can shoot 720p videos at 30fps and even Slow motion video in 720p resolution @ 24fps. Front camera can also shoot 720p videos at 30fps. Do check the sample images / videos at the end of this review.

Gaming and Entertainment
I installed Asphalt 8 and Modern Combat 4 (MC4) both the games played well. You can play Full HD videos.

Others
Sound (speaker / in-call) is loud, clear. It is a dual SIM handset and 3G worked on both the SIM’s. No issues with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. The first GPS lock was almost instant.

Battery
This handset also comes with the same 2070 mAh battery (built-in) as used on the 1st Gen Moto G. Battery performance is pretty good.

Verdict
The 2^nd Gen Moto G is the same as the Moto G 1^st Gen but with some few changes. The 1^st Gen Moto G came with 8GB and 16GB internal storage options but the 2^nd Gen is with 16GB option. Here are the extra features that have been added / upgraded on the Moto G 2^nd Gen handset – 5 inch screen with HD resolution, micro SD card support, 8MP rear AF camera and addition of Gyro sensor.

Should you buy this handset?
Yes and No.

Yes – if you trust the Motorola brand, want frequent software updates and looking for a tough build quality, decent camera, excellent performance and very good battery life. Do note – You can even get Octa Core in this price range.

Definitely Not – If you have used the Moto G handset before. It is the same stuff with some better / upgraded features as already mentioned above, not worth spending money ‘again’ on this 2^nd Gen Moto G.

The first Moto G did well because there was no competition around, but now there is.

The Moto G 2nd Gen is available for Rs. 12,999.

Moto G 2nd Gen Image Gallery