Moto G5 deals and reviews

23 Critic Reviews Take your number with you with a simple text. Release Date (UK): March 2017

Moto G5

The fifth generation handset in Motorola's best-selling G range continues to be excellent value for money while looking like it could have cost a lot more. The Moto G5 has a sleek aluminium finish - a definite upgrade from its predecessor, the G4. It's got a vivid, crisp display and performs well on all the basics, making it a real winner for anyone on a budget.

Reviewers liked

The brushed metal finish, which comes in lunar grey or fine gold
The fast battery charger which gives hours of charge in minutes
'Moto Experiences', particularly turning the camera on with the flick of a wrist

Reviewers disliked

The fact the phone has a lower-end processor than the G4
Particularly poor speaker, so not great for playing music without headphones
No NFC so can't use Android Pay

The Moto G5: in more detail

The G5 definitely looks and feels like an upgrade compared to previous models in the series, which had a plasticky feel and looked like the budget phones they were. At first glance this seems very much like a high-spec phone - and in most ways, it is. The fingerprint scanner is a welcome addition and the fact the phone uses the Android Nougat operating system means it's quick and easy to navigate. With a bright, sharp display and a decent camera, this is a phone that punches well above its price tag - as reflected by the fact that it was consistently rated one of the year’s best budget smartphones throughout 2017.

Design

The G5 is much better-looking than its predecessor, with a sleek brushed aluminium rear panel and an all-glass front.

Despite its premium design there are a few giveaways that this is a budget phone, like the chunky bezels around the screen and the plastic edges, but overall the G5 looks and feels much classier than its price tag would suggest.

Display

The 5-inch Full HD display is smaller than the G4's but is the ideal size for most activities including reading, watching TV and gaming. It has a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels and a density of 441 pixels per inch, giving vibrant colours, sharp detail and good viewing angles.

It has two different colour modes, standard and vibrant, with the latter producing brighter, punchier colours. Trusted Reviews found that on vibrant mode it ‘doesn't look too far off a phone twice the price or more’. However, Expert Reviews thought it was marginally inferior to the G4's display, with ‘slightly duller, less vibrant’ colours.

Performance and storage

Under the hood, little progress has been made since the G4. The G5 is powered by the Snapdragon 430 chipset, which is a lower-grade processor than the G4's. However, the phone still performs well and can smoothly handle everyday tasks such as texting or browsing the web, but can occasionally feel a little laggy when opening and closing down apps.

The G5 comes with just 16GB of storage, but luckily has the ability to hold up to 128GB with a microSD support card. Buyers can also choose between 2GB or 3GB of RAM - we'd suggest paying a little more for the upgrade, as it's worth it for the extra speed and slicker experience it will give you.

Camera

The G5's camera has largely the same specs as the G4's, with a 13MP sensor and an f/2 aperture. This time around, however, Motorola has added phase-detection autofocus, which allows the camera to focus more quickly. On paper, these specs look impressive for such a cheap phone.

In practice, it's generally good. TechRadar called it ‘decent, but unremarkable’, Trusted Reviews said it was ‘generally nice-to-use’ whilst Expert Reviews called it ‘an accomplished snapper’. Most reviewers found that in good lighting conditions it took excellent shots, but in lower light it was less successful.

Its 5MP front camera has a wide angle lens to make for better selfies, and includes a 'beautification' mode to edit images so you don't have to rely on apps. Other features include the ability to take a photo by tapping anywhere on the screen rather than just one button, making it easier to take selfies, as well as panorama and slow motion video.

Battery

It's fair to say the G5's battery is decidedly average. Trusted Reviews found it lasted around a day with normal use, but ran down before night-time with heavier use. However, the inclusion of a fast-charging plug does help if you need to charge quickly - TechRadar found it gave an extra 30% in 20 minutes.

One advantage of the G5's battery is that it can be removed, which isn't often the case with devices these days. This means that should the battery start to fail, as seems to occur every few years, then you can easily replace it without having to buy a whole new phone.

What the critics say (scores are out of 100)


100	S21 The Motorola G5 Plus is one of the best mid-range phones of 2017. Top value for money! Read full review
100	Stuff \| Andrew Williams A great phone for those who want to ditch the shackles of an expensive contract. The Moto G5 might not be a great step forward for the series aside from its new design style, but at a time when phones seems to be getting more expensive, it is great to see the G5 stay affordable without sacrificing any of the basics. Read full review
90	Know Your Mobile \| Paul Briden Overall you get a lot of bang for your buck here and at a low cost to boot. No it's not going to move mountains, but damn it it doesn't half try with performance and capabilities well above par. If this isn't one of the best budget smartphones on the market I don't know what is. Read full review
90	Trusted Reviews \| Max Parker Even though it's a really large phone, the Moto G4 is easily the best way to spend its own price. You'll need big hands, but once again the Moto G4 is the budget smartphone everyone needs to beat. Read full review
90	Tom's Guide \| Max Parker As much as we complain about the Moto G series treading water, that this is still a great buy is what matters most. There's little progress but the Moto G5 is still a budget star. Read full review
85	ZDNet \| Sandra Vogel Motorola's affordable mid-range handset continues to impress. Given its affordability, it has significant plus points. That said, it's not a big advance on last year's Moto G4, which has a larger 5.5-inch display. The 2016 model remains an attractive option. Read full review
83	NotebookCheck \| Florian Wimmer The Moto G5 offers a lot, and its price/performance ratio is quite good. The less than adequate battery life is compensated for by the fact that the battery is user replaceable. Read full review
82	Engadget \| Jamie Rigg Another year, another pair of great affordable handsets from Motorola. The smaller, 5-inch Moto G5 offers reliable performance thanks to Android 7.0 Nougat, and a surprisingly good 13-megapixel camera. The design is a little uninspiring and the display is hard to read in direct sunlight, but this little smartphone does everything you need it to for a bargain price. Read full review
80	TechPP (Technology Personalized) \| Akriti Rana It does not have the plus factor of its elder brother, but it does have a minus in the price. And that can make a difference. Read full review
80	Australian PC World \| Nick Ross It's cheap and cheerful but may be a bit under-powered for some. Read full review
80	AndroidPit \| Pierre Vitre The Moto G5 is simply a more modern version of its predecessor. Read full review
80	TechSpot \| Tim Schiesser However, even though the cameras aren't particularly amazing, other aspects of both the Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus are strong enough for this to, once again, be my budget smartphone recommendation. The Moto G5 Plus, at its price for the base model is particularly attractive, though countries where the Moto G5 is available also get a fantastic deal. Read full review
80	Pocket-lint \| Mike Lowe The Moto G5 delivers a fairly knock-out performance for the price point. Don't expect a flagship phone by any means, but the G5 is still royalty among affordable phones. Read full review
80	What Hi-Fi? Its poor audio performance lets it down, but the G5 is an otherwise strong budget handset well worthy of consideration. Read full review
80	TechRadar \| Simon Hill With a shiny new metal body, a super-slick fingerprint sensor and decent specs, the Moto G5 offers real value for money. It's another obvious choice for Android bargain hunters. Read full review
70	Neowin \| Gurkaran Singh All said and done, the latest entry in the G-series is good but leaves a lot to be desired. Read full review
70	phoneArena \| Victor H. At the end of the day, when all's said and done, the Moto G5 is a decent cheap phone that gets the job done: calls, emails, browsing, etc, but probably not one that you will love using. For that, you'll have to spend a bit more. Read full review
70	CNET UK \| Andrew Hoyle The Moto G5 is the phone to get if you want an everyday phone for as little possible, but if you want higher-end features like NFC then go for the G5 Plus. Read full review
70	NDTV Gadgets \| Ketan Pratap We appreciate the number of improvements Lenovo has made to its all-new Moto G5 compared to last year's model, and it won't disappoint you in daily use if you don't have very demanding work to do. We also like the fact that the company has paid attention to design, and the Moto G can stand proud next to its competition. The latest version of Android and the camera improvements are also always welcome. However, heat management and lacklustre battery life make us a little less enthusiastic, and we hope that the company takes note of these issues for future models. Read full review
65	Mobile Syrup \| Rose Behar Those who don't need a premium device or are looking for a phone to buy outright for easy roaming might be hard pressed to find a better all-encompassing option. The Moto G5 has become my new favourite budget device. Read full review
60	Gadgets Now \| Robin Sinha The phone has a new design language, removable battery, a decent camera, average SoC and display. Given the price tag ...and the specifications, the Moto G5 looks like another budget smartphone in the already saturated market...You can even extend your budget a little to get a hold of its elder sibling - the Moto G5 Plus, which is in fact a true 'value-for-money' smartphone. The G5 is for those who are strictly sticking to the...budget. Read full review
60	Expert Reviews \| Nathan Spendelow It looks like 2017's Moto G5 is one to pass over this year; it's a distinctly disappointing refresh. Read full review
60	Alphr \| Alan Martin Lenovo seems to have misunderstood what made the Moto G series great. We were never bothered by the cheap and cheerful design; what mattered was that the screen, performance, camera and battery always punched above their weight at the price. With the Moto G5, Lenovo has reversed that, and everything is weaker for it. So, while the handset looks much slicker, all-round performance is less impressive. Read full review

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Compare Moto G5 specs side-by-side with other phones
COMPARE SPECS


Dimensions & Form	Form factor: Touchscreen bar Dimensions 144.3 x 73 x 9.5 mm (5.68 x 2.87 x 0.37 in) Weight: 144.5 g (5.1 oz)
Screen	Size: 5 inches diagonal Resolution: 1920 x 1080 pixels Screen Density: 441 ppi Screen-to-Body Ratio: 65.4 % Display Type: IPS LCD
Runs
Performance	Chipset: Qualcomm MSM8937 Snapdragon 430 CPU: Octa-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 GPU: Adreno 505 RAM: 2/3GB
Camera	Main Camera: 13 megapixels with LED flash Secondary Camera: 5 megapixels
Storage	Built-in Storage: 16GB Expandable Storage: Micro SD
Battery & Charging	Capacity: 2800 mAh Removable Battery: No Wireless Charging: No Quick Charge: Yes (v2)
SIM standard	Nano SIM Compare SIM Only deals
Water & Dust Resistance	Not Available
Fingerprint Reader	Front
References & More info	Official website GSMArena specs page

Photos taken with the Moto G5

We've used Flickr to find a selection of pictures taken by the Moto G5 camera. Here is a selection of photos taken by users from around the world so you can see what kind of picture quality you can expect from real-world use of the Moto G5.