As expected, Motorola today unveiled the Moto G, a budget-friendly follow up to the Moto X. With all the rumours that swirled around in the last few days and weeks, much was already known about this device but we now have official confirmation.
With the Moto G, Motorola wants to bring the experience of smartphones to a wider audience without the expected compromises. According to Dennis Woodside, Motorola’s CEO, the problem with current entry-level smartphones is that they may be cheap but they don’t work well with current apps due to older and weak operating systems and specifications. Alternatively, customers can buy older flagship smartphones but again will find themselves with older technology.
With 500 million potential customers looking to buy a sub-$200 smartphone next year alone, Motorola unveiled the Moto G which delivers a “premium experience with today’s technology” at a price that a wider audience can afford.
As expected, the Moto G comes with removable “Motorola Shells, “Active Grips” and Flip shells. Other accessories include headphones and more.
Moto G specifications:
- Processor: 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400
- Operating system: Google Android 4.3 Jelly Bean (with upgrade to 4.4 coming later)
- Display: 4.5-inch HD (720×1280) Gorilla Glass
- RAM: 1GB
- Internal storage: 8GB or 16GB
- Other: Waterproof coating, 65GB of Google Drive storage, FM radio
With its focus on “optimizations that create value for users,” Motorola claims that the Moto G outperforms the Samsung Galaxy S4 in many aspects. For example, launching apps such at the browser can be 0.5 seconds faster. Motorola also enhanced the camera app with little details like removing the shutter button in favour of a tap anywhere on the screen, something we first saw on the Moto X.
Motorola confirmed today that the Moto G will be updated to Android 4.4 KitKat by the end of January 2014.
The Moto G will sell for US$179 outright for the 8GB and US$199 for the 16GB version. A U.S. launch is scheduled for early early 2014.
Canada will launch the Moto G earlier (“in the coming weeks”) but only the 8GB model will be available at launch. It will be available from TELUS and Koodo for about CA$200 with no contract. Unlike in the U.S.,it will not be available online at Motorola.com.