Moto G34 5G is an affordable 5G smartphone that was launched in India on January 9th and is available for purchase now. The Moto G lineup has been around for over a decade. I still remember the first Moto G, released in 2013, with stock Android, a few Moto-specific features, a single 5-megapixel rear camera, and thick bezels. Ten years later, the G lineup has undergone many changes, but Motorola has managed to keep it affordable. The new Moto G34 5G price will be lower than the original Moto G launch price. It also has a 50-megapixel camera instead of a 5-megapixel one.
I’ve been using the newly launched Moto G34 5G for over a week now. Here are my thoughts on the latest G Phone.
Moto G34 5G price in India
Before we talk about the Moto G34 5G, I would like to touch on its price in India. The base version with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage is priced at Rs. 10,999. We are reviewing the 8GB + 128GB version. The price is 1,000 yen. 11,999. The original Moto G was launched for his Rs 20 million. 12,499 in 2013 with 1GB RAM and 8GB storage. Its predecessor, his Moto G32, cost him Rs 20 million. The base model costs 11,999. What I want to say is that Moto G34 is his affordable 5G smartphone.
The phone is available in Charcoal Black, Ice Blue, and Ocean Green color options. The ocean green version has a vegan leather finished rear panel, and that’s what we’re reviewing.
The Moto G34 5G comes with a SIM ejector tool, some documents, a USB Type-C cable, and a 20W TurboPower charger in the box.
Moto G34 review: Design
The vegan leather finish on our review unit gives the Moto G34 5G a nice premium feel. This is a nice change from the usual glass or plastic back panels we’re used to. In the center of the rear panel is the famous Moto logo. The vegan leather finish is soft and resistant to fingerprints and dirt. It has a flat panel with rounded corners and a slight taper where the back panel meets the frame. The phone is also quite thin at just 8 mm and weighs 180 grams.
Motorola has used a similar camera bump on its recent G-series phones, with the module placed in the top left corner, and we think it looks nice. To be honest, there are very few bumps on the camera, but whatever is there is nicely finished. It has a different finish to the panels, adding a beautiful contrast. And that’s great because there’s not a lot of branding going on either. I don’t like it when manufacturers write the entire history of a phone on the back panel.
Overall, the Moto G34 5G feels great in the hand.
There’s no glass or metal here, so the Moto G34 5G is lighter, but not in a bad way. The display bezels are thin on the sides, but thick and uneven on the top and bottom. This phone has a flat panel with no tapered edges, but it doesn’t dig into your skin. Motorola has given this phone his IP52 rating, which means basic splash resistance.
Moto G34 review: specs and software
Now, let’s talk about the specifications. Motorola uses the proven Snapdragon 695 chip in the Moto G34 5G. The chipset is coupled with up to 8 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage, which is expandable. The phone comes with a hybrid SIM tray that can accommodate two nano SIM cards or one nano SIM card and a microSD card. In terms of connectivity, there’s a USB Type-C port at the bottom, a 3.5mm headphone jack, Bluetooth 5.1, 5G, dual-band Wi-Fi, and support for all GPS standards. The phone supports 13 5G bands.
The Moto G34 5G has a side-mounted fingerprint scanner under the power button. I’m a fan of capacitive fingerprint scanners and prefer them over in-display sensors. The scanner works well and is fast.
Moving on to the battery, the Moto G34 5G has a big battery. It is equipped with a 5,000mAh unit and supports up to 18W fast charging. However, a 20W charging adapter is included in the box.
The phone runs Android 14-based MyUX out of the box. The user interface is very similar to standard Android, but includes many additional features. Get software features like gaming mode, sidebar for quick access to apps in Windows mode, split-screen multitasking, and family space. There’s also a Moto Unplugged mode that lets you relax for a set amount of time. I also liked the Moto gestures available on the phone. It supports simple gestures to perform tasks such as turning on the flashlight, launching the camera app, and silencing calls. Motorola promises 1 year of OS updates and 3 years of security updates. This is normal for this price range, so I wasn’t too surprised.
However, I was surprised by the Moto G34 5G’s bloatware and pre-installed apps. I have three folders on my phone: GamesHub, Entertainment, and Shopping. These folders don’t have any apps installed, but if you tap on them, you’ll see a bunch of ads and can install games. All of these folders are from Swish Apps. However, you can uninstall the Entertainment, Shopping, and GamesHub folders.
Moto G34 review: Performance
Motorola claims that the Moto G34 5G is the fastest phone in the 5G segment, but says in a footnote that this claim also applies to other Motorola phones in the same price range. And that may be true. The phone is powered by the octa-core 6nm Snapdragon 695 SoC, which is a great mid-range chipset.
I ran Geekbench 6 and found a single-core CPU score of 912 and a multi-core score of 2050. It scored 1411 points in the GPU benchmark. On AnTuTu, the phone got a decent score of 3,50,965. You can perform basic tasks on the phone without any lag and it is suitable for daily use. I was also able to play his BGMI on my phone, but the graphics were limited to HD only. Still, this phone is perfectly usable for light BGMI gaming. Also, the phone wasn’t as responsive as I expected, probably because demanding games don’t run on the highest settings.
Next, take a look at your phone’s display. Moto G34 5G features a 6.5-inch IPS LCD display with HD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and 240Hz touch sampling rate. It has a punch-hole cutout for the front camera and panda glass protection. The panel has a brightness of 580 nits, which is good enough for watching videos and playing games indoors, but visibility isn’t great outdoors. The phone offers natural or saturated color modes, and you can choose to set the screen to 120 Hz, 60 Hz, or automatic. Overall, the display is adequate considering the price.
The phone offers a dual stereo speaker setup with one speaker on the bottom and the second speaker on the top ear speaker. The phone supports Dolby Atmos and the audio from the speakers is clear, but it lacks bass. The phone is loud enough to use indoors, but you will need to use headphones outdoors. Speaking of headphones, the Moto G34 5G comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack.
In terms of overall performance, the Moto G34 5G did a good job of delivering on the features it comes with. The software is not as lag-free as it used to be, but its impressive 120Hz refresh rate makes it look smoother than it actually is. Scrolling within apps is smooth, but only if you’re not running multiple apps or multitasking. When things start to slow down, your phone starts to become a little choppy, even when scrolling.
Where there will be no lag is in the battery department. The Moto G34 5G comes with a 5,000mAh battery that can easily last more than a day with minimal to moderate usage. Keeping your display in 60Hz mode can further extend your battery life. I consistently managed to get through his daily usage with about 6-7 hours of screen time. My day with him usually included about 30 minutes of gaming, watching some YouTube videos, using the camera to take photos, messaging, calling, and other normal tasks. The phone supports 18W charging speed and with the included charger it took him about 40 minutes to charge from 0 to 50 percent and 2 hours to reach 100 percent. Compared to current standards, this is quite slow.
Moto G34 Review: Camera
Budget smartphones come with decent cameras these days, and I thought the Moto G34 5G was no different. The phone has a 50-megapixel primary rear camera and a 2-megapixel macro sensor. On the front is his 16-megapixel sensor for selfies and video calls.
The camera app is easy to use and has all camera modes at the front. The main photo modes include 1x mode and macro mode. Photo mode allows 8x digital zoom and allows you to choose from three different aspect ratios. Motorola also includes a variety of filters that you can try directly in photo mode. There are also video modes, slow motion, portrait and pro modes. Meanwhile, Night Vision, Dual Capture, Timelapse, and Panorama are hidden in “More.”
Now, let’s talk about the image quality of the main 50 million pixel rear camera. During the day, the photos taken with the main camera are decent at best. You get some detail, but the colors are saturated and the HDR isn’t very good. Image quality was clearly not a priority for Motorola, but I don’t blame them. The cost of the phone is approximately Rs. 10,000, which is what you can expect. The macro camera was of little use and I was unable to take good close-up photos with this camera. As the sun sets, so does the image quality. Even with night vision mode, the image was not sharp and had a lot of noise. If you’re on a perfectly lit street, your camera may be able to use night vision mode to capture more detail.
From top to bottom: Main camera, macro, night vision, low light
However, while you can try Pro mode and get some good photos, the average consumer isn’t going to spend the time to take good photos. The main camera you just took out of your pocket will only give good results when used in sunlight. The selfie camera is also ok at best. You can try out features like Dual Capture, which uses both the front and rear cameras to take photos and videos.
As for the video performance of the main rear camera, it is capable of 1080p video capture at 30 fps, but there is some noise and artifacts even in daylight. There is image stabilization, but only electronically. Video quality also decreases at night. Moto G34 5G also lets you shoot videos using the macro camera. To my surprise, I was able to shoot close-up videos that were better than photos.
Moto G34 review: Verdict
The Moto G34 5G will compete with similarly priced phones from Xiaomi, Realme, and Poco. However, there aren’t many phones in this price range that come with 5G connectivity, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a vegan leather finish on the back panel.
If you’re looking to buy an affordable 5G smartphone and don’t really care about camera performance, the Moto G34 5G is a great option. It also has a great display, dual speakers, pretty good battery life, and you can even play games like His BGMI on low settings. However, if you want a proper camera setup, you will have to spend more money.
