Hi,
Ok, so my new Moto G 16GB arrived yesterday morning and I thought I'd post my first impressions.
I was a bit concerned before removing the back about how much force I would need to apply following some of the reviews I'd read. When you get a new bit of tech you certainly don't want to damage it first time opening :-[. It was nowhere near as difficult as imagined and the clip arrangement on the back holding it on feels very durable and that it will last. Micro sim inserted and away we go!
The phone looks and feels surprisingly 'high end' and compares well to most phones. The only slightly disappointing point is that the two side buttons (on button and volume button) don't feel quite as robust/ high quality, although they are by no means flimsy.
Size of the phone is ideal in my opinion (I accept that some may want biggest screen possible!) The iphone screen looks a bit 'undersized' these days compared to the size of its case, whereas the Moto G screen fills the case nicely.
The Moto G gives the impression of not 'having anything to prove' if that makes sense. Rather than spending money on 'stylists' designing something to stand out/ obvious brand identity it just looks like a phone designed by an 'engineer' ie form and function suited to the task. There is no big logo/ corporate identity other than a discrete M on the back that is hardly noticeable. On future Motorola phones once they have regained some market share in the UK it will be interesting to see if this changes.
The definition on the screen is incredible and the startup animation of 'the world' shows this off very well.The touchscreen is very responsive and easy to use single handed. The phone is speedy to flip through various screens, apps and widgets, and I was surprised how quick it was looking at webpages too. You tube videos loaded quickly, speaker volume available is louder than I needed/ expected. Android 4.3 seems good and runs smoothly, and having Kit Kat upgrade in January is a nice touch but certainly not essential.
Initial setup for wifi and email was easy enough. It is clear that the phone is heavily google oriented and encourages 'all things google' but that is no bad thing at all. It reminded me of how Apple operate when I got an Ipad. Huge amount of google gdrive online storage makes things very easy to access without taking up valuable phone memory. I have started to use google chrome on my laptop now because of the ease of accessing bookmarks and open tabs between computer and phone. Yes google certainly knows how to get you hooked!
Little led notification light flashes white (not sure if I can change colour somehow) Its not particularly bright though but not the end of the world.
I was surprised to be able to swipe from the lock screen (without unlocking) to start the camera. Ok so if you want a 'great' camera this isn't it but if you want a reasonable camera with a few nice features you will be happy enough. Flash is ok, picture quality is ok but being able to press anywhere on the screen to be able to take a picture is not quite as good an idea as you might think. For most people I would describe the camera as usable but 'nothing special'. It would be good if there was something to make it just a bit quicker.
Call quality was very good although I have only made a few calls so far. Speech recognition (not sure what the little microphone symbol is actually called!) worked ok too.
My main concern, and the one thing that deterred me from buying a Nexus 5 was battery life. I charged the phone to 100% yesterday morning by 11:00 and have been surfing webpages, testing features, playing short videos, making some calls, showing stuff to colleagues on it and testing 3G out and about etc. Its now 20:30 the following day and battery shows 38%. Not sure about other smart phones for battery comparison but I am more than happy with that.
3G seems ok to me so not bothered with lack of 4G. There is so much wifi around that even if it had 4G as a feature I wouldn't pay extra from my network provider.
I don't like reading other peoples reviews when they are quite obviously biased one way or another and I imagine many will think that I am only saying positive things. The fact is I simply cannot see a downside to the phone so far other than the camera. I bought the Moto G with an open mind thinking that I would pass it on quickly if it wasn't that good, particularly given the price (I paid ?159 for the 16GB.) but I would struggle to justify paying any more money for an alternative because it does seem to do everything that I want, and well. My other issue would be that to get something noticeably better I would need to more than double the price. Obviously I have a SIM free phone (so I can use a ?15 Virgin monthly unlimited everything SIM on a 30 day rolling contract ie no tie in if ever I want to change) so initial phone cost is a factor for me whereas if you were looking for a pay monthly phone deal the cost difference may not be as noticeable.
Oh, it is poor that that the flip shell is still not available other than to order for delivery in a few weeks, and colour choice is limited. I only want a plain black one!
If you are thinking about getting a Moto G, I would recommend it for 'most people'
Ok, so my new Moto G 16GB arrived yesterday morning and I thought I'd post my first impressions.
I was a bit concerned before removing the back about how much force I would need to apply following some of the reviews I'd read. When you get a new bit of tech you certainly don't want to damage it first time opening :-[. It was nowhere near as difficult as imagined and the clip arrangement on the back holding it on feels very durable and that it will last. Micro sim inserted and away we go!
The phone looks and feels surprisingly 'high end' and compares well to most phones. The only slightly disappointing point is that the two side buttons (on button and volume button) don't feel quite as robust/ high quality, although they are by no means flimsy.
Size of the phone is ideal in my opinion (I accept that some may want biggest screen possible!) The iphone screen looks a bit 'undersized' these days compared to the size of its case, whereas the Moto G screen fills the case nicely.
The Moto G gives the impression of not 'having anything to prove' if that makes sense. Rather than spending money on 'stylists' designing something to stand out/ obvious brand identity it just looks like a phone designed by an 'engineer' ie form and function suited to the task. There is no big logo/ corporate identity other than a discrete M on the back that is hardly noticeable. On future Motorola phones once they have regained some market share in the UK it will be interesting to see if this changes.
The definition on the screen is incredible and the startup animation of 'the world' shows this off very well.The touchscreen is very responsive and easy to use single handed. The phone is speedy to flip through various screens, apps and widgets, and I was surprised how quick it was looking at webpages too. You tube videos loaded quickly, speaker volume available is louder than I needed/ expected. Android 4.3 seems good and runs smoothly, and having Kit Kat upgrade in January is a nice touch but certainly not essential.
Initial setup for wifi and email was easy enough. It is clear that the phone is heavily google oriented and encourages 'all things google' but that is no bad thing at all. It reminded me of how Apple operate when I got an Ipad. Huge amount of google gdrive online storage makes things very easy to access without taking up valuable phone memory. I have started to use google chrome on my laptop now because of the ease of accessing bookmarks and open tabs between computer and phone. Yes google certainly knows how to get you hooked!
Little led notification light flashes white (not sure if I can change colour somehow) Its not particularly bright though but not the end of the world.
I was surprised to be able to swipe from the lock screen (without unlocking) to start the camera. Ok so if you want a 'great' camera this isn't it but if you want a reasonable camera with a few nice features you will be happy enough. Flash is ok, picture quality is ok but being able to press anywhere on the screen to be able to take a picture is not quite as good an idea as you might think. For most people I would describe the camera as usable but 'nothing special'. It would be good if there was something to make it just a bit quicker.
Call quality was very good although I have only made a few calls so far. Speech recognition (not sure what the little microphone symbol is actually called!) worked ok too.
My main concern, and the one thing that deterred me from buying a Nexus 5 was battery life. I charged the phone to 100% yesterday morning by 11:00 and have been surfing webpages, testing features, playing short videos, making some calls, showing stuff to colleagues on it and testing 3G out and about etc. Its now 20:30 the following day and battery shows 38%. Not sure about other smart phones for battery comparison but I am more than happy with that.
3G seems ok to me so not bothered with lack of 4G. There is so much wifi around that even if it had 4G as a feature I wouldn't pay extra from my network provider.
I don't like reading other peoples reviews when they are quite obviously biased one way or another and I imagine many will think that I am only saying positive things. The fact is I simply cannot see a downside to the phone so far other than the camera. I bought the Moto G with an open mind thinking that I would pass it on quickly if it wasn't that good, particularly given the price (I paid ?159 for the 16GB.) but I would struggle to justify paying any more money for an alternative because it does seem to do everything that I want, and well. My other issue would be that to get something noticeably better I would need to more than double the price. Obviously I have a SIM free phone (so I can use a ?15 Virgin monthly unlimited everything SIM on a 30 day rolling contract ie no tie in if ever I want to change) so initial phone cost is a factor for me whereas if you were looking for a pay monthly phone deal the cost difference may not be as noticeable.
Oh, it is poor that that the flip shell is still not available other than to order for delivery in a few weeks, and colour choice is limited. I only want a plain black one!
If you are thinking about getting a Moto G, I would recommend it for 'most people'
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