Motorola Moto G34 5G review: A new starting point?

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Remember when 5G was the exclusive domain of flagship smartphones and you had to pay a hefty price for a compatible cell phone plan? Not in 2024. Networks are handing out huge 5G data bundles for almost free, and even cheap cell phones are getting in on the action. The Motorola G34 might be the most affordable 5G phone I’ve ever tried. Sounds appealing if you’re on a tight budget.

You’d certainly be hard pressed to find comparable specs for the £150 asking price (there’s no word of it being released in the US). Moto has also managed to incorporate some features that are usually reserved for phones in the next price range, such as a large battery and the latest version of his Android.

But if you don’t have to spend as much to find more storage, a more powerful processor, or longer-term software support, would it make more sense to save your cash just a little longer? Or maybe the Motorola G34? Is 5G really a bargain? After a few weeks of testing, my heart is in two pieces.

Design and construction: light touch

The Motorola G34 has a flat back, angular sides, and a front that’s almost entirely screen, giving it a convincing impression of being a much more expensive phone. It’s only when you hold it in your hand that you realize it’s made of polycarbonate plastic, rather than the glass and metal mixture found in flagship models like the Samsung Galaxy S24. Still, it doesn’t feel cheap and weighs a safe 181g.

The matte finish on my Ice Blue review unit does a great job of hiding fingerprint smudges, and Moto says it has a “water-repellent” design. However, they have not yet gone so far as to provide official IP ratings on their website, so it is only a drizzle at best. It’s also available in charcoal black and ocean green, the latter with a vegan leather finish for a little extra flair.

A fingerprint sensor built into the power button is still standard on cheap phones. The G34 is wisely placed in the middle of the right side of the phone. Depending on which hand you were holding it, you could easily extend it with your left index finger or right thumb. Finger detection was very accurate and quick. Facial recognition is a good alternative, even if it cannot be used for apps that require biometric security, such as banking apps.

The Motorola G34 reminds us of features we used to take for granted before flagship models did away with them. One of the two slots on the SIM tray allows you to insert a microSD card to add extra storage when you need it, and there’s a 3.5mm headphone port on the bottom edge.

Screen and Sound: Need Speed

The thick bezels, which are thicker at the bottom than the top and sides, mark the Motorola G34 as a budget blower, but the 6.5-inch display itself is quite substantial. The punch-hole selfie camera looks very sleek, and with the right wallpaper, the bezels don’t get in the way at all.

The panel itself is an IPS LCD with a modest 1600 x 720 resolution. At arm’s length, colors look subdued, contrast is good, and it looks reasonably sharp. The brightness limit reaches 500 nits, so it may be difficult to see what’s on the screen in direct sunlight.

It won’t compete with even the cheapest OLED displays, but at half the price. You also get a 120Hz refresh rate, so it’s hard to feel that the changes are particularly short. Most budget phones can extend up to his 90Hz panel, but only the cheapest phones stick to 60Hz.

While I appreciate the option to have the phone switch between 60Hz and 120Hz on the fly depending on what’s happening on the screen, I preferred to force 120Hz all the time. Battery power is only slightly affected, which helps make your phone a little more responsive. This is very necessary.

Stereo speakers are a welcome addition at this price. Earphone tweeters and down-firing main drivers combine to deliver moderately loud audio. Dolby Atmos adds a bit of separation, but don’t expect anything in terms of bass presence. At least the 3.5mm headphone port makes wired listening easier.

Camera: More than the number of pixels

A 50MP camera sensor on a £150 phone is pretty impressive, but don’t let the numbers blind you. The Motorola G34’s lean lens is good enough for this price. The lack of any image stabilization means you need a steady hand, especially when snapping at night, and the Moto’s image processing ranks somewhere in the middle of the smartphone pecking order.

In perfect light, the G34 can be a little too aggressive with sharpness in an attempt to extract maximum detail. This can make your photos look a little grainy, especially when pixels start to show. That said, colors are on the right side of realism and dynamic range is handled fairly well with reasonable contrast. The HDR processing is also subtle, with a good mix of highlight and shadow detail. However, the AI’s color and exposure processing can sometimes go too far, making images brighter or warmer than they should be. I preferred the more realistic Natural preset.

In theory, the sensor could crop a nice 2x zoom shot, but Moto’s camera app doesn’t include a magnification toggle. It takes 1 second to open the app and activate the sensor. It can also be a bit slow to save low-light snaps. However, this is not unheard of on a budget.

Neither is a very basic secondary camera. The 2MP macro lens included here can focus from about 4cm, but produces soft and noisy images even in bright light. I hardly felt the need to use it and wondered if it really added any value other than Motorola’s claim that it has a dual rear camera system.

Of course, this is still an affordable phone, so your expectations for image quality should be kept firmly in check.

Software Experience: More Moto

I was very happy to see the Motorola G34 running Android 14 out of the box. Some budget competitors are still shipping products with the previous generation of Android 13. This will keep your smartphone up to date for at least the next two years, with Moto promising a single major OS upgrade. However, in the long run, I think a more expensive device with 2 years of OS updates makes more economic sense.

The UI remains unchanged from Moto’s previous efforts, which stays very true to the standard Android experience. Only a few custom widgets and fonts really stand out, with Google’s apps being the default elsewhere. Old favorites like the karate chop gesture that turns on the flashlight are back, and a fair amount of customization is offered.

The Moto Secure privacy hub and Family Space app are useful additions if you plan on passing this phone on to your kids, and Moto Unplugged is a great Do Not Disturb feature. Lock down your apps to only the ones you choose and mute all other notifications so you can focus or relax. There are many pre-installed games and apps that you can do without, but they can be easily removed.

I’ve always thought Motorola’s light touch of software works well on more affordable phones without wasting precious CPU resources on flashy animations or bloating limited storage. . The G34 continues the tradition of the original Moto G in that regard.

Performance and battery life: you get what you pay for

The Motorola G34’s Snapdragon 695 chipset has been around for a while. Until last year, this was common on mid-range phones, including the $449/£399 Sony Xperia 10 V. You can get the same silicone here for less than half the price. Naturally, this is his 5G-enabled chip, so you can plug a compatible SIM card into your home and get the fastest mobile data speeds.

My review sample has 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage and is indicative of the UK market. Other regions sell versions with more memory and storage. I’ve used phones with the same CPU and found them much smoother and more responsive, so I wonder if 4GB is a bit too much.

There is a small hiccup when swiping between pages on the home screen. The menu takes 0.5 seconds longer to load. Apps must periodically reload when attempting to multitask, even if some of the system storage is set aside as virtual memory. It felt very jagged, so I repeatedly made sure to set the screen’s refresh rate to 120Hz. You’ll never forget that this is a budget phone.

Simple 2D games played reasonably well, but more demanding 3D titles required me to stick to the lowest settings for the smoothest frame rate. Although it doesn’t reach the maximum 120Hz in Call of Duty Mobile, I was able to play some of his multiplayer matches without experiencing game-breaking slowdowns. Fortnite’s default rendering resolution is less than 100%, but I still experienced stuttering.

At least the CPU isn’t particularly power-hungry, and the 5000mAh battery should easily last you a full day even with fairly heavy use. Even with over 5G, I was able to be the first one out of the house and didn’t have to worry about mid-afternoon top-ups. When you’re at home and only connected to Wi-Fi, your usual combination of social, web browsing, streaming, and Bluetooth music playback will keep you going through the day. 18W wired charging is clearly average, even for a budget phone.

Motorola Moto g34 verdict

Want to get 5G for less? The Motorola G34 has better hardware and faster mobile data than its budget competitors. Comparably priced rivals tend to only carry his 4G and don’t support 120Hz screens. The daytime camera performance is good for the price, and Moto’s promise of updates, while basic, is at least in line with the budget competition.

However, the performance is definitely entry-level, and the secondary macro lens is totally in the token. Phones in the next price range should have a longer lifespan, with hardware that can handle Android’s increasingly demanding system requirements well, and an additional year (or more) of software updates. So, at least in Western markets, the Motorola G34 has a bit of false economy, as you can get the Honor 90 Lite with twice the storage and punchier performance for £30 more.

The Motorola G54 is also only £30 more expensive. It might be running Android 13, but with a higher screen resolution, twice the storage and memory, and a slightly faster CPU. I think you should choose it if you can afford it. The G34 will probably become popular in other regions as well. There, even mid-range models may be out of reach for the majority of shoppers.

Motorola Moto g34 technical specifications