Motorola has long been the king of the budget phone with its excellent ‘G’ range. Does the latest iteration, the Moto G 5G Plus match up to the likes of the OnePlus Nord and iPhone SE 2? The simple answer is a resounding yes. For the price, this is a hard phone to pass up, especially if you’re eager to jump on the 5G bandwagon. For the extended view, continue reading. 

What we love – The value proposition is unmatched, ideal screen for movies, multi-day battery life

You can bag Motorola’s first affordable 5G phone for a penny under £300, making it one of the best smartphone deals around. 5G is the next-gen of mobile connectivity, taking your typical 4G speeds and amping things up. Your Spotify playlists will download faster and your online gaming should be more responsive, though you’ll need a few things to get started.  A phone like this Moto is 5G enabled, but you’ll also need a 5G sim plan AND be in an area where the networks are live. It’s a ‘nice to have’ feature rather than a dealbreaker (or dealmaker) even if it makes the phone more futureproof if you plan on keeping it for a few years. Along with 5G, the Moto G 5G Plus has other features still rare at such a cheap price. There’s the tall HDR 6.7-inch display with a smooth, crisp and very cinematic look. A headphone port sits on top if you’d rather avoid going wireless and a snappy fingerprint sensor on the side. There’s only a ‘splash-resistant’ coating here, so try and avoid dropping it in the bath. While the majority of the phones we look at will happily get you through a day of use, we found the huge battery inside the Moto capable of lasting up from morning until bedtime the next day. We never felt wary about leaving home without a portable battery and that’s even with frequent bouts of gaming, 5G data and music streaming. It charges fairly quickly too, thanks to Turbo Power. Related: Pondering what’s the best cheap camera phone? Have your say
Moto G 5G Plus review

What we don’t like – It’s not the best looking phone, we have to say

If there’s one thing that stands out as a con of the Moto G 5G Plus it’s the pedestrian, slightly gaudy look. Our blue review unit has an etched pattern below the rear plastic covering and it looks a little odd, while the phone itself lacks that premium feel of the Nord or iPhone SE 2. You’ll also only really get good snaps from the main rear camera, with secondary sensors feeling like they’re there for a single purpose of allowing Motorola to use it in the marketing, so it doesn’t quite match up to the likes of the Google Pixel 4a.  Still, we can live with that when the overall phone is so good.

Verdict

It’s not the prettiest, but the Moto G 5G is a fantastic 5G Android phone for under £300 with fast performance, long battery life and a good main rear 48-megapixel camera.  Our Recombu reviews are created using data collected by Trusted Reviews Labs, utilising their testing expertise to bring you an easy-to-read, short-form review.