Moto G5 Plus: do I need the 64GB version?

[bxojr]

I just bought a 32GB Moto G5 Plus, which I'm using for a couple of weeks before passing it on to my wife. She doesn't ask much from her phone, so I knew the 32GB version would be fine for her. I was planning to buy myself a 64GB G5 once I was sure I liked the phone (mainly for the 4GB of RAM).

But the more I use this 32GB model, the more I ask myself if I really need the one with more storage. Performance is great; I have a micro-SD card, so I'm really not worried about running out of space. Will the extra 2GB of RAM make a difference in performance, or in apps getting dumped out of memory? Has anybody tried both versions, and if so, is there any noticeable difference?

I'm all about being a cheapskate, so if I can avoid paying an extra $50 for features I don't need, so much the better...

 

[Javier P]

It all depends on your personal usage. My wife is quite happy with her 2/32 G5 plus, but I went to the G5S+ mostly for the extra RAM (here the G5+ 4/64 model is not available). This is what I think.

Storage. Having an SD is good, but quite limited for some things. If you only want to use it for your media files it's fine, pushing it a little bit for more complicated stuff, like Spotify playlists for example, is going to give some headaches. The more internal storage the better.

Memory. You are going to notice the extra RAM mostly when multitasking or running heavy apps. It does makes a difference for me. Really important? Not really, but the difference is there.

Personally, I would go for the 4/64 model and forget about the $50

 

[bxojr]

Personally, I would go for the 4/64 model and forget about the $50

Yeah, you're probably right. Best Buy is going to have the 64GB version in their Black Friday sale, and it's not like this is an expensive phone even at full price!

Thanks for the sanity check ... I guess I just have to decide how cheap I want to be.

 

[Javier P]

Yeah, you're probably right. Best Buy is going to have the 64GB version in their Black Friday sale, and it's not like this is an expensive phone even at full price!

Thanks for the sanity check ... I guess I just have to decide how cheap I want to be.

Haha. Yeah, great value for money.

 

[br77494]

Got my 14 year old daughther the 2 gig version a few months ago. Without a doubt she qualifies as a "heavy user". I think she's got every social networking app ever created running on that thing - and she loves the phone. Sure, having 4 gigs will help with some performance and help future proof the phone to some degree. But realistically, with a sealed battery these phones will be very lucky to last over 2 years anyway, so "futureproofing" isn't that big of deal. If it works with 2 gigs for her it should work for a light to average user.

 

[Mrdouglas]

Got my 14 year old daughther the 2 gig version a few months ago. Without a doubt she qualifies as a "heavy user". I think she's got every social networking app ever created running on that thing - and she loves the phone. Sure, having 4 gigs will help with some performance and help future proof the phone to some degree. But realistically, with a sealed battery these phones will be very lucky to last over 2 years anyway, so "futureproofing" isn't that big of deal. If it works with 2 gigs for her it should work for a light to average user.

This is a very good point. Even beyond the battery and certainty that it is going to have a finite life, keep in mind that these are pretty cheaply constructed phones. You get a year warranty and Motorola is notorious for doing all possible to skip out of their warranty duties.

I had the vibration function AND camera go bust in 6 months time. The replacement I received then had a defective screen. Motorola was able to wash their hands of it despite being still in warranty. So I am typing from a semi-broken phone now.

I'm not saying don't get the 4/64... That's actually what I am using. Just know Murphy's Law and Motorola will do everything possible to keep it from living beyond (or even up to) 2 years. Lol.

Good luck.