The Moto G Play for 2023 prices $170 (and even much less at Amazon), making it one of many most cost-effective new telephones you may get proper now, and with out the bloatware or wi-fi service restrictions we generally see on lower-priced units. With an honest set of specs for the value — together with a triple digicam system with a 16-megapixel foremost digicam, a 6.5-inch show with a 90Hz refresh charge and a 5,000-mAh battery that gives practically three days of battery life — this could have been a gorgeous choice for anybody searching for an honest, no-frills cellphone.However, this cellphone has various efficiency points that make it irritating to make use of. And on high of that, Motorola selected to drop one among its greatest Moto gestures: twisting the cellphone to rapidly open its digicam. While some may take into account these gestures a gimmick, they’ve been a signature ingredient of Motorola’s telephones for practically a decade. Other gestures like “chop to turn on flashlight” are nonetheless right here, making the absence of the digicam gesture much more obvious.Despite these vital drawbacks, the 2023 Moto G Play does have some optimistic attributes. The battery life is nice, the software program is a reasonably clear model of Android 12 and you will find uncommon ports like a headphone jack and microSD card slot for storage enlargement. But the cellphone will solely get one main software program replace to Android 13, which is lower than I’d prefer to see however typical for this worth vary, in addition to three years of safety updates. Yet each perk I record comes with one other downside, which is vital to think about for those who’re tempted by the Moto G Play due to its low worth.
LikeLong battery lifeClean model of Android 12Three years of safety updates
Don’t LikeFrequent lag, points loading softwareQuestionable refresh rateNo “twist to open camera” gesture
Moto G Play design and efficiencyThe Moto G Play appears good for a cellphone that prices simply $170. The Navy Blue colour of its plastic physique gives a touch of character, whereas the cellphone’s low-resolution 720p show features a display screen cutout for the 5-megapixel front-facing digicam. The fingerprint sensor is positioned in my favourite spot on an Android cellphone — the again. But the issues start when you begin utilizing the cellphone. The cellphone’s MediaTek Helio G37 processor and 3GB of RAM weren’t highly effective sufficient to juggle a number of apps simply. In some circumstances, it would not even load sure apps. This was notably weird contemplating it loaded a 3D recreation like Crazy Taxi (admittedly an oldie however nonetheless a goodie), however could not run different trendy 2D video games like Exploding Kittens. With the cellphone’s tiny 32GB of storage, I’m fortunate to even match a pair video games onto the Moto G Play, though there’s a microSD card slot for storage enlargement.
Geekbench V.5.0 single-core
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
Geekbench V.5.0 multicore
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
Email, information and video-streaming apps fared higher by way of efficiency, however not by a lot. Even although the Moto G Play touts a 90Hz refresh charge, which ought to easy out animations, there may be loads of noticeable lag. I could not even inform when the refresh charge reached 90Hz. The Settings menu permits you to select between “Auto” and “60 Hz,” with the previous dynamically altering the refresh charge based mostly on what you might be doing. Having an auto setting does make sense, however loads of the cheaper Android telephones I’ve used additionally embrace the choice to set the cellphone to a constant 90Hz, alongside a 60Hz choice for preserving battery life.This brings me again to the cellphone’s 5,000-mAh battery — a shiny spot contemplating it simply lasted two days on a full cost throughout my testing. I believe it is potential for the battery to make it to a 3rd day, largely due to how underpowered this gadget is. I sometimes received round three hours of display screen time per day on the gadget throughout my testing, which included streaming, taking pictures photographs and making an attempt to play video games for this overview.During a extra energetic session on the cellphone, wherein I streamed 22 minutes of a TV present at 100% brightness after which took a 24-minute video name, the battery dropped from 59% to 46%. On much less energetic days, wherein the cellphone was used primarily for listening to music whereas commuting, studying information articles and light-weight texting, I may finish the day with simply over 50% remaining.Charging occasions for the cellphone are typically much less spectacular than battery life. With the included 10-watt charger, it sometimes took simply over an hour to cost from zero to 50%. Getting to 100% would take simply over 2 hours, 30 minutes. When I examined charging speeds with my 18-watt charger, the outcomes had been barely quicker. The cellphone would get from zero to 66% after an hour and end charging simply previous the two-hour mark.The Moto G Play has three cameras, anchored by a 16-megapixel foremost digicam.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
Moto G Play camerasThe Moto G Play has a triple-camera system anchored by a foremost 16-megapixel digicam, which is accompanied by a 2-megapixel macro digicam and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. But photographs are persistently fuzzy, whether or not I took them indoors, outside, in shiny environments or at nighttime.A foggy day in New York, taken on the Moto G Play.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
While it was good to see Portrait mode on a cellphone at this worth, I can barely see a lot of a bokeh impact in my photographs. This is particularly true when utilizing the 5-megapixel front-facing digicam, wherein my photographs appeared persistently muddy.My buddy took a photograph of me on the Taco Bell in Times Square utilizing Portrait Mode, nevertheless it’s difficult to see if it made a distinction.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
The Moto G Play’s front-facing digicam had a tricky time holding me in focus, even in a restaurant with respectable lighting.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
I took the Moto G Play with me to Taco Bell — as a result of sure, I’m going to go eat low cost meals whereas reviewing an inexpensive cellphone. I had my buddy take photographs of me utilizing the cellphone’s Portrait setting. You can form of see a lightweight blurring impact within the background, nevertheless it’s laborious to understand. In one other selfie taken at a restaurant with higher lighting than the Taco Bell, I discovered the selfie digicam to have a tricky time holding me in focus.And when taking photographs of my buddy’s canine Daisy, the rear cameras struggled to seize a lot element of her fur, even when she sat nonetheless. In the very best of circumstances, the cellphone’s cameras wrestle to take sharp photographs.Daisy the canine sat comparatively nonetheless for this photograph, however the Moto G Play’s digicam captures minimal element.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET
I in contrast the photographs taken on the Moto G Play towards the identical photos taken on the $160 Samsung Galaxy A03S, and located the image high quality to be roughly comparable for easy static photographs. When taking pictures a bookshelf at CNET’s workplace, the Moto G Play received barely extra element of the e book covers than the Galaxy A03S, with the latter cellphone’s picture showing a bit darker. However, in the case of a photograph with a lot of element and colour, resembling with this plant wall, the Moto G Play struggles to discern between the totally different shades of inexperienced. Meanwhile the Galaxy A03S performs a lot better with discerning the darker inexperienced shades from the lighter ones, making for a dramatically totally different photograph.Neither cellphone’s digicam performs particularly effectively, which is a standard theme amongst telephones that price beneath $200. For me, this locations the Moto G Play’s digicam photographs squarely into the class of being acceptable for group chats, however not a lot else. It’s going to take loads of actually good lighting and regular palms to be able to benefit from these cameras, and that is extra effort than most individuals are going to wish to make.There are higher choices, even once you wish to lower your expensesEven once you’re searching for the most cost effective potential cellphone, your gadget nonetheless must run most apps with out concern and take decent-looking photographs. I would not count on a cellphone that prices lower than $200 to run Fortnite on the highest graphics settings, however I’m anticipating to make use of apps with minimal lag. While telephones at this worth are additionally sometimes lighter on options, the perks which might be out there ought to carry noticeable worth to the expertise. The Moto G Play’s Portrait mode and excessive refresh charge do not succeed on this regard. Instead of shopping for the Moto G Play at $170, you are in all probability higher off saving $10 and getting the $160 Samsung Galaxy A03S. While that cellphone additionally has unimpressive cameras, it was a minimum of in a position to multitask extra simply.Although I have never reviewed it but, you may additionally take into account the $199 Samsung Galaxy A14 5G, because it has 64GB of storage and 5G connectivity. Later this yr, various TCL 40 telephones will arrive within the US, which can embrace 5G and 128GB of storage for beneath $200. Those units could be value ready for for those who aren’t in dire want of an inexpensive cellphone proper now.
Moto G Play (2023) vs. Samsung Galaxy A03S, TCL Stylus 5G, OnePlus Nord N300 5G
Moto G Play (2023)
Samsung Galaxy A03S
TCL Stylus 5G
OnePlus Nord N300 5G
Display dimension, sort decision, refresh charge
6.5-inch IPS TFT LCD; 1,600×720 pixels; 90Hz refresh charge
6.5-inch LCD; 1,600×720 pixels
6.81-inch; 2,400×1,080 pixels
6.56-inch IPS LCD show; 720p decision; 90Hz refresh charge
Pixel density
269ppi
269ppi
395ppi
269ppi
Dimensions (inches)
6.58 x 2.95 x 0.36 in
6.5 x 2.9 x 0.3 in
6.67 x 3.01 x 0.35 in
6.4 x 2.9 x 0.3 in
Dimensions (millimeters)
167 x 77 x 9.4 mm
165.8 x 75.9 x 9.1 mm
169.6 x 76.5 x 8.9 mm
163.8 x 75.1 x 7.99 mm
Weight (ounces, grams)
203 g (7.16 oz)
202g (7.13 oz)
213g (7.51 oz)
190g (6.7 oz)
Mobile software program
Android 12
Android 11
Android 12
Android 12
Camera
16-megapixel (foremost), 2-megapixel (macro), 2-megapixel (depth sensor)
13-megapixel (foremost), 2-megapixel (depth), 2-megapixel (macro)
50-megapixel (foremost), 5-megapixel (huge), 2-megapixel (macro), 2-megapixel (depth sensor)
48-megapixel (foremost), 2-megapixel (depth lens)
Front-facing digicam
5-megapixel
5-megapixel
13-megapixel
16-megapixel
Video seize
720p at 30 fps
1080p at 30fps
1080p at 30fps
1080p at 30fps
Processor
MediaTek Helio G37
Octa-core processor
MediaTek Dimensity 700 5G
MediaTek Dimensity 810
RAM, storage
3GB + 32GB
3GB/32GB
4GB/128GB
4GB/64GB
Expandable storage
Up to 512GB
Up to 1TB
Up to 2TB
Up to 1TB
Battery, charger
5,000 mAh; 10W charging
5,000mAh; charger not included, doesn’t assist wi-fi charging
4,000mAh; 18W charging
5,000mAh; 33W charging
Fingerprint sensor
Rear
Side
Side
Side
Connector
USB-C
USB-C
USB-C
USB-C
Headphone jack
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Special options
3-day battery life, Moto Gestures, Auto Smile Capture, Portait Mode
Stylus with built-in storage, producitivity software program, NxtVision HDR mode
Dual audio system, NFC, Face Unlock, HDR, Portrait, Face retouching
Price off-contract (USD)
$170
$160
$258
$228