Moto G 3rd Gen review (2015): The best compact budget smartphone now with Android 6.0

When it comes to budget smartphones, no one does it better than Motorola. For three long years, the Moto G has reigned supreme over every other cut-price handset around, and with the launch of the new Moto G4, Motorola looks set to continue that reign long into the future.

So where does that leave last year’s 3rd Gen model? Well, while the Moto G4 is a significant step up from the 3rd Gen Moto G in almost every way – including speed, battery life, camera and general screen quality – it is also considerably larger, as its screen measures 5.5in rather than 5in like its 3rd Gen sibling. Not everyone wants or might be happy with such a big phone in their pocket, so the 3rd Gen model is still worth considering if you’re after something a bit more compact.

Of course, there will come a time when the 3rd Gen Moto G will become increasingly hard to find, but thankfully that moment hasn’t come just yet, as it’s still widely available SIM-free for £130 and on contract for around £9.50-per-month on contract with an upfront cost of £20 from Carphone Warehouse.

It’s still a great smartphone, too, and it continues to beat almost every other cheap handset you can buy today. Likewise, the fact that you can now download a free system update for Android 6.0 Marshmallow as well means it’s as bang-up-to-date as it can possibly be.

The 3rd Gen Moto G is a much more refined handset than its chunky-looking 2nd Gen predecessor. Admittedly, its specs haven’t moved forward quite as much as I’d hoped, but Motorola’s superb build quality and sheer number of extra features more than make up for it.

^ If you choose to customise your Moto G using Moto Maker, you can personalise the rear shell cover and metallic accent

However, it’s important to note that there are actually two versions of the 3rd Gen Moto G you can buy at the moment, as there’s a basic model which comes with 8GB of default storage and 1GB of RAM, and a more advanced model with 16GB of storage and 2GB of RAM. Admittedly, the extra storage isn’t so much of a problem thanks to the Moto G’s microSD card slot, but the extra RAM will affects the phone’s overall speed and multitasking capability. I’ll explain more about this on the next page.

With two different specifications, that also means two different prices. The entry-level model, for instance – the type available to buy through most retailers and networks, as well as direct from Motorola via its customisable Moto Maker service – is currently available for around £130 SIM-free. If you want the 16GB and 2GB of RAM model, you’ll have to pay an extra £30, taking the total to £150.

Design

Regardless of which model you choose, though, the new Moto G’s design is far superior to any other budget handset I’ve seen from Motorola so far. Taking several design cues from Motorola’s Moto X series, the metal effect frame curves almost seamlessly into the removable back plate, creating lovely smooth contours.

While its overall girth of 11.6mm isn’t particularly svelte, the edges taper to a pleasing 6.1mm and its weight of 155g makes it feel very strong and durable. I much prefer it to the flat, angular edges of the Sony Xperia M4 Aqua and Samsung Galaxy A3, and even the gorgeous rubbery finish on the HTC Desire 626 can’t quite compare to the sheer comfort afforded by the 3rd Gen Moto G. The machined, textured finish on the power button is a particularly nice touch as well, as this makes it much easier to find in comparison to the flat volume rocker.

The Moto G’s removable rear panel is also a boon rather than a curse. These come in a variety of different colours and can be swapped in and out as you please, making it much more personal and customisable than any other handset at this price. It certainly beats having to make do with the slightly dull finishes on the EE Harrier and Vodafone Smart Ultra 6, and each Moto G grip shell and flip case also comes with a subtle ribbed texture. This feels very classy under your fingers, and provides an excellent amount of grip, which is vital if you’re going to use Motorola’s ingenious hand gesture shortcuts to access certain parts of the phone.

A double karate chop will turn on the phone’s rear flashlight, while a double twist of your wrist will instantly open the camera. I wouldn’t feel quite so confident performing these actions on other handsets, and it’s these kind of thoughtful handy features which help set the Moto G apart from the rest of the crowd.

Likewise, when the back is properly clipped into place (and you’re reminded as such as soon as you turn on the phone), the Moto G becomes waterproof thanks to its IPX7 rating, meaning it can be dunked in up to one metre of water for up to 30 minutes without taking damage. It’s not entirely watertight, though, so if you do happen to drop it down the loo, you’ll need to make sure you take off the back and give it a quick wipe, as we found a fair few droplets still lingering beneath the shell during our testing.

Underneath the rear panel, you can access the micro SIM card slot and microSD. There’s full 4G support, of course, but it’s a shame the microSD card slot only takes cards up to 32GB. Still, that should be plenty for most users, in addition to the 8GB or 16GB of memory provided – although only 4GB or 12GB is actually available to the user after taking Android and other apps into account.

Display

As far as I can tell, the 3rd Gen Moto G uses an almost identical screen to the one used on the 2nd Gen Moto G. Both have a 5in 1,280×720 resolution display, which I think strikes just the right balance between screen size and pixel clarity, and our colour calibration tests bore very similar results.

^ The 3rd Gen Moto G (left) has a much more refined design than the 2nd Gen Moto G (centre) and the 2nd Gen Moto E (right)

For instance, our colour calibrator showed it was displaying 85.4% of the sRGB colour gamut. This is around average compared to other budget phone displays, and while it obviously can’t compare to the rich vibrancy of the Galaxy A3’s Super AMOLED display, our resulting colour gamut had a very even spread across all the main primary colours. Reds were weakest, but skin tones looked much more natural than rival phone displays, such as the HTC Desire 626, when I lined them all up side by side. I also preferred it to the 2nd Gen Moto G’s screen, which also looked very warm and pink compared to the new model.

Black levels were reasonably dark at 0.36cd/m2 on max brightness, and the screen’s contrast levels of 1,061:1 provided plenty of detail. Likewise, the Moto G’s viewing angles were excellent, even at more extreme angles. However, you’ll struggle to make out darker images and video scenes when using the phone outdoors, as its peak brightness of 339.38cd/m2 is only really suited for web browsing and using apps with lighter backgrounds when you’re out in the sun.

Performance

Inside the new Moto G is a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 chipset. This chipset regularly appears in budget smartphones, but here it’s running at 1.4GHz rather than the usual 1.2GHz. This gives the phone a significant speed boost compared to the competition, and both the 1GB and 2GB of RAM models of the Moto G proved significantly faster in our benchmarks compared to the competition.

Both models scored around 530 in Geekbench 3’s single core test and 1,600 in the multicore test, whereas the 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410-powered 2nd Gen Moto E, for example, only managed 470 and 1,397 respectively. Both models were equally fast at web browsing, too, and the 1GB model’s impressive score of 781 in Futuremark’s Peacekeeper web browsing test is one of the faster scores I’ve seen from this chipset. Web pages loaded quickly and there were only a few signs of visible stutter on multimedia-heavy sites.

However, the real difference between the 1GB and 2GB Moto G is its ability to multitask, as apps and games loaded much faster on the 2GB version than the 1GB version. There’s often only a second between them, but the extra RAM does make a surprising difference.

A faster clock speed doesn’t necessarily equal smoother graphics performance, though, as its score of 105 frames in the offscreen Manhattan test in GFX Bench GL 3.1 can attest. This only equates to an average of about 1.7fps, but this test is extremely demanding and I found that simpler 2D games such as Threes! and Alphabear still ran perfectly smoothly. Likewise, while other Snapdragon 410 phones have warned that it didn’t meet the recommended specs for playing Blizzard’s Hearthstone, I saw no such notice on the Moto G, so it should be able to handle almost any game currently available from the Google Play Store.

^ As with previous Moto G phones, the 3rd Gen model also has several flip cases available, which have a comfy rubbery finish

Battery

Motorola’s managed to squeeze an extra 80mAh into the 3rd Gen Moto G’s 2,470mAh battery this time round, but what a difference it makes. With the screen brightness set to 170cd/m2, it managed an impressive 11h 12m of continuous video playback in our battery life test, which is 90 minutes more than what the 2nd Gen Moto G managed under the same conditions. It also beats every other phone in its price bracket save the Samsung Galaxy A3, whose energy-efficient AMOLED panel helped it last just over 14 and a half hours.

Camera

One of the biggest new additions to the 3rd Gen Moto G is its 13-megapixel rear camera. This is a big step up from the 2nd Gen’s 8-megapixel snapper, and according to Motorola, it’s the same sensor found in Google’s Motorola-made Nexus 6 handset, which is pretty impressive considering the Nexus 6 is more than twice as expensive. It also has a dual LED colour-balancing flash, which is meant to adjust colour temperature so flash-lit shots look more natural, and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.

Admittedly, I was a little disappointed by the flash’s performance in our indoor photo tests, as I actually thought it made our still life arrangement look rather green. This was particularly noticeable on the fur of our teddy bear, and the blocks of watercolour paint were also less vivid than our non-flash shots. It did eliminate a lot of the noise present when I didn’t have our external lamp turned on, but colour quality definitely suffered.

^ With the flash turned on, our indoor test images looked rather green around the gills

^ Turning the flash off, however, produced a much more natural looking image, despite the increase in noise

Still, there was plenty of detail present, regardless of whether I was indoors or outdoors, and outdoor shots in particular looked superb. Colours were rich and vibrant and shadow areas were well illuminated. It’s quick to shoot, too, and its simple interface is easy to get to grips with. There’s no onscreen shutter button, so all you need to do is tap the screen. Camera settings are revealed with a quick swipe in from the left, while a swipe from the right will take you straight to the Gallery.

There aren’t a huge number of settings to choose from, but HDR, Panorama and Motorola’s new Night mode should be more than enough for most. HDR was a little strong at times, but it does help bring out the details and clouds looked particularly dramatic. Motorola’s also included a new focus and exposure control on the 3rd Gen Moto G, which places a moveable focus bracket onscreen to help with those all important macro shots, as well as an exposure slider to help let in more light. These were very easy to use when I tried it out, and although increasing the exposure in poor lighting conditions will naturally subject you to more noise than usual.

^ Outdoors, colours were rich, accurate and there was plenty of detail on show

^ Switching on HDR mode lightened the image even further, and made the clouds really stand out 

Android 6.0 & Moto Apps

As I’ve come to expect from Motorola phones, the 3rd Gen Moto G runs almost pure Android, and this particular handset currently ships with 5.1.1 (Lollipop). However, there’s now a free over-the-air update available for Google’s latest operating system, Android 6.0, which adds in a few extra features such as enhanced power saving, but still keeps the overall look and feel of the previous Android OS. The lack of manufacturer alterations is great news as far as I’m concerned, the clean and simple UI is very easy to use.

The most useful feature of Android 6.0 is Doze, which dramatically lengthens battery life when your handset is in standby mode by cleverly limiting the amout of times it checks for updates on less-used apps. Next up is Now on Tap, which allows you to utilise Google’s clever Now search technologies on any screen on the phone, for example use the feature while reading a text meesage from a friend about a film they saw and Now on Tap will automatically find nearby screenings and reviews.

^ Motorola continues to use a largely unaltered version of Android 6.0, which is great in our books

Less exciting, but arguably more important, is the new App permissions system. Instead of spitting out a huge list of permissions every time you install an app and refusing to continue if you’re concerned about any one of those listed, the new system asks for permissions whenever an app first tries to access a particluar feature. For example, you might love your new messaging app but don’t want to give it access to your camera or contacts list. This isn’t a problem for Android 6.0, as you can just refuse when it asks but continue to use the app as you want.

It’s not all Google’s work, though, as Motorola’s included a few neat features of its own to really make the 3rd Gen Moto G stand out. For instance, open up the Moto app and you can adjust how notifications are displayed on the lock screen. Android Lollipop already did this to some extent when you turn on the phone, but the Moto G can display the time and up to three interactive notification buttons when the screen is turned off, which is both good for your phone’s battery life and incredibly handy if all you want to do is check the time.

If you want to open one of those notifications, you can swipe up, dismiss it by swiping to the side, or simply unlock your phone as normal by swiping down. This is by far one of my favourite features on the Moto G, and for me is absolutely one of the main attractions of choosing a Motorola handset over other smartphones around the same price.

^ The Moto Display is one of my favourite Motorola features, as you can see the time at a glance without having to turn the screen on

Conclusion

With its recent price cut, the  3rd Gen Moto G is back in the realms of being a proper, purebred budget handset. It might not be as powerful as the Moto G4, but its exquisite design and useful apps and features are more than enough compensation for Motorola’s slightly disappointing choice of chipset. If you’re looking for a compact smartphone and don’t want to spend over £150, the 3rd Gen Moto G is still the best phone to buy.

Looking for the best price? Check out the uSwitch deals page with prices starting from just £7.50 per month.