Review: Motorola Moto G 2nd Generation (Holiday Gift Guide)
During the 2014 Squamish Music Festival, the 1st generation Motorola Moto G was our ultimate festival phone for documenting the behind the scene action and sharing it with our social media followers. Courtesy of Motorola, this time around we take a look at the new and improve 2nd generation Motorola Moto G. Under the hood, the new phone gets an upgraded 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 8 megapixel camera & dual front speakers. Keeping the same design cue from the previous model, Moto G 2nd generation maintain a sleek and simplified design. One of the biggest change is the larger (5 inch vs 4.5 inch) 720p display. The display is bright, colourful and detailed – perfect for watching YouTube videos or steaming Netflix.
At 5.6 inch tall, 2.8 inch wide and 5.3 ounces, the Moto G is a substantial but it can still fit in your jacket or pant pocket. The rounded corners and the arched back nestled in my palm and its very comfortable to hold. Removed the backplate, you’ll find dual SIM slots and a microSD port for cards up to 32GB. The dual-SIM slots can work simultaneously. For example, with one SIM you can use it as a wireless hotspot while the other SIM for phone call.
Although the battery is not user replaceable, I was able to get through a day of normal usage – games, videos, browsing and music. With the 2,070mAh battery, the phone lasted for 9 hours.
The native camera app included a burst mode, panorama, HDR and slow motion videos. The image quality from the 8 megapixel f2.0 camera is very good for uploading to Facebook and Instagram. In HDR mode, the photos were detailed and the colours are vivid in ample ambient light. The video quality at 720p HD is also decent.
Here are some unedited photos while Christmas shopping at Tiffany and Co.
Kate Winslet’s necklace feature 3 rare yellow diamonds and 642 white diamonds, which is worth $2.5 million.
Tiffany and Co. watch design by Patek Philippe.
The phone come pre-loaded with Android 4.4 and a few Motorola centric apps. Motorola Alert is an emergency alert app which you let assign contacts to receive your current location at specific interval. This a good app especially if you are camping or traveling to remote location, your friends can know where you are.
Motorola Assist, an automated assistant, is one of most handy apps I tried recently. You simply suggest actions to automate a task. Like while driving, read out my text messages or while sleeping, avoid interruptions unless it’s an emergency.
Motorola Migrate help you transfer all of your content and contacts from your previous phone to your new Moto G.
Still looking for Christmas gift for a first time smartphone user? At $249.95 unlocked, The Motorola Moto G is a remarkable value for an entry level Android smartphone. With a solid battery life, good performance and bright display, the Moto G offers almost everything you could want.
