Review: Motorola Moto G (3rd Gen)
Thursday, August 6, 2015 at 8:44AM 
By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
New, improved and still the reigning pound-for-pound champion of the value smartphone segment, the new Moto G delights and impresses users with even more flagship-level features in an affordable and desirable package.
We've come a long way from the first Moto G, which was initially met with some degree of confusion. At that time, the more powerful Moto X (first gen) barely skirted mid-range features, but was being promoted as the next Motorola flagship. The Moto G, however, was clearly targetting the entry level while boldly proclaiming it could match the performance of the Samsung Galaxy S4.
The Moto G has since grown to become Motorola's best selling phone of all time and its combination of practical features, great price and unlocked and contract-free ethos made it a standout budget option.
For its 3rd generation, the Moto G features legitimate IPX7-rated water resistance, a vastly improved 13-megapixel rear camera and flash, a larger 5-inch display and upgraded build and materials.
One would think that all these refinements might bump the Moto G up a notch or price it out of the budget slash contract-free handset niche, but the latest model (with 8 GB of onboard storage and 1GB of RAM) costs $199.99 contract free and $0 on some two year contracts.
This price, dollar devaluation and all, is still very good for such an accomplished and capable 4G-LTE smartphone. Motorola has included a number of desirable features, like the Moto Assist which can use your location and calendar to help anticipate your needs and simplify your life. Quick Capture allows the camera to come to life with a simple flick of the wrist, no drilling down menus or even pressing buttons to get that timely photo or selfie.
What impressed me most about the Moto G was its design. The feel and texture of the materials used, plus the subtle yet elegant colour palette makes this device feel like a quality product that it is. In some countries that offer the Moto Maker customization feature (which Motorola has been trying to bring to Canada), Moto G's can be customized just like the more premium and expensive Moto X line.
Using the Moto G for around a week, I was impressed by the long-lasting battery life despite the slightly larger display. Motorola is one company that really understands how to work with the limitations of today's smartphone batteries and they have been making products (like the Droid Turbo in the US) that outlast rival smartphones by a long mile.
This technology has trickled down and around the line and the Moto G sure benefits from this long-life battery as does the upcoming Moto X Play (that one is compatible with the Turbo Charger, an optional charging plug that can add hours of battery life in mere minutes).
Another surprise feature was the loudness and clarify of the new Moto G's speaker. Listening to Spotify on the device allowed me to play back music without needing to reach for a bluetooth speaker. While yes, the sound was a bit tinny and flat, it was still pretty good and it was loud.
The camera is another revelation. Fans of Motorola smartphones have gotten used to the average quality of the cameras they get on their devices. Motorola has made image quality a huge consideration and now even the Moto G has a sweet shooter.
Not only has picture quality been improved overall, you also get great video capabilities and even slo motion video recording (see below).
The 13 megapixel sensor is similar but better than the Nexus 6's camera with an f/2.0 aperture (without the optical image stabilisation), but it does feature a better colour balancing dual LED flash (again another feature you expect from flagship devices).
Performance is consistently good thanks to the Snapdragon 410 processor with a 1.4 GHz quad-core CPU, and advanced Adreno graphics. I only wish Canadians had the option to pay a bit more to get the 16GB variant plus the 2GB of RAM version of the Moto G (3rd Gen), most consumers wouldn't balk at an extra $40 to $70 to get beefier specs.
The Moto G (3rd Gen) is met with some valid competition in the market now coming from the likes of ASUS, Alcatel OneTouch and soon ZTE, which all want to chip away at the contract-free and emerging markets segment of smartphones. They're coming with similarly affordable models, impressive camera specs and other high-end features and functionality. The new Moto G seems ready and willing to go toe to toe with these challengers.
This simply proves that Motorola was ahead of the curve and spotted this market segment earlier than everyone else. And with millions of consumers moving off the shackles of multi-year contracts, a vast majority are looking for new smartphones that won't break the bank but which they can be proud of.
In that arena, the Moto G is the most refined and evolved handset in nearly every possible way and this newest version stands as the best option to consider if you are looking for a capable smartphone with LTE capability and a camera that can take awesome images and video. Big bonus is the water resistance feature which seems to only be available from flagship Sony VAIO Z smartphones as well as last year's Samsung Galaxy S5.
Conclusion
In three short years, Motorola, which has undergone major restructuring and ownership transitions, has managed to define a profitable niche that has evolved into their most important product category.Now with Lenovo's backing and support, the Moto G (3rd Gen) brings better camera performance, water resistance and improved build and materials while maintaining the affordable price that's made it so popular.
Moto G is available in Canada from Bell Mobility, Koodo, TELUS, Wind Mobile and Virgin Mobile.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Reader Comments (2)
You say the Moto G 3rd generation is available on Wind. Can you provide more details on that as the Wind website still shows 2nd generation. Thank you.
Hi Dennis,
We weren't given a specific time for Wind availability but it is expected in the next few weeks. They are likely trying to get rid of the old stock of the older Moto G second gen as they have lowered the price on that.