Motorola Moto G 2014 – A Cheap Smartphone For Every Pocket

179 dollars, off-contract, this is the price of the Moto G second generation, a phone that took all the credits for Motorola’s success in 2014. And no, it’s not a high-end device, but it has a beautiful design, it works like a charm and doesn’t come with a mediocre camera.

Design

If you were expecting a big visual improvement to the new Moto G, well, we’re sorry to be a killjoy, but we don’t have much to say about the new additions. The Moto G 2014 isn’t very
different from the previous model, or even the Moto X, but we noticed that it’s a little bit slimmer (11mm), although it’s ticker than a lot of smartphones from its generation. The back is curvy, there’s a dimple below the camera and buttons on the right ride of the phone. The Moto G 2014 is taller than the previous model, measuring 141.5mm, it’s wider (70.7mm) and heavier (149grams), but that’s because Motorola jumped to a 5inches display (IPS LCD), keeping the same screen resolution of 720x1280pixels. A bit disappointing is the pixel density of 294ppi, which was decreased from 329ppi, but the difference isn’t significant.

What we appreciate about the new Moto G is the fact that it brought two front facing speakers which are quite loud, so you’ll like to show off in front of your friends whenever you get obsessed with a new song and want to recommend it to them.

Likewise the previous Moto G, the new model allows you to interchange the rear shell.

Hardware

So, the new Moto G has the old configuration of quad-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A7 CPU with an Adreno 305 GPU, supported by a Qualcomm MSM8226 Snapdragon 400 chipset. The internal storage is also the same at 8 and 16GB, unexpandable, and the RAM capacity is also 1GB.

You won’t experience lags when accessing different apps, although some of the graphic-rich apps take a while to load.

The phone comes with Android v4.4.4 (KitKat), and soon it will receive the Android L update. Some of the additions included on the Moto G 2014 are Motorola Connect, Motorola Assist, Motorola Alert, hidden somewhere in the app drawer, in case you need them.

The Moto G 2014 doesn’t support LTE, but it comes with WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi hotspot, Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP and LE, microUSB v2.0 and its HSPA+ supports a speed up to 21.1Mbps down and 5.76Mbps up.

The device is kept alive by a non-removable Li-Ion battery of 2070 mAh.

Camera

While the previous model hosted a 5MP rear camera, the Moto G 2014 comes with an improved shooter of 8MP that can take good outdoor photos. However, in low light conditions, the camera isn’t capable of producing accurate photos, but you’ll have some editing apps to help you out. Also, there is a 2MP front for video calling.

Applications

Moto Assist helps you when you’re caught in traffic and can’t reply to texts, so it auto replies to them. Also, it silences your phone when you’re in the middle of a meeting, or you’re sleeping.

Motorola Alert… alerts your friends/family when you are in an emergency situation, eventually when you don’t reach a location, the app sends texts from time to time, to check in.