The $299.99 Motorola Moto G Power 5G for 2024 is the same affordable price as its predecessor, but introduces some welcome improvements, including a faster processor and NFC support. It also has a large, bright screen for entertainment and lasts longer than many phones in this price range. The similarly priced OnePlus Nord N30 5G takes better photos, but the Moto G Power is our editor’s favorite budget phone thanks to its superior performance, long battery life, and wireless charging support. Here’s a new winner to choose from.
Design: Even with the large screen, the back is not clean
The Moto G Power 5G measures 6.58 x 3.01 x 0.33 inches (HWD) and weighs 7.09 ounces, making it slightly larger than last year’s model (6.42 x 2.94 x 0.33 inches, 6.53 ounces) and Nord N30 (6.52 ounces) It’s heavy. 2.99 x 0.33 inches and 6.88 oz).
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
Motorola has increased the screen size from 6.5 inches to 6.7 inches this year, matching the size of the Nord N30. Both offer a resolution of 2,400 x 1,080 pixels and an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz. The maximum brightness of the display reaches 500 nits, while the Nord N30 reaches 680 nits. Colors look vibrant and we didn’t have any reflection issues or trouble reading the screen in direct sunlight in our testing. Thin bezels and an in-screen hole for the selfie camera define the rest of the front.
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(Credit: Sarah Lord)
Motorola has opted for a vegan leather material instead of plastic for the back panel. Both the Midnight Blue and Pale Lilac editions come in this finish, and it’s the latter that I received for testing. Although the design is visually appealing and fingerprint-free, the rough surface makes it very susceptible to dust and hair. In testing, I noticed dog hair stuck to the back as soon as I put my phone down, and crumbs stuck to it after I put it down on the kitchen table. Although I was able to wipe the phone clean with just a paper towel, I recommend using a case to alleviate this problem. At least the textured surface makes the device easier to grip. The raised camera module on the back has the same vegan leather finish, giving it a cohesive look.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
The bottom edge of the phone has a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB-C port, and a single speaker grill. The power button and two volume buttons are lined up on the right side. All three buttons feel sturdy and provide a satisfying click when pressed. The left side has an integrated SIM/microSD card slot. The Nord N30 also features a headphone jack and an expandable storage slot, similar to the $199.99 Samsung Galaxy A15.
As for biometric security, you can use the fingerprint scanner built into the side-mounted power button or switch to facial recognition via the front camera. Both worked well in our tests, but we found the latter to be faster and more reliable.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
Like many phones in this price range (including the Nord N30), the Moto G Power 5G doesn’t have an official IP rating for dust and water ingress. However, Motorola claims that the phone is safe against accidental liquid spills, splashes, sweat, and light rain. Conversely, the company’s $149.99 Moto G Play has an official IP52 rating.
Performance above budget
The Moto G Power 5G comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, but you can add up to 1TB of additional space with the microSD slot. This phone uses the MediaTek Dimensity 7020 processor, which is an upgrade over the previous model’s Dimensity 930. In testing, everything ran smoothly, even when I had multiple apps open at the same time.
Benchmarks confirm excellent performance. In the Geekbench 6 CPU test, which measures raw power, the phone scores 889 in the single-core test and 2,345 in the multi-core test, up from last year’s model’s 638 and 1,907. The Nord N30, equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor, fell short of the latest Moto G Power, which scored 688 points and 2,044 points in the same test. For reference, the Google Pixel 7a achieved high scores of 1,343 and 2,853 thanks to its Tensor G2 chip. This phone is priced on the high side at $499, but it’s often sold for a price close to that of the Moto G Power.
(Credit: Geekbench/GFXBench)
The Moto G Power 5G didn’t perform as well as the Nord N30 in the GFXBench Aztec Ruins gaming test at 1,140 pixels, reaching 7.2fps compared to the Nord N30’s 7.8fps. The Google Pixel 7a easily outperforms both, averaging 26fps.
Geshin Impact plays fine on mobile, but it does stutter a bit during intense battle scenes. The phone will start to get slightly warm after about 30 minutes. But when you play casual games like Alto’s Odyssey, it doesn’t get warm. If gaming is important to you, his $299 Nuu B30 Pro 5G offers great performance for the price.
reliable battery life
To test the Moto G Power’s 5,000mAh battery, I played a continuous 1080p video over Wi-Fi with the screen brightness at maximum. In this scenario, the phone lasted his 12 hours and 15 minutes, which was also longer than his 11 hours and 18 minutes on the Nord N30, which has a 5,000mAh cell. The Google Pixel 7a has a smaller battery at 4,355mAh, but the battery life is even better at 13 hours and 25 minutes.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
Moto G Power supports 30W fast wired charging, which is better than the Pixel 7a’s 18W. For comparison, the Nord N30 supports OnePlus’ proprietary fast 50W wired charging via an included adapter. Motorola also includes a charger in the box, but emphasizes that its wattage will vary depending on the country where you buy the phone. Importantly, the Moto G Power supports wireless charging at up to 15W, which the Nord N30 lacks.
In testing, it took 1 hour and 58 minutes to fully charge the phone using a fast wired charger. The Nord took just 55 minutes to accomplish the same feat, but it also doesn’t support wireless charging.
strong wireless connection
Moto G Power 5G supports most sub-6GHz and C-band 5G spectrum used by major US carriers. However, this phone doesn’t have access to the fastest mmWave 5G spectrum available on T-Mobile and Verizon’s networks. Nord N30 also doesn’t support mmWave (Pixel 7a does).
You can use an eSIM with this phone, but I tested it with a physical SIM on a Google Fi network piggybacked on a T-Mobile tower. Although coverage in my area is weak, the Moto G Power still recorded respectable speeds of 136 Mbps down and 57.2 Mbps up. For comparison, the iPhone 14 Pro reached speeds of 122Mbps download and 34.3Mbps upload in the same location.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
The phone supports dual-band Wi-Fi 6, but not 6E. When connected to a Wi-Fi 6 router, the download speed was 32.3Mbps and the upload speed was 22.9Mbps. The Wi-Fi 6 compatible iPhone 14 Pro recorded download speeds of 19.7Mbps and upload speeds of 16.7Mbps at the same location. The Moto G Power maintained similar performance at the edge of the router’s range, with 25.9Mbps down and 17.7Mbps up. I also couldn’t connect my iPhone 14 Pro from the same location.
This phone offers clear call quality and is great at minimizing background noise. The maximum value for earphones is 73.9dB, and the maximum value for speakerphone is 82.0dB. These levels should be loud enough for calls to be heard even in noisy environments.
Dolby Atmos support means the speakers do a surprisingly decent job of conveying the Knife’s “Silent Shout” bass. Moreover, this phone can fill a small room with sound at the highest volume. Alternatively, you can connect wireless headphones or speakers using Bluetooth 5.3. And as mentioned earlier, the 3.5mm headphone jack lets you connect wired headphones as well.
As a welcome upgrade over previous models, Motorola has added NFC for mobile payments.
camera quality
The main camera on the Moto G Power has a 50MP f/1.8 sensor with optical image stabilization (OIS). Automatically bins shots up to 12.5MP. There’s also an 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera with a 118-degree field of view that doubles as a macro camera for close-ups. The camera app offers three distance modes. The flower icon inside a circle represents macro mode (using macro settings), followed by 0.5x zoom for wide-angle shots, followed by 1x zoom for the main camera. When you open the app, it uses the main camera by default. For selfies, there is a 16MP f/2.4 camera on the front.
Main camera (Credit: Sarah Lord)
Main camera (Credit: Sarah Lord)
The main camera has difficulty capturing details in bright light, even at 1x zoom. The pine branches in the photo above look blurry and pixelated, but the colors look artificially bright. If you zoom in, you can see that the colors are blurred.
Wide angle shot (Credit: Sarah Lord)
The same issue occurs in the wider 0.5x mode. In the image above, the sky is unnaturally blue and patchy, and if you look closely you can see that the foliage on the ground is overly pixelated.
Selfie camera (Credit: Sarah Lord)
As for the selfie camera, it works fine. Considering the light available, I was able to successfully capture my dog in the image above.
The main camera can record video in Full HD at 60fps or 30fps. Video clips have a similar look to photos, but are ultimately better suited for recording short moments and sharing them with friends.
If photography is important to you and you’re on a tight budget, you’re better off with the Nord N30. If you have more money to spend, the Pixel 7a offers superior imaging hardware and top-notch software.
Software: Bigger than usual
Moto G Power 5G runs Android 14. Motorola promises only one Android update for the phone and three years of security updates. OnePlus offers a similar update path for the Nord N30, but it ships with Android 13 and never goes beyond Android 14. The Pixel 7a is more sustainable in the long run, as Google promises its Android OS upgrades for three years and security for five years. Update for it.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
This phone has more bloatware than we’re used to seeing on Motorola devices. For example, the default home screen includes app folders for Google and Motorola: Games, Family Space for parental controls, Moto for additional settings, and Moto Unplugged to avoid distractions. There’s also a Shopping and Entertainment folder with related apps and suggestions. Additionally, the GamesHub folder contains suggestions for games.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
Swipe from left to right on the home screen to scroll through the app pages. Indeed and TikTok are pre-installed, as are Booking.com, Facebook, GoodRX, and Walmart. Thankfully, you can remove all of these apps and folders, but I think it’s better not to include them in the first place.
Affordable power and performance
It’s hard to beat the 2024 Moto G Power 5G on price. For $300, you get smooth performance, a large screen, reliable connectivity, long battery life, and NFC. The OnePlus Nord N30 has a better camera, but the Moto G Power is faster, lasts longer, and supports wireless charging, tipping the scales in its favor and earning it the Moto Editor’s Choice Award for budget-friendly Android smartphone was awarded. If you’re particularly interested in photography and can stretch your budget, the Pixel 7a is a great upgrade option and an Editors’ Choice winner.
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