DIGIT-ARC read-only archive · snapshot: July 23, 2026

24 hours with Moto G! (Initial impressions)

16 posts · originally from https://geek.digit.in/community/threads/24-hours-with-moto-g-initial-impressions.181265/

G
ghemanth90 Original post #1
Feb 8, 2014 at 10:34 AM
Thanks Flipkart and it's In-a-day guarantee!

In the tiny box!

*i.imgur.com/2NJpE3J.jpg

  • Charger - You get the actual charger unlike the international versions of Moto G, which comes with just USB cable. The bundled charger cannot be as an USB data cable.
  • Headphones - Motorola has bundled headphones for India and they suck. Bundled headphone looks identical to Philips In-Ear Headphones SHE1360, which costs 150 bucks.
  • Moto G - Supports Dual Sim
Build quality:

*i.imgur.com/xtphCmO.jpg

Great ergonomics. Rubberized plastic back gives it premium looks, and the Moto G fits comfortably in the palm, providing decent grip. Back cover isn't easy to remove but that's understandable because of its non-removable battery. The only physical buttons available are power and volume buttons, there's no dedicated camera button.

*i.imgur.com/rdplg88.jpg


Display:

720p display looks great. I'm pleased with its brightness levels (both high as well as low). Visibility under direct sunlight is average.

Software:

Moto G is probably the only mobile which is better than its GPE counterpart. Zero bloatware. Motorola has added few really useful apps..

Moto Migrate: This app helps you to transfer all your contents from your old mobile to your Motorola mobile. All you have to do is just download Moto migrate on your old mobile and follow on-screen instructions. Moto migrate copies Call logs, Text messages, Sound settings, Photos & music to your new mobile.

Camera app: App is leaps and bounds better than the Google's much criticized camera app.

Moto Assist: I haven't tested it yet, here's an excerpt from the play store link of Moto Assist "Motorola Assist recognizes when you shouldn’t be bothered, like when you’re sleeping or in a meeting. After hours, it only lets important calls through. It even knows when you’re driving and can automatically play music, announce calls and read out new text messages. You can set actions and exceptions so that they work exactly how you want them to."

Equalizer: Motorola has added an equalizer but it hardly offers any customizability, you can't adjust equalizer bars :-?. Options are very limited, but it's good to have one rather than none.
*i.imgur.com/O0hYTjb.png

Google Drive: 50 GB of free storage for 2 years. To avail this offer, Just open Google Drive app.. It'll prompt you to redeem 50GB offer.

Motorola Gallery app: Again Motorola's gallery app is better than what Google offers.

Note: Motorola has a good habit of frequently updating its apps via play store.

Music & Loud Speaker performance:

Google play music is the default music player here. Loudspeaker performance is pretty good. It is loud and slightly treble oriented. Music playback through headphones is decent but the equalizer was bit of a disappointment.

Camera:

Camera is a BIG let down. My old low-end Xperia mini 2011 model shoots considerably better images than Moto G in almost all lightning conditions, as well as using flash. HDR shots are slightly less crappier than the photos taken using default settings. Front camera takes still images at a HD resolution (1280 x 720).

Just like still image, the video quality is also not on par with other 5mp shooters. You can take pics while recording a video, the still image will have the HD resolution. Slow motion video is also available.

Performance:

Performance was snappy throughout and I have no doubts Moto G will cope up at least for next 18 months.
I did noticed slight hiccups at few places (Chrome was the culprit!) but performance was consistently good. Installed handful of applications and basic games. Switching between the apps was a breeze.

*i.imgur.com/lq0OlMj.png

As you see above, after installing dozens of apps the RAM usage shoots over 600MB leaving paltry 270MB of RAM to work with. Hopefully Kit Kat optimizes RAM usage.

Benchmarks:

Quadrant - 8863
*i.imgur.com/I14oY8h.png

Antutu - 17543
*i.imgur.com/8bzyNzN.png

Battery:

Too early to give verdict on battery life but standby time was pretty good. Moto G battery level dropped from 93 to 90 during 8 hours of sleep (Autosync - on).

Initial Impressions:
Great value for money, looks great and overall pleased with the Moto G's performance barring its awful camera.
true_lies
Feb 8, 2014 at 2:18 PM
Nicely done...

Does it lag when multi-tasking? like when listening to music, browsing, watching videos on youtube, whats-app...etc
snap
snap #3
Feb 8, 2014 at 3:25 PM
great and congrats on the purchase, post the results of playing some heavy graphical games :)
$hadow
$hadow #4
Feb 8, 2014 at 3:50 PM
Nicely done mate.
Still waiting for a through review. And congrats on your purchase.
ithehappy
Feb 9, 2014 at 7:45 AM
Nicely done...

Does it lag when multi-tasking? like when listening to music, browsing, watching videos on youtube, whats-app...etc
It has 1 GB RAM mate, so it will slightly lag if you wanna do those things simultaneously.
Hrishi
Hrishi #6
Feb 9, 2014 at 9:07 AM
The higher benchmark results , isn't that because of Android 4.4( optimizations) , rather than the hardware ??
It's on par with Nexus 4 , which has 4 Krait Cores and Adreno 320!

The camera was supposed to be poor. No doubts.

On a Side note : Can someone do a drop test and post the results ?? :mrgreen:
flyingcow
Feb 9, 2014 at 10:10 AM
nice hands on review :thumbs:
did you playany games?
SaiyanGoku
Feb 9, 2014 at 10:15 AM
Congrats for the purchase. They should've provided a good charger and USB cable instead of the earphones.
SaiyanGoku
Feb 9, 2014 at 10:18 AM
The higher benchmark results , isn't that because of Android 4.4( optimizations) , rather than the hardware ??
It's on par with Nexus 4 , which has 4 Krait Cores and Adreno 320
Moto G (4.4)>Nexus 4 (4.3) benchmarks wise
Nexus 4 (4.4)>>moto g (4.4)
Vyom
Vyom #10
Feb 9, 2014 at 11:31 AM
Its apparent that they included the headphones just so that they can meet the Indian laws. I can be ok with that.
But what makes me sad is that fact that even charger doesn't have removable USB cable. Not good, Moto. :(

I am having second thoughts now for buying it for my friend.

The *actual* cost of 16 GB Moto G should be around 15k, if bought a separate USB charger and a good headphone.
Hrishi
Hrishi #11
Feb 9, 2014 at 11:41 AM
Moto G (4.4)>Nexus 4 (4.3) benchmarks wise
Nexus 4 (4.4)>>moto g (4.4)

Thats what I said. Benchmark information can not be considered so accurate as most devices are on jellybean and not kitkat. Kk gives moto an advantage in bm .
sksundram
sksundram #12
Feb 9, 2014 at 1:18 PM
@vyom..is there such a law to include earphones?
Vyom
Vyom #13
Feb 9, 2014 at 1:44 PM
@vyom..is there such a law to include earphones?

Couldn't find a source. But read it somewhere on TDF itself. Oh well.
If it was not mandatory to include earphones then its worse that Moto included it.
sksundram
sksundram #14
Feb 9, 2014 at 2:22 PM
yeah, moto should not have included it and it's not mandatory.
G
Feb 9, 2014 at 8:45 PM
great and congrats on the purchase, post the results of playing some heavy graphical games :)

nice hands on review :thumbs:
did you playany games?

Played Dead Trigger 2, Riptide GP 2 & Temple run 2 all ran flawlessly without dropping frames. Haven't tried graphic heavy games yet... Have seen few youtube videos of Moto G handling GTA San Andreas at playable frame rates..

Nicely done...

Does it lag when multi-tasking? like when listening to music, browsing, watching videos on youtube, whats-app...etc

Multitasking & switching between apps was pretty good.. Hardly any noticeable lag.. But Chrome stutters though..
RohanM
RohanM #16
Feb 9, 2014 at 10:06 PM
Its apparent that they included the headphones just so that they can meet the Indian laws. I can be ok with that.
But what makes me sad is that fact that even charger doesn't have removable USB cable. Not good, Moto. :(

I am having second thoughts now for buying it for my friend.

The *actual* cost of 16 GB Moto G should be around 15k, if bought a separate USB charger and a good headphone.

Law... Which law ..?? I did not received any headphones with my Nexus 4.... :eek::eek: