As I am every year, I'm impressed with Motorola's ability to shuffle cards around to make it appear like its latest Moto G product is a bigger upgrade than it is in reality. The Moto G5 is, in some ways, a lateral move, opting for higher build quality over better specs. Users likely won't notice any performance improvements over the previous generation — in daily tasks, it may even be slower — and the smaller battery won't do it any favors, either. But the addition of a fingerprint sensor is important to the company's messaging, and it does feel much nicer in the hand than the plasticky Moto G4.
The Moto G5 Plus is a bit more complicated to talk about. There are real, substantive improvements in every major area, including display, camera, performance and design. I'm happy with the decision to reduce screen size in favor of a phone that is more easily usable in one hand, and the 12MP camera sensor should please everyone invested in the Moto G ecosystem. But the decision to stick with Micro-USB, and the lack of NFC, feel like concessions that shouldn't be necessary in 2017.
But the Moto G line, while popular in the U.S., is tailor-made for countries still building their mobile ecosystems, and these devices show leadership in almost every area. Motorola surveyed thousands of people, and used purchase data from every market, to determine what to upgrade and where to cut and, as usual, it appears they made the right decisions.
The Moto G5 and G5 Plus will be available beginning in early March in some markets. U.S. availability of the Moto G5 Plus has yet to be determined.
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