A Game Changer

Despite its brief hiatus, Motorola has enjoyed the kind of cachet in the Indian market that is the envy of many brands. This is particularly so in the mid-range smartphone segment, where its Moto G has, year after year, been held in high regard for its focus on quality and promise of timely software updates while still staying shy of the Rs 15,000 price point. With the Moto G5 Plus, the Lenovo-Motorola combine has made a bunch of sweeping changes, but does it live up to the legacy of the range…and more importantly, should you be opening up your wallet for this mid-ranger?

It’s certainly the most radical makeover the Moto G series has seen — out goes the plastic of the past four generations, replaced by a high-grade aluminum body which feels refined and premium, not to mention sturdy. With its rounded edges and a smaller 5.2-inch screen (the Moto G4 Plus had a 5.5-inch), the G5 Plus is comfortable to hold and use as well. The fingerprint sensor on the front doubles as a touchpad, so you can associate left and right swipes to go back or open recent apps. Quite handy once you get used to it. Interestingly, the phone can accommodate two SIM cards plus a microSD card, so you don't have to choose between a second SIM and extra storage as with most dual-SIM phones these days. My only quibble is the camera bump on the rear, and placing it down on a hard surface might result in scratches on the lens over time.

For the money, you’re getting pretty par-for-the-course components under the hood, starting with the same Snapdragon 625 chip that’s been made popular by the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and the Lenovo P2, and a choice of 3GB or 4GB memory variants with 16 and 32GB built-in storage, respectively. The G5 Plus has the usual bevy of smart yet subtle Moto customisations to the software, but Moto wisely leaves the vanilla Android 7.0 Nougat largely untouched…a welcome change from the heavy skins we see with the competition. Performance is along expected lines, with the phone handling multitasking and daily tasks with ease, and while the 3000mAh battery isn’t quite in the same ballpark as the P2 or the Redmi Note 4, it lasts a full day of heavy use and offers fast charging as well.

Yet, it’s in the camera department that the G5 Plus has taken the biggest strides, and the results have mostly backed Motorola’s claims. The use of dual autofocus pixels on the rear camera let it lock focus in a jiffy, and the camera captures bags of detail in well-lit shots. Close-up macro images also benefit from the wide aperture lens, but it’s in low light where the performance takes a bit of a hit.

All in all, and even considering the unforgiving nature of this price segment, the Moto G5 Plus has a lot going for it — stylish design, fast charging, the dual-SIM plus memory slot, competent performance and respectable battery life, and a segment leading water-repellent nano-coating that should allay any worries in the rain. This truly is a phone that’s greater than the sum of its parts.