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This is an archive article published on April 4, 2017

Moto G5 first impressions: The new budget king?

I have had a chance to take a closer look at the device at the launch event earlier in the day. Here's my first impressions of Moto G5.

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Motorola has always impressed with its Moto G series, offering comfortable design and great hardware at an affordable price. This year the company wants to deliver the same level of experience, without any compromise.   Moto 5 has been arrived today in India, and it seems to have improved over its predecessor, the G4.

Moto G5’s metal body casing is surely a step up from the plastic build of the G4. Yes, the new aesthetic is pleasing and soothing to eyes. The phone has a matte finish and will be available in “lunar grey” and “fine gold”. Well, it’s not the most premium looking smartphone I’ve held, but it’s a nice addition to a sub Rs 12,000 smartphone.

Also read: Moto G5 launched in India: Key specifications, price and features

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Let’s talk about the display. Unlike last year’s Moto G4, the G5 has a smaller 5-inch Full HD (1080p) display. The display is not great by any means, but I found it to be bright and sharp enough.  Inside a metal case is a 2800mAh battery (it’s actually removable), which Moto claims will last a full day on a single charge. Plus, the supplied 10w rapid charger will give hours of usage in just a few minutes.

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Under the hood is a Snapdragon 430 processor and 3GB RAM, which felt zippy in my little hands-on time. Yes, Motorola has added a fingerprint scanner to the Moto G5, which will make unlocking the device easy. This finger scanner is on the front, and thankfully Motorola has done away with the square shaped button from last year.

On the camera front, Moto G5 gets an upgraded 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with improved software. The phone also includes phase detection autofocus (PDAF) which allows for faster and better autofocusing. I was quite impressed with my initial play around the device, but its performance in low light will tell the true story. On the front, there’s a 5-megapixel  front-facing shooter for taking selfies.

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But perhaps my favourite part of Moto G5 is the software. The phone runs Android Nougat out-of-the-box – and everything is clean and user friendly. The app drawer slides up from the home row of icons, just like it does on Google Pixel. There are a few minor customisations like Moto Display and Moto Actions.

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Overall, this is not a device that geeks will appreciate, if you are going just by specifications sheet. I have many geeky friends, but they will not be impressed by this. In fact, I’d say if you already own the Moto E or Moto G4 Play, Moto G5 can be considered a replacement. But for Moto G4 Plus this is not an upgrade.

Moto G5 is priced at Rs 11,999 and will be available exclusively on Amazon.

Anuj Bhatia is a personal technology writer at indianexpress.com who has been covering smartphones, personal computers, gaming, apps, and lifestyle tech actively since 2011. He specialises in writing longer-form feature articles and explainers on trending tech topics. His unique interests encompass delving into vintage tech, retro gaming and composing in-depth narratives on the intersection of history, technology, and popular culture. He covers major international tech conferences and product launches from the world's biggest and most valuable tech brands including Apple, Google and others. At the same time, he also extensively covers indie, home-grown tech startups. Prior to joining The Indian Express in late 2016, he served as a senior tech writer at My Mobile magazine and previously held roles as a reviewer and tech writer at Gizbot. Anuj holds a postgraduate degree from Banaras Hindu University. You can find Anuj on Linkedin. Email: anuj.bhatia@indianexpress.com ... Read More

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