Motorola has announced its latest budget smartphone, the Moto G Power 5G. It’s a variation of the standard Moto G Power from last year, which we’ve named one of the best budget phones you can buy. The new version primarily focuses on lengthy battery life (hence the name), but it also throws in a few new features to make the experience even better, all for under $300.
Let’s dive in and check out what’s new.
Motorola G Power 5G pricing and preorders
The latest Moto G Power 5G promises long battery life and a flagship-quality screen for $300.
Motorola is launching the G Power 5G on April 13 at Best Buy, Amazon and its own website as an unlocked smartphone for $300. In the coming months, it’ll launch on carriers such as Metro by T-Mobile, Spectrum Mobile and Xfinity Mobile. The company notes that pricing could vary when it’s sold through carriers, so be aware of that.
A better screen, a faster chip and 5G
Motorola is keeping a familiar design on the G Power 5G, with a slightly tweaked rear camera layout and a new Pearl White color in addition to Mineral Black. The fingerprint scanner is still on the side, stereo speakers flank the top and bottom and even the headphone jack is sticking around. It’s in the specs of the device that you’ll find the most differences, and they all add up to what could be a really compelling device.
The 6.5-inch display from the older G Power is being upgraded with a sharper Full HD+ (2400 x 1080) resolution, compared to the previous 1600 x 720 resolution. It’s also getting a faster 120Hz refresh rate, which will help everything you do on the device feel smoother and more responsive than before. There’s still a tiny cutout at the top for the selfie camera, and the bezels are about the same size.
Inside, Motorola includes a MediaTek Dimensity 930 processor, which should provide a notable increase in performance compared to the Helio G37 in the older phone. It’s paired with 4GB or 6GB of RAM, depending on whether you get 128GB or 256GB of storage. And if you need more space than that, Motorola includes a microSD card slot that supports cards up to 1TB in size.
Of course, the G Power 5G can connect to 5G networks, thanks to the new Dimensity 930 processor. Granted, it’s limited to sub-6GHz connections, which, while more widely available, aren’t as fast as mmWave 5G. Still, it’s nice to see the feature brought down to cheaper devices like this.
Similar cameras, software and battery life
The cameras on the new G Power 5G are mostly the same as before. There’s a primary 50-megapixel (MP) f/1.8 sensor on the back paired with a 2MP depth sensor and a 2MP macro sensor. The selfie camera has been upgraded to a 16MP shooter (twice the megapixels as before) and you get all of Motorola’s software features like Night Vision, AR Stickers, Pro Mode and Google Lens integration.
Speaking of software, the phone runs Android 13 and is scheduled to receive at least one major version upgrade. It comes with Motorola’s usual proprietary features like Peek Display, Quick Capture and three-finger screenshots. It also ships with the new Moto Secure App that uses ThinkShield technology to protect your data within apps. There’s also a secure folder feature where you can keep sensitive files and protect them behind a PIN.
Like the regular G Power, the G Power 5G ships with a 5,000mAh battery, which should last for a long time on a charge. Motorola says you can get up to 38 hours of usage from the phone, which is good for at least two to three days without plugging in. Obviously, we’ll need to test this to see if there’s any merit to Moto’s calculations, but it at least seems promising.
When it comes to charging back up, you get 15W wired charging, which, admittedly, isn’t very fast by today’s standards but good enough for a budget phone. Unfortunately, there’s still no wireless charging.
The takeaway
At $300, the Motorola G Power 5G looks to be one of the best budget offerings of the year, but it all depends on how the market evolves over the next few months. Midrange and budget phones have never been more competitive than they are today, and with other companies like Samsung and Google gearing up to introduce more budget offerings in the near future, the G Power 5G will need to do its best to stand out. At least on paper, I think it’s capable of that, but we’ll need to get our hands on it to truly find out.
