Moto G Phone Guide

Moto G Buyer Guide

Moto G8 vs Moto G8 Power vs Moto G8 Power Lite vs Moto G Power vs Moto G Stylus vs Moto G Pro vs Moto G fast: What are the differences?

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Moto G8 vs Moto G8 Power vs Moto G8 Power Lite vs Moto G Power vs Moto G Stylus vs Moto G Pro vs Moto G fast vs Moto G Play vs Moto G PlusNow, even Motorola support staffs are confused about their current Moto G lineups. You can test it by asking them what the differences are among Moto G8 vs Moto G8 Power vs Moto G8 Power Lite vs Moto G Power vs Moto G Stylus vs Moto G Pro vs Moto G fast vs Moto G Play vs Moto G Plus.

In addition to the two Moto G8 phones released in 2019 (Moto G8 Play and Moto G8 Plus), Motorola released three (3) more Moto G8 phones (Moto G8, Moto G8 Power, and Moto G8 Power Lite) AND four (4) more Moto G phones with the “8” numberings (Moto G Power, Moto G Fast, Moto G Stylus, and Moto G Pro) in the first half of 2020.

It seems Motorola is desperate, and Moto G is the only brand they can milk. Sadly, such chaotic releases are destroying the brand quickly and causing confusing among seasoned Moto G users.

In this post, I will “try” to explain the differences among all these nine (9) current Moto G phones if you are considering a Moto G phone.

The most significant difference is the wallpaper!!

Ironically, the most obvious difference among these Moto G phones is the wallpaper.

Their sizes are similar, varying from 6.2″ to 6.5″.

Of course, two of them (Moto G Stylus and Moto G Pro) come with a stylus.

Moto G Pro is the dual SIM version of  Moto G Stylus.

Moto G Pro and Moto G Stylus are almost identical with a stylus,  a dedicated micro SD card slot, and Android 10.

The major differences are:

  • Moto G Pro supports two SIM cards (dual standby only, of course). Moto G Stylus supports only one SIM card.
  • Moto G Stylus is mainly sold in the US and North America. Moto G Pro is sold in the international market.

Moto G Pro and Moto G Stylus are Android 10 version of Moto G8 Plus.

Except for the stylus (you’ll seldom use it) and 128GB storage, Moto G Pro and Moto G Stylus are simply Moto G8 Plus with Android 10.

Please note, nowadays Motorola is very sloooooow in updating Android OS on their phones (if they choose to update). Moto G8 Plus is still on Android 9, and you do not know when (or even whether) you will get Android 10 on Moto G8 Plus.… Read the rest

Moto G8 Plus vs Moto G8 Play: Differences and common features

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Moto G8 Plus vs Moto G8 Play: Differences and common featuresMotorola announced and released Moto G8 Plus, and Moto G8 Play in October 2019, without Moto G8, which will be very likely announced in February 2020. But what are the differences of  Moto G8 Plus vs Moto G8 Play?

Apparently, Moto G is the most valuable brand asset of Motorola now: Moto X is dead; Moto Z is dying, Moto C has gone, and Moto E is struggling.

Will Moto G save Motorola?

Motorola (Lenovo) cannot wait until 2020. So, they released “part” of Moto G8 for this holiday season. Remember, Moto G7 was just released earlier this year.

Of course, many potential buyers are wondering about the differences between Moto G8 Plus and Moto G8 Play.

This Moto G guide first explains the common features of Moto G8 Plus and Moto G8 Play, then discusses the top 10 differences of Moto G8 Plus vs Moto G8 Play.

The official user manual for Moto G8 Plus and Moto G8 Play is now available here.

Update: Motorola now has totally of 9 Moto G models for the 8th Gen of Moto G. A comparison of all these nine Moto G phones is detailed in this post.

Moto G8 Plus vs Moto G8 Play: the common features

Moto G8 Plus and G8 Play share similar dimensions with significantly different specifications.

As both bear the Moto G8 name, there are surely some common features.

Android Pie

Just like many other Android phones released this year, both Moto G Plus and Moto G8  Play come with Android Pie (Android 9.0).

Very likely, both phones will get the Android 10 update. But based on the recent track record of Motorola’s Android update, you will have to wait at least one year for the Android Pie.

4000mAh battery

The battery capacity in Moto G8 Play and G8 Plus is 4000mAh.  It should be able to last one full day for most users.

The massive battery can also be used as a power bank to charge other devices because both phones use a USB-C port

micro SD card support

Similar to previous generations of Moto G, Moto G8 Play and Moto G8 Plus support micro SD card.

So, you can insert a micro SD card to expand storage if you have an extensive collection of media files.

Please note, there is no dedicated SD card slot on Moto G8 Play and G8 Plus. Instead, … Read the rest

Moto G7 vs Moto G7 Play vs Moto G7 Plus vs Moto G7 Power: what are the differences?

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This Moto G guide explains the differences between the 4 Moto G7 (Moto G 2019) models: Moto G7 vs Moto G7 Play vs Moto G7 Plus vs Moto G7 Power, to help you make the decision when choosing a Moto G7.

Motorola released 4 models for the Moto G7: G7, G7 Play, G7 Plus, and G7 Power.

To make it even more confusing (although it is not new), Motorola decided not to release all models in all regions.

Anyway, if you are wondering about the differences between these four Moto G7 phones, this guide will help you.

To read or download the official user guide for Moto G7, G7 Play, G7 Power, and G7 Plus, please check Moto G7 user manual page.

Summary of the specs of Moto G7 vs Moto G7 Play vs Moto G7 Plus vs Moto G7 Power

The following table summarizes the key specification of Moto G7 vs Moto G7 Play vs Moto G7 Plus vs Moto G7 Power.

What are identical: Moto G7 vs Moto G7 Play vs Moto G7 Plus vs Moto G7 Power?

As shown in the specs, the 4 Moto G models are common in

  • OS: Android Pie (Android 9.0).
  • The fingerprint sensor is on the back.
  • USB Type C port.
  • Headphone jack.
  • Micro SD card support up to 512GB.

Motorola normally releases two major updates for Moto G devices. So, very likely, Moto G7 will get Android R as the last update.

Please note, Motorola has become slower in releasing updates for Moto G devices in r4ecent years. But they still released at least two updates for previous generations of Moto G phones in most regions.

Moto G7 Play vs Moto G7 Power: which offers a higher value (per dollar)?

Moto G7 Play is the cheapest one and with the lowest specs compared to the other 3 (Moto G7, G7 Play, and G7 Power).

But Moto G7 Play does not provide the best value for your money.

The $50 more expensive Moto G7 Power actually offers better value for your money. The increased RAM (from 2GB to 3GB) can make big differences even for moderate usages.

Of course, the 5000mAh battery (with TurboPower) is the signature feature of Moto G7 Power.

Unless you are constrained by the budget, or you do not like the weight (198g vs 151g), then you should get G7 Power if possible.

Moto G7 vs

… Read the rest

Moto G5 vs Moto G5 plus: the major differences between Moto G5 and Moto G5 plus

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Moto G5 vs Moto G5 Plus the major differences between Moto G5 and Moto G5 plusWhen Moto G5 (Moto G 2017) was announced. There were 2 products announced: Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus.

This makes some potential Moto G buyers confused: Moto G5 or Moto G5 Plus?

In fact Lenovo-owned-Motorola does not need to announce two Moto G models. They already have a comprehensive Moto line: Moto E, Moto G, Moto M, Moto Z and Moto X. In some regions, there is a Moto C as well.

But the trend is Lenovo and many other Android vendors still throw spaghetti on the wall to figure out what people want.

This guide will compare two phones, Moto G5 vs Moto G5 plus, to help you understand the differences between them.

Moto G5 vs Moto G5 plus: Moto G5 Plus is slightly larger and heavier

Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus share similar aluminum material. There are no difference in build quality, which is excellent among phones in this price range.

Although Moto G5 Plus is larger (5.2″ vs 5″) and heavier (155g vs 145g), the difference is only marginal.

The screens are also almost identical except the size.

Moto G5 vs Moto G5 plus: Moto G5 Plus performs better

When we talk about performance, Moto G5 Plus is a clear winner due to the faster and newer CPU used in Moto G5 Plus.

Moto G5 is equipped with the 28nm 1.4GHz Snapdragon 430; while Moto G5 plus comes with a 14nm 2G Hz Snapdragon 625.

The GPU in Moto G5 Plus is Adreno 506 (with Snapdragon 625), which is 2.6x faster than Adreno 505 (with Snapdragon 430) in Moto G5.

When you play some heavy games, you will feel the performance difference immediately.

But for daily tasks, you probably will not feel much difference.

Moto G5 vs Moto G5 plus: Moto G5 Plus has a better main camera

The 5MP front-facing camera in Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus is identical.

But the main camera (rear-facing) in these two phones is different.

In the paper, Moto G5 has a 13MP main camera. Moto G5 Plus has a 12MP camera.

You should not be fooled by the number of pixels. The main camera in Moto G5 Plus is far better actually.

The 12MP camera in Moto G5 Plus has a larger aperture of f/1.7 (vs f/2.0 in Moto G5). This means Moto G5 plus can take better pictures in low light … Read the rest

What are the differences of Moto G4, Moto G4 Plus and Moto G4 Play?

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differences of Moto G4, Moto G4 Plus and Moto G4 PlayFor the 4th generation of Moto G, Motorola (now under Lenovo), announced 3 different models: Moto G4, Moto G4 Plus and Moto G4 Play.

Then which one is for you? What are the differences of Moto G4, Moto G4 Plus and Moto G4 Play?

This post will try to help you understand the differences of these 3 models so that you can make better decision when you want to buy one Moto G4 (Moto G 2016).

To download official Moto G4 user manual, Moto G4 Plus user manual anf Moto G4 Play user manual in your own language, please check this page.

Initial availability differences of Moto G4, Moto G4 Plus and Moto G4 Play

Although 3 models of Moto G4 were announced, only 2 of them are currently available.

Moto G4 Play will be only available later this summer.

Moto G4 Plus and Moto G4 are currently available in selected countries and regions, mainly India, Brazil, Mexico and a few other countries in Latin America.

In early June, Moto G4 will be available in Europe, the Middle East, and other Asian regions.

Moto G4 Plus will be available in Europe, the Middle East, other Asian regions, and other Latin American regions from the second half of June.

For US and North America, the availability of Moto G4, Moto G4 Plus and Moto G4 Play has not been announced. (Motorola is not a US company any more; it is now a Lenovo company.)

So, many Motorola fans in US, Europe and other regions are a bit disappointed. Apparently, Motorola (Lenovo) is too short-sighted in Moto G4 release.

Will this help the success of Moto G4?

Very unlikely. The availability strategy of Moto G4 is probably a disaster for Moto G4 sales.

With 3 different models (G4, G4 Plus, and G4 Play) combined, Moto G4 probably cannot exceed the sales of Moto G3 (2015) or  Moto G2 (Moto G 2014).

Just may 2 cents.

Screen (display) differences of Moto G4, Moto G4 Plus and Moto G4 Play

Both Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus share similar display: 5.5″ 1080p (full HD. 1980*1080) display.

Moto G4 Play is smaller (5″) with a 720p (1280*720) screen.

So, the size of Moto G4 Play is similar to previous generations of Moto G devices (e.g., Moto G 2015 and Moto G 2014).  Moto G4 and G4 Plus are bigger than previous generations.

CPU (chips)

… Read the rest

Top 6 exciting improvements in Moto G 2015 (Moto G 3rd Gen)

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moto_g_2015

Update: Official Moto G 2015 user manuals in different  languages are available for read and download here.

Motorola updated Moto G to the 3rd generation last week (together with Moto X Style, Moto X Play and Moto X Pure Edition).

Now the question is what the exciting new features in Moto G 3rd Gen (Moto G 2015) are?

This post will try to answer this question so that you have better understanding whether you should get Moto G 3rd Gen (Moto G 2015), especially compared with Moto G 2014 (Moto G 2nd Gen).

You can customize Moto G 2015 as you want

Motorola used to keep customization as an exclusive feature for their flagship Moto X.

For the first time, you can customize your Moto G 2015 (Moto G 3rd Gen) in Moto Maker.  Now you can customize Moto G 2015 in following aspect:

  • Black or white front color
  • 1o back colors
  • 10 accent colors
  • Engrave text (up to 14 characters) in the back.

So, you can design your own Moto G 2015 with 200 possible color combinations!!

No other smartphone manufacturers offers such customization.

The bad news is that Moto Maker may be not available in some countries.

Moto G 2015 now has far better cameras (both rear and front)

Moto G is positioned as the best the middle-range smartphone.

So, it is not strange that Moto G does not have the cutting-edge camera sensors in previous generation.

In Moto G 2015, Motorola dramatically improved the camera.

Here is the list of some noteworthy improvements in Moto G 2015 rear camera:

  • 13MP camera sensor (8MP in Moto G 2014);
  • dual-LED flash (single LED flash in Moto G 2014);
  • Quick Capture (twist wrist to launch camera). This used to be an exclusive feature of Moto X.
  • manual focus and exposure controls.
  • 1080p HD video (720p HD video in Moto G 2014);
  • HDR for video.

For the front camera, the improvement is also huge:

  • 5MP camera sensor (2MP in Moto G 2014);
  • wide angle camera (72 degrees of field of view);
  • display flash;
  • HDR;
  • Slow motion video.

You should expect dramatic improvement in photo and video quality in Moto G 2015.

You may check this Moto G 2015 camera guide to learn how to use the camera in your Moto G 2015 (Moto G 3rd Gen)

Moto G 2015 is water resistant, IPX7 rated

Simply … Read the rest

Moto G USB OTG guide (also for Moto X)

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What’s Moto G USB OTG?

USB On-The-Go (USB OTG) is not a new technology. It allows a device to perform both master and slave roles in USB connections. Android fully supports USB OTG since Android Honeycomb 3.1.

Normally USB uses a master/slave architecture.  A host acts as master device for the connection, the other USB device acts as slave.

Devices are designed to assume one role only. For example, when you connect an externl disk to the PC, PC is always the host, and external disk is always the slave.  When you connect two external drives through USB, nothing happens.

For Moto G, like many other phones, when it is connected to PC, it will be acted as slave and mounted as a storage device.  You can access the file on the Moto G from your PC.

But what happens if you connect a USB thumb drive to Moto G?

Moto G can mount it as external storage and you can use it just like you use external drive on a PC!

Because Moto G supports USB OTG.

Of course, there are some other requirements to make it work.

We will discuss them later.

How Moto G USB OTG can help Moto G owners ?

So, basically, Moto G USB OTG makes it possible for you to use external USB devices on Moto G.

Storage is just an example. The miserable storage in Moto G usually is the motivation for some owners to find ways to expand the storage.

You can also hook many other USB accessories, e.g., even an USB keyboard or mouse.

In this guide, we will focus on storage because it is the most wanted Moto G USB OTG usage.

Also this guide applies to Moto X and many other Android devices, although Moto G is used.

What do you need to use Moto G USB OTG to expand your storage?

To use Moto G USB OTG to expand your storage, you need one of them:

  • an USB OTG adapter (less than $10). One end of the USB OTG adapter connects to USB storage, which can be a normal thumb drive or even a portable hard disk. The other end connects to Moto G directly.
  • or, an USB OTG flash drive (price depending on the capacity. It is slightly more expensive than normal USB thumb drives with similar capacity.). Such drives usually have two
… Read the rest

Moto G 2014 (aka Moto G 2nd generation) vs Moto G: top 10 facts you should know

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moto_G_2nd_gen_moto_g_2014 Moto G 2nd generationMotorola updated the 10-month old Moto G (1st generation) last week. The new Moto G (Moto G 2nd generation, aka Moto G 2014) is a significant update to the old Moto G, which is the most successful smartphone Motorola has ever made.

Moto G 2nd generation is already available in some countries and regions: UK, India, France, Brazil, Spain and France. More countries will be added the the list gradually

You may wonder what’s new in the new Moto G vs old Moto G (1st generation). The purpose of this post is to show you the difference and similarity of the new  Moto G (Moto G 2nd generation) vs Moto G (1st Gen).

 1. The best news:  no price hike ($179) for the Moto G 2nd generation

In most regions, the new Moto G (Moto G 2nd generation) will sell at the identical (or even lower) price as last year’s Moto G. This means the you can get the new Moto G (2nd generation) with about $180 (8GB model)  or $200 (16GB model).

So, the new Moto G is  still very affordable and probably gives you the best value for your money. In this price range, the new Moto G is probably the best smartphone.

2. Good news:  SD card support with  the Moto G 2nd generation

Actually, Motorola added SD card support to the 4G LTE models of the old Moto G (1st gen) a few months ago.

But for most Moto G (1st generation)  owners,  lack of storage is one of the biggest concern. In most regions, only 8GB model is offered.

Now, Motorola corrects its mistake by adding SD card support to all new Moto G (Moto G 2nd generation)  models.  You can easily expand 32GB storage for your photos, videos and other files. Some apps (app data) can even be moved to SD card so that you can install some big games.  You may refer to this guide on how to move apps to SD card on Moto E and Moto G.

3. Good news:  real stereo speakers and they are on front-facing in the Moto G 2nd generation!!!

The new Moto G ( Moto G 2nd generation) have dual front-facing speakers. You can easily enjoy music when Bluetooth speaker is not an option.

Of course, it is not comparable to HTC BoomSound. But the dual front-facing speakers really beat all other smartphones, including … Read the rest

Moto G wireless display: the problem and the solution

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moto-g-wireless-displayWhat is Wireless Display?

As some Android users know that Miracast is officially supported since Jelly Bean 4.2. Most Android phone manufactures usually name this feature as wireless display. Of Course, some vendor give it a different name for marketing purpose, for example, Samsung uses the name of “screen mirroring” for Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 3.

Moto G wireless display simply does not work

Moto G come with Jelly Bean 4.3. In last December, Motorola updated the phone to Android KitKat 4.4.2. But you may find out that there is no option to enable Moto G wireless display no matter it is in Jelly Bean 4.3 or KitKat 4.4. There is no way to get wireless display in Moto G.

Of course, if we check the brother of Moto G, you can find out that Moto X fully supports wireless display.

So, missing Moto G wireless display is not an inadvertent mistake; it is done deliberately.

Why Moto G wireless display is disabled?

The question is why Motorola disable this very useful feature.  We haven’t got any official clear answer from Motorola on disabling Moto G wireless display.

The untold truth about Moto G wireless display is that wireless display is enabled in hardware level, but disabled in software level. It is actually due to hardware limitations.

Motorola chose to disable the Moto G wireless display for two reasons:

  1. WiFi connection and Miracast cannot be used simultaneously in Moto G. If the wireless display is enabled (it uses WiFi direct per Miracast standard), the WiFi connection to your router will be shutdown and therefore you have to use mobile data for internet connections.  Some Sony devices (2013) suffer from this issue either. To avoid negative feedback, and inadvertent usage of mobile date (remember that Moto G is targeted at users with moderate mobile data usage), Motorola has  to disable this feature.
  2. Even you manage to enable Moto G wireless display (root is needed, and it is not a simple task. Do NOT ask me how to do this. I do not show things that I do not recommend), the performance is not so good. There is noticeable delay and sound sync seems not good as well. Probably due to hardware issue, or Motorola did not do any optimization, or both  (because it will be anyway disabled).

Alternative solutions

… Read the rest