Motorola Moto G - any good

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Discussion

durbster

10,223 posts

221 months

Friday 27th June 2014
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EV11NED said:
...Also, I'm considering an Asus MeMo pad as the iPad mini replacement - is this a decent alternative?
Have a look at the LG G Pad 8.3.

The wife wanted something a bit bigger than a Nexus 7 but not a full size tablet, so I stumbled across these as it had great reviews. We've had it a couple of weeks and it's superb.

Compared to the first generation iPad Mini it has a much nicer screen and better performance. It's a nicely made thing too with an aluminium back and has a MicroSD slot.

The early reviews criticised it for being too expensive, but they've since reduced the price. I got it from the Co-op for £190:
http://www.coopelectricalshop.co.uk/LG-G-Pad-Table...

aberdeeneuan

1,340 posts

177 months

Friday 27th June 2014
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dave_s13 said:
I can't see them on my works PC but should give you an idea????

If you can see them!!
Many thanks - looks pretty similar to the iPhone 4 to be honest. My work default phone these days is one of these, though I'm still tied to my blackberry, so might ask if I can get one and try it out.

ZesPak

24,423 posts

195 months

Friday 27th June 2014
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dave_s13 said:
It's not far off at all but I've not sat down and properly scrutinised it. My wife has an iPhone4 and the latest iOS has really shafted it. It is much slower to respond than my moto G.

Image quality is very good on screen but when you zoom in the quality drops off a bit. As an example, I could take a photo on my old HTC sensation (a 3yr old handset), and they were good enough to send off for printing as "proper" photos. Not so sure the G would be quite as good, not tried it yet though.

For what they cost though, can't go wrong.

I'll just see if I can find some suitable examples of pics and reply on here to show you.
They are good enough for print. The biggest part of this is "getting a good one". Things like moving objects, lightning,...
In optimal conditions it's a good camera, in a little less the quality drops somewhat.
That said, it beats my 4S hands down in every area that matters to me (performance, apps, gmail integration, screen, battery), except for the camera but I'm not to bothered.
We have 3 Moto G's in the house now. Very good devices, even if you don't calculate the price in. If you calculate it in, it's a no-brainer.

dave_s13

13,813 posts

268 months

Friday 27th June 2014
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Yep, lets nots forget the battery!!

My wifes iphone 4s can need charging the same day if she's on a Candy crush marathon.

Charged my phone night before last and used it normally, still on 36%.

boxst

3,699 posts

144 months

Friday 27th June 2014
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Jaldi said:
£139.00 at Tesco
http://www.tesco.com/direct/tesco-mobile-motorola-...

...or even £129 with the £10 off code TDX-PRKW for new customers.
It's £149 for unlocked. Although you can root the Tesco phone and unlock it.

I just bought one to play with Android as I'm interested as I've had iPhones for years.

dave_s13

13,813 posts

268 months

Friday 27th June 2014
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boxst said:
Jaldi said:
£139.00 at Tesco
http://www.tesco.com/direct/tesco-mobile-motorola-...

...or even £129 with the £10 off code TDX-PRKW for new customers.
It's £149 for unlocked. Although you can root the Tesco phone and unlock it.

I just bought one to play with Android as I'm interested as I've had iPhones for years.
I bought a Tesco mobile 16GB for £139 - unlock code via ebay for £2. Buy a bottle of wine with the saving.

boxst

3,699 posts

144 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
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I've had it a few days purely as a play phone. It is very good value for money. I am going to sell it on, as I'm too involved in the Apple ecosystem (imessages mainly) to swap out an iPhone for my children for Android.

As a side note, I really can't see why Android is popular with non-techies. It is really flexible with the ability to add widgets to the home screen and do other cool customisations, but giving it to my (iPhone technophobe using) wife she would never do that as it would just to too confusing.

AmiableChimp

3,674 posts

236 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
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Just received one of the official flip cases for Mrs Chimp's Moto G and she is really really pleased with the whole thing.

It is like a rocket ship compared to her old Experia L which kept freezing all the time or complaining about lack of space when trying to do updates.

Great wee phone, highly recommended.

ZesPak

24,423 posts

195 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
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boxst said:
As a side note, I really can't see why Android is popular with non-techies. It is really flexible with the ability to add widgets to the home screen and do other cool customisations, but giving it to my (iPhone technophobe using) wife she would never do that as it would just to too confusing.
Hmm, what does she find confusing? My technophobe mother (who has a hard time turning on the tv of all things) can do everything fine with her Moto G. She won't add widgets herself just yet though, but she really doesn't need to.

Most of the time it's more that it just takes a week or two to move to another OS. I've used Windows and OSX for years, but getting used to OSX in the first weeks is very daunting and nothing seems to make sense, at all. Windows 8 is much the same.

As for iMessage, I found that the spawn of the devil.
Me: "Hi, I've bought a $600 tablet and a $700 phone on which I use iMessage, can I use it on my computer?"
"Genius": "Only if you buy this $ 1500 computer."

furious
We in the family use Hangouts now for that reason, works on my iPhone, the missus Samsung, my sisters & parents Motorola, all our computers (including my Mac and chromebook),...

Apple have some great stuff, but they take the "locking down" just a step too far. There's no reason for iMessage not to work on other system, other than them believing that people are idiots.

boyse7en

6,671 posts

164 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
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Thinking of replacing my aging Samsung Galaxy Mini as I keep running out of storage space for Apps.

Was looking at the Moto G, but there is also a Moto E, which is lower-spec but has an SD card slot.

Anyone used/got a Moto E?

ZesPak

24,423 posts

195 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
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boyse7en said:
Thinking of replacing my aging Samsung Galaxy Mini as I keep running out of storage space for Apps.

Was looking at the Moto G, but there is also a Moto E, which is lower-spec but has an SD card slot.

Anyone used/got a Moto E?
Haven't seen it here yet, but I know there's some bobbing around!

The newer Moto G's have an SD card slot as well.
What I can say is that the Moto G's screen is VERY good, which is usually something lacking in budget phones. The E's specs indicate that it has more of a budget-phone screen.
It matters to me as it's the thing you're usually looking at.

Also missing a front-facing camera if you regularly do things like skyping/video conversation.

BHC

17,540 posts

178 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
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aberdeeneuan said:
Many thanks - looks pretty similar to the iPhone 4 to be honest. My work default phone these days is one of these, though I'm still tied to my blackberry, so might ask if I can get one and try it out.
I don't know which phone you have, but in my opinion the BlackBerry Z10 is a much better phone than the original Moto G although I don't know about the 4G version.

And for balance I have a Sony Xperia Z1.

ccr32

1,968 posts

217 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
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I'm contemplating a jump from a BlackBerry Z10 to a Moto G 4G.

I really like the Z10 in many ways - have really gotten used to the interface and the BlackBerry Hub and the way it functions, which, 9 times out of 10, is flawlessly for those things it was intended for (email, messaging, and integration of these into the OS).

Where it falls over in my opinion is on compatibility - yes, the ability to load up and run (some) Android apps has helped matters, but they don't always run quite as well as they should (like Google Maps which is quite stuttery in operation) or not at all (BBC iPlayer app, and running iPlayer through the web browser is flaky at best).

The new Moto G therefore seems like the best bet in terms of a similarly and well-priced entry back into the up-to-date Android arena. I do get the feeling I'll miss some of the features of the Z10 and BlackBerry10 though...


dontfollowme

1,158 posts

232 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
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I have just moved from a Samsung Galaxy S2 to a Nexus 5 for c£20 per month. I seriously considered the Moto 4G but the quality of the camera put me off.

wades

105 posts

177 months

Tuesday 1st July 2014
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My 4G version arrived today from Tesco to replace my trusty old Galaxy S2.

So far i'm really impressed and can only echo what the reviews all seems to say.

It's fast, smooth, well made and has a great screen. I'm surprised just how clunky the S2 feels now which I hadn't really expected.

The camera isn't great but it's not 'bad' by a long shot. As I have several decent 'proper' cameras I'll just need remember to be a bit less lazy and actually use the bloomin things.

I Do fancy a bit of 3210 style shell changing now but can't decide between lurid green/yellow or tasteful(?) white... It did come with a blue and a teal colour shells from Tesco but don't fancy either so off to ebay they go!



JonRB

74,404 posts

271 months

Tuesday 9th December 2014
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The new 2nd Generation Moto G with Dual SIM, 5" screen, microSD and improved camera is proving to be very good. No 4G though, sadly. But I'm sure that will be incorporated in a later revision.

I've just got one, and just sold my 1st Generation original 3G Moto G for £80 on eBay which I'm quite pleased about.


TheInternet

4,703 posts

162 months

Tuesday 9th December 2014
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JonRB said:
The new 2nd Generation Moto G with Dual SIM, 5" screen, microSD and improved camera is proving to be very good. No 4G though, sadly. But I'm sure that will be incorporated in a later revision.

I've just got one, and just sold my 1st Generation original 3G Moto G for £80 on eBay which I'm quite pleased about.
How does the camera compare?

JonRB

74,404 posts

271 months

Tuesday 9th December 2014
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TheInternet said:
How does the camera compare?
I haven't really tested it extensively yet, but very cursory testing suggests it is genuinely much better. Which, admittedly, wouldn't really be very hard to achieve. biggrin

stevoknevo

1,672 posts

189 months

Friday 19th December 2014
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Was in my local Tesco today and noticed a reduced sign for the original 16gb Moto G; there were no tickets to take to the counter so I assumed they were sold out. Asked one of the store staff who checked the system and informed me that there was one left biggrin

Straight home and a few updates later it was on 4.4.4. Unlock code from ebay for my 3 sim. Total cost including the unlock code?

£50.18 of which £1.18 was for the unlock! Bargain of the year clap

JonRB

74,404 posts

271 months

Friday 19th December 2014
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stevoknevo said:
£50.18 of which £1.18 was for the unlock! Bargain of the year clap
Considering what I sold my 8Gb for on eBay second-hand, that's bloody impressive.