Review: Moto G5 Plus – solid, super cheap smartphone, but don’t expect miracles
It’s not a sexy device by any means, but if you want to keep your phone budget as low as possible then Motorola’s latest addition to its G series is one of your best options
At a time when phone makers big and small try to outdo one another in the specs war – “Oh, you’ve got a 20-megapixel camera with 6GB of RAM? Here’s our 21-megapixel camera with 8GB of RAM!” – the Moto G series is a breath of fresh air. Since its inception in 2014, the line seems to be “budget phones that get the job done with no frills”.
The latest device, the G5 Plus, is unremarkable in every facet. But priced at just HK$2,299, it’s likely to be good enough for most.
Design and hardware
There’s no getting around it: the G5 Plus is not a sexy device. Mostly made of plastic, save for a metal back plate, along with chunky bezels, this is a device that feels out of place in 2017, the year of curved displays that stretch to the edges (I’m also not a fan of the garish gold colour, but that’s just an opinion).
Putting the G5 Plus next to a Samsung Galaxy S8 is like putting a Toyota Prius next to a Ferrari. But at least the device feels good in the hand. The rounded corners are easy on the palms, and at 155 grams it is light enough to be held for long stretches without straining a wrist.
The 1,080p 5.2-inch LCD display is solid. Colour accuracy is good, but it suffers from the usual LCD panel shortcomings – it’s hard to use in direct sunlight and it cannot display true deep blacks.
