Moto G Power 5G (2024) vs. Moto G 5G (2024): The easy choice

Cheap phones can fly under the radar when shiny, powerful flagships come out. But if you’re in the market for a smartphone that can get the job done without incurring a four-digit loss to your bank balance, a good budget smartphone is the way to go.

Motorola has released some great flagship products in the last year, but let’s be honest, it’s better in the budget cell phone space. Moto G Power 5G (2024) and Moto G 5G (2024) are Motorola’s two new low-cost smartphones this year. These two may look similar with similar prices, but they are actually two completely different phones that are suitable for two completely different types of people.

Both Moto Gs are solid choices for those looking for a great Android smartphone at a bargain price, but which one should you buy? We’ve compared them to find out.

Moto G Power 5G and Moto G 5G: specs

Moto G Power 5G and Moto G 5G: Design and display

At first glance, these are two smartphones that look the same. Both have dual-lens rear cameras in tall housings and vegan leather backs. On the front, thin bezels surround a large display, with a hole-punch selfie camera centered at the top of the screen. The Power is the larger of the two, and the giant one sports a 6.7-inch IPS LCD panel. However, this is only a small difference as the Moto G has a 6.6-inch display.

However, the quality of the two displays is quite different. Both have a 120Hz refresh rate, but the G Power has his 1080p display, while the Moto G tops out at 720p. This is very low, especially with the large screen of 6.6 inches, and you will clearly see the difference between the two phones. The Moto G’s resolution isn’t up to snuff, which is a shame.

Both are water-repellent, but not waterproof. There’s also a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, which is fine since you can’t expect an under-display scanner at this price (yet). Interestingly, both have headphone jacks, so you can plug in your old-school wired earbuds.

Thanks to the Moto G Power’s high-resolution display, you can do this very easily.

Winner: Moto G Power 5G

Moto G Power 5G and Moto G 5G: Performance, battery life, and charging

Being a budget phone, you won’t find any breakthrough performance here. However, the lower-priced chip is much more capable than before and should be able to squeeze better performance out of both phones. Moto G Power is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 7200 processor, while Moto G uses Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 chip. Both are 6nm chips, but we can’t really say which is more powerful unless we’ve tested them. However, the G Power’s RAM is significantly better at his 8GB compared to the Moto G’s meager 4GB. This benefit can give you a significant power boost when switching between apps or handling more power-hungry processes.

Also, I can’t really say how well the batteries will hold up in real-world use, but both have 5,000mAh cells and are reasonably specced, so you should expect them to last several days on a single charge. is expected. However, the power truly earns its name when it comes to charging. The Moto G has a charging speed of 18W, but the Power far exceeds that with a 30W charging speed. and 15W wireless charging. That’s a big difference, especially the 30W charging speed, which means the Moto G Power outperforms even flagship phones like the Samsung Galaxy S24 and Apple iPhone 15.

We won’t know which of the two phones is more powerful until we use it, but the Moto G Power wins here anyway with much faster charging and the addition of wireless charging.

Winner: Moto G Power 5G

Moto G Power 5G and Moto G 5G: Camera

This will be a difficult category to score since I haven’t had time to play with either phone yet. However, based on the previous examples, there are a few things we can infer about the expected performance of each phone’s camera.

Let’s dive straight into this issue with the bold declaration that macro lenses are almost always terrible. So I don’t really believe that the Moto G’s 2-megapixel macro lens will be anything special. Therefore, it is likely that this phone will actually be a single-lens camera. Thankfully, this could be a decent main lens. The Moto G appears to have the same 50MP lens we saw on last year’s Moto G Power. This was a pretty good snapper, even if it required good lighting conditions to produce good shots.

If the Moto G Power didn’t have some upgrades, this would be enough to force a tie. It has the same 50MP lens, but now has a 16MP ultra-wide-angle lens. Maybe it’s the lack of an ultra-wide-angle lens, but you won’t know until you actually use it. But it would still provide more versatility, and frankly, who really needs a macro lens? Adding optical image stabilization to the Power makes this another win for a $300 phone.

Winner: Moto G Power 5G

Moto G Power 5G and Moto G 5G: Software, updates, and special features

This is likely to be a short one, as there is little to really differentiate the two. Both phones run his Android 14 with a thin Motorola skin placed on top of it. Motorola’s changes are small and can be mistaken for a pure Android build in most cases. Motorola’s Moto Gestures has some additional apps and support. This includes the ability to perform a chop motion to turn on the flashlight and take a screenshot using three fingers. These are among the quietest, but most useful features Motorola has added to his Android, and you absolutely must use them.

It’s a similar story for updates. There’s no word on how many updates these two smartphones will receive, but given the Moto G releases so far, we can assume that both smartphones will only get his one-time Android upgrade. There is no mistake. When it launches later this year, it will go from Android 14 to Android 15.

In terms of special features, both come with the aforementioned Moto Gesture and access to 5G, the next generation of cellular services. As a result, there is little that really distinguishes the two. This is a tie.

Winner: draw

Moto G Power 5G and Moto G 5G: Pricing and availability

As you can imagine, these two are very affordable phones. Moto G Power 5G (2024) is priced at $300 and will be available on March 22nd. It will initially be available only on Cricket, but will be made available to other carriers later. If you want to buy it unlocked from a retailer, you’ll have to wait until March 29th.

The Moto G 5G (2024) costs $200 and its availability is strangely limited. This time, it will be available from March 21st on T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile. Other carriers are also expected to participate at an unspecified date, and if you want to buy it unlocked, you won’t be able to buy it until May 2nd, which is quite a time lag.

Moto G Power 5G vs Moto G 5G: which one should you buy?

It’s clear which of these two phones you should buy. Moto G Power 5G (2024). For just $100 more, you can get a phone with a better display, a more capable camera, and faster charging. Wireless charging is also possible! The Moto G 5G (2024) is a cheaper version of the Power, and if you can shell out the extra $100, we think the Power is definitely worth it.

However, keep in mind that $100 is exactly half of the Moto G’s asking price. If you shop in this price range, you may not want to spend that extra money. That’s fine, but should you buy the Moto G 5G (2024) in that case? At this time, we recommend caution. The base Moto G was previously underwhelming, and we don’t want to recommend a phone you might regret buying. Instead, take a look at the OnePlus Nord N30 5G. This is a great budget smartphone that comes in at an additional $50 and is worth buying instead of the Moto G. In an ideal world, I would say wait for a review because you should buy the standard Moto G at this point. It can be a risk.

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