Motorola's latest phones look surprisingly good

Motorola's recent low-end phones have been relegated to the background due to flawed design, pointless additional cameras, and insufficient feature set. But now there seems to be hope on the horizon: the Moto G Power 5G and Moto G 5G 2024 look pretty good – at least on paper.

Both phones finally offer NFC (why it wasn't there from the start is a mystery) and have attractive vegan leather backs. They even include a microSD card slot and a built-in headphone jack, handy features that most phone manufacturers abandoned years ago. The G Power 5G also includes wireless charging for the first time – a very rare feature in any budget phone. The price of both models starts at 199 $ (calculated 182 euros) for Moto G 5G and 299 $ (calculated 274 euros) for Moto G Power 5G.

The more expensive Moto G Power has a 6.7-inch 1080p LCD with a 120Hz refresh rate – you'd probably prefer an OLED display with higher contrast and a lower refresh rate, but for just under £300 the $ is what you can get. The phone uses a mid-range MediaTek Dimensity 7020 chipset with 8GB of RAM, and there are only two cameras on the back: a 50-megapixel main with optical stabilization and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide with autofocus that also doubles as a macro camera. Also, there are no low-resolution depth sensors or macro cameras, and kudos to Motorola for that.

The G Power supports wired charging at up to 30W, but you'll need to purchase a charger separately for those speeds. Wireless charging up to 15 W is supported. The device has a huge 5000 mAh battery, and the cheaper Moto G 5G also has the same.

The cheaper Moto G 5G is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 with 4GB of RAM and includes a 6.6-inch 720p LCD, also with a 120Hz refresh rate. There's a 50MP main camera (and a 2MP macro camera, which Motorola is still keeping), and wired charging maxes out at 18W. Like the G Power, this model is only "waterproof" and isn't certified for full dust resistance or immersion in water - unfortunately, but expected for the budget class we are in.

As it turns out, big changes are expected in the field of Motorola mobile devices, but as always, a lot depends on the implementation itself. In fact, we won't have to wait long to find out what both phones have in store: the Moto G Power will be available from March 22nd, and the unlocked version on March 29th. The Moto G 5G will be available in the US starting March 21, with other carriers to follow. The unlocked version will have to wait a little longer: it arrives on May 2.