Motorola's 5-incher finds the G-spot: Moto G 4G budget Android smartie

Does it all and does it respectably, unless you want a fat camera

Wonky Lollipop

With an eye on big games I’d have been happier to see the new 4G Moto G fitted with 16GB rather than 8GB of internal storage to complement the microSD slot, which, itself is only good for cards up to 32GB. After system demand, the 8GB internal storage shrinks to 4.8GB as with previous Moto Gs. Personally, I think Motorola has been a bit parsimonious here, especially as the Chinese Titan variant can be had with 16GB.

A big screen and decent speakers makes for good gaming

At this price level an NFC chip would perhaps have been a stretch. Ditto dual-band Wi-Fi but at least you get Bluetooth v4.0 and an FM radio. Call quality, an often overlooked part of the smartphone mix, was tip-top thanks to active noise cancellation.

The 4G Moto G runs Android 5.0 out-of-the-box. Annoyingly it exhibited many of the same glitches that the Lollipop update to my Mk.I Moto G suffered from, such as occasional system lags and random app crashes.

Stock Android but not much change left within the 8GB internal storage

Enough has already been said about Lollipop being a bit half-baked but at least by running stock Android, the 4G Moto G should get the 5.1 update sooner rather than later. The odd bug aside, the stock implementation of Android runs just as cleanly on the new Moto G as it does on all its predecessors.

What impact has all this had on price? Not a lot. Direct from Motorola, the Mk.I 4G Moto G will now set you back £111. The 3G Mk.II device £149. The 4G Mk.II phone on test here costs £159. That’s all the choice you really need and with a minimal financial spread.

Just like the first Moto G, the design and build quality are in good form

On a final note, unusually for a budget phone you can get some decent quality accessories for the new Moto G. The flip case isn’t cheap at £22.50 but, like the flip for the 4.5-incher, it’s a quality item which clips on much more securely than the Samsung equivalent for the Galaxy S5.

The Reg Verdict

Unless a truly top notch camera is a requirement, the Moto G – in any variant – really is all the smartphone most people will ever need. For the price the new Mk.II 4G device is the pick of the crop by virtue of the larger screen, bigger battery, 4G comms and extra speaker.

Granted, you lose the second SIM-card slot of the 3G version and I’d have like to have seen another 1GB of RAM, plus an extra 8GB of storage and 1080p video capture. However, for the price, it's hard to moan too loudly about any of that. ®