Design and Build - In terms of the design Moto G 3rd Gen shows a good build quality and we should say that it is slightly similar to the design of Moto G 2nd Gen. The dual front grills has been maintained even in this version but has been replaced with thin aluminum instead of plastic. The dual front grills comprises of the top ear piece and the bottom speaker outlet. From a closer view we can observe that the grills do not have chrome inserts and are much simpler just like the Moto G 2nd Gen. The power and the volume rockers are seen on the right side of the dveice. The 3.5mm audio jack sits on top while the micro-USB port on the bottom. The metal keys are responsive and offers decent feedback.
The entire front side of the device is layered with protective glass. The top corner, right next to the ear piece grill you can spot the 5MP front snapper. The sides of the device are slighlt curved and much slimmer at the edges giving it a feel of compactness.
The removable rear cover now flaunts a textured diagonal stripped surface in contrast to the glossy finish in the previous models, thereby giving you more grip on the device. The rear includes the metallic strip that bears the 13 MP camera, a dual-LED flash and the Motorola Logo. The device in total looks strong and durable. The two micro-SIM slots, a micro SD card slot and a non-removable sealed in battery can be seen inside if you remove the back cover.
The dimensions of the Moto G 3rd Gen is almost similar to that of G2 but with a minor increase in the weight; 154 gms when compared to G2's 149g. All due to the increased battery capacity and size from 2,070mAh to 2,470mAh. The back panels of the device comes with customizable options as how it was for the original Moto G. In addition to this Moto G (3rd gen) is IPX7 water resistant. It can be immersed for 30 minutes to a depth of 1 meter. However you cant use the device in water. Moto G 3rd Gen can only bear the accidental plunges not the deliberate ones. This makes the Moto G 3rd Gen to be the cheapest water resistant smartphone.
Display - The Moto G 2015 sports a 5-inch HD display with a screen resolution of 720x1280 pixels. The capacitive multi touch IPS display is layered with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for that essential screen protection. The viewing angles seems to be wide and colors on the screen looks accurate. The 294ppi screen is prone to smudging but without causing much damage to the displayed texts and images. Nevertheless some sort of pixalation is observed while taking a closer look.
The display seems fine even under direct sunlight. The screen resolution could have been better, but it is good enough to facilitate lack of pixel distinction when reading from natural distances. Apart from this the device shows high levels of brightness, wide viewing angles and the right amount and quality of colors.
When compared to the previous models the screen size hasn't changed much. The 5inch screen is a good decision to make without making the device look mighty. With this interesting ppi we were looking forward for much crispier and cleaner color display but when we consider the price tag such things can be forgotten.
Software and Performance - The Moto G 2015 is powered by a 64-bit 1.4GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor, Adreno 306 graphics and 2GB RAM.
Like all the current releases the Moto G comes in with Android 5.1 Lollipop. The upgraded processor and the doubled RAM uses an UI which is quite similar to Google's Nexus phones, supplemented with a launcher like that of Google Now launcher.The Gallery, Messagging and Camera apps have been customized by the company.
The overall functionality of the device is enhanced with features including Assist that completely allows you to personalize the device on how you must be alerted with phone calls during your every action; whether it be a board meeting or an evening with family. 'Assist' helps you to silence or auto reply to missed calls. There are exceptions in the settings when someone calls twice or for your Favorite callers.
The two gesture controls- the double Karate chop to switch on the torch nad twist the phone to capture an image in camera mode are appealing ones. The dual-SIM device also comes with extra settings for personalizing the operations of the two SIM cards by allowing you to choose the default connection for data, calls and messages.
The Moto Ambient display which had been featured on the Moto X is also seen in the Moto G 2015 allowing the notifications to show up without waking the entire screen.
On the performance side any major lag or sluggishness wasn't noticed. It was a smooth glide while navigating through the apps and swapping between them. When it comes to gaming a good gaming experience was relished while playing games like Temple Run 2 and Asphalt 8. we did not encounter any major frame drops or heating issues.
The storage options comes with two variants either 8GB or 16GB. The microSD card slot provides you with capacity of expanding the memory without any worries of overloading your phone with all the multimedia content.
Connectivity - The Moto G offers Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS connectivity options. The Wi-Fi antenna supports faster 802.11ac standard and can work with compatible routers. The phone does not support NFC though.
The call quality is excellent with a good signal reception. The 4G connectivity is also available and a speed up to 25Mbps+ can be availed. The FM radio also functions without any hiccups. You can listen to the radio through the phone's speaker after you have plugged in the headphones as an antenna. It doesn't offer a recording feature but you can still listen to the radio stream via Bluetooth headsets.
We were able to play most popular video and audio file formats on the phone.
Camera - The device features a 13 MP rear camera with f2.0 aperture auto focus lens. The dual-LED flash and the upgraded camera sensors makes this a good camera smartphone. The rear camera is supplemented with a 5 MP front-facing one. The camera app showcases just the basic controls; one for switching to the video shooter and the other to switch between the front and rear snappers. If you swipe from the left end to the right end of the screen you will be revealed an arc shaped dial that shows option controls for HDR mode, focus and exposure, slow motion, LED flash, Geo-tagging and wide screen mode to name a few.
You are bestowed with the liberty of tapping anywhere on the screen for capturing pictures. Unfortunately there are no special scene effects or filters. Leaves you to depend on an extra app for all those editing tasks.
The camera shots taken from this device clearly shows the effeciency of the improved rear camera hardware. The pictures come with great detail, color perfectness and visiblity. Pictures captured in low-light conditions came out well in both rear and selfie cameras.The rear camera can take 1080p normal and 720p slow motion videos and the quality of the videos recorded with the phone was really good.
Battery - The Moto G 2015 bears a 2,470mAh battery which is definitely higher than the Moto G2. The device can provide up to 21 hours of talk time and 10 hours of web browsing. The battery life is expected to be an exceptional one as it can provide you with 3G data all day long even with your screen at the brightest display. It also will allow you to enjoy a full HD movie or two even with the juice half way gone.
Verdict
The Moto G 3rd Gen is absolutely a great mid-range priced smartphone in every aspect. The upgraded software and the increased RAM makes multitasking a simple job. The IPX7 water resistant feature makes the Moto G 2015 to be the only phone under Rs. 15,000/- to be equipped with a water-resistant body. For those wanting quick wireless connections and cashless payments the Moto G 2015 may be a spoilsport a sit lacks NFC and also a finger print scanner that usually is a pair with the NFC to authenticate transactions.
The improved camera is an added attraction in addition to the elegant design and the textured rear back for that extra grip. Instead of focusing on not so significant performance hike the company has brought about a couple of improvements on the essentials including a longer battery life and better User Interface.
With all these stunning features we can't go without applauding Motorola for the device they have given to the tech market. Good job Motorola!!
Pros
Stylish looks and comfortable design
Long battery life
No PWM across all brightness levels
95% sRGB color gamut coverage
13MP back camera
Good storage speeds, twice as fast as Moto G2
IPX7 water resistant body
Cons
No change in GPU performance when compared to the previous models.
