The Moto G 2025 is a budget smartphone that acknowledges its limitations while offering just enough to be an attractive option for the right user. At this price point, compromises are unavoidable, but the key question is whether these compromises align with your needs. This review explores the Moto G 2025’s strengths and weaknesses to help you decide if it’s the right phone for you.
Design and Build Quality
The Moto G 2025 doesn’t immediately look like a budget phone, which is a significant advantage. Its slim profile, lightweight design, and solid construction avoid the hollow feel common in some cheaper devices. The Forest Gray vegan leather back adds a touch of elegance and provides a comfortable grip. This textured back complements the gently sloping camera bump, creating a distinctive look.
The plastic mid-frame features a two-toned finish, with metallic paint covering half of the frame and glossy plastic surrounding the display. While not constructed from premium materials, the design mimics a higher-end build, almost resembling aluminum.
The side-mounted power button integrates a reliable fingerprint scanner, although its placement can lead to accidental unlocks. The volume rocker above it feels less tactile, a subtle reminder of the phone’s budget nature. A single card slot accommodates both SIM and microSD cards. The bottom edge houses a USB-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack, a welcome inclusion for wired headphone users. The dual stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support deliver surprisingly loud and clear audio with decent spatial depth.
Display
The Moto G 2025 features a 6.7-inch LCD HD+ display with a 1604×720 resolution (263ppi). While the resolution is modest, the screen appears sharp enough for everyday tasks. The 120Hz refresh rate contributes to smooth scrolling and animations, though occasional performance hiccups, likely due to the limited RAM and processor, can disrupt this fluidity. The bezels are slightly uneven, a minor compromise at this price point.
Corning Gorilla Glass 3 provides scratch resistance, but doesn’t guarantee shatterproof protection. The 1000 nits peak brightness is adequate for most indoor and outdoor conditions, though bright sunlight can pose a challenge.
Performance and Gaming
Powered by the year-old MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chipset and 4GB of RAM, the Moto G 2025’s performance is inconsistent. Basic tasks like unlocking and launching apps can feel sluggish, and transitions between screens can be stuttery. While gaming performance is surprisingly decent for titles like PUBG at high settings, the overall experience is marred by unpredictable slowdowns.
Motorola’s RAM Boost feature allocates up to 8GB of storage as virtual RAM to improve multitasking. While this feature does provide some performance improvement, it doesn’t entirely resolve the phone’s inconsistencies. Benchmark comparisons with similarly priced competitors highlight the Moto G 2025’s performance limitations.
Camera
The Moto G 2025 features a 50MP main camera (f/1.8) that produces 12.5MP images by default. Image quality is a mixed bag. In bright conditions, the camera can capture decent shots, but dynamic range is limited, often resulting in dark, underexposed shadows.
The 2MP macro lens is disappointing and feels like a spec-sheet addition rather than a useful tool. The 16MP front-facing camera performs adequately for selfies and video calls. Portrait mode is decent, with occasional edge detection issues.
Beyond image quality, the camera app suffers from performance issues, including noticeable shutter lag, especially in low light and Night Vision mode. These inconsistencies detract from the overall camera experience.
Software and Updates
The Moto G 2025 runs on Android 15 with Motorola’s minimalist Hello UI, offering a near-stock Android experience. Useful Moto features like Chop for flashlight and three-finger screenshot enhance usability. While some pre-installed bloatware is present, it can be removed.
Motorola promises two years of OS updates and three years of security patches, an improvement over previous models but still lagging behind competitors like Samsung.
Battery and Charging
The Moto G 2025 excels in battery life, thanks to its large 5000mAh battery, efficient processor, and lower resolution display. It easily lasts a full day of heavy use, and even stretches to two days with moderate usage.
The 30W wired charging is relatively fast, reaching 50% in about 30 minutes and a full charge in just over an hour. While a charger is included with some models, this may vary by carrier.
Conclusion
The Moto G 2025 is a budget smartphone that delivers on its promise of affordability. It’s a suitable choice for users who prioritize design and battery life over peak performance and camera quality. However, if smooth performance and a reliable camera are essential, exploring slightly more expensive alternatives is recommended.
