New Moto G is bigger and better than its predecessor

Motorola Moto G

The original Moto G was an instant hit when launched in India early this year. Motorola has bumped up the new Moto G with even better specifications but is it enough to survive cut-throat competition?

Taller and wider than its predecessor, the new Moto G has a 5-inch display with 1280x720p resolution. The display is bright and legible, even under sunlight. The phone is equipped with an 8MP camera with flash, compared with the average 5 MP camera in the older version. While it isn't the best in its category, it still captures good shots and the low-light performance is superior to other smartphones.

Motorola has continued with the same processor for the new Moto G - 1.2Ghz quad core processor on Snapdragon 400 chipset paired with 1GB of RAM. This is good enough for day-to-day tasks such as emails, updating Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, etc. Browsing is smooth. However, I did notice a slight lag (barely a second) after long browsing sessions on the Chrome browser.

The device runs on Android KitKat, the signal reception is good and the sound is pretty impressive even on loudspeaker mode. The phone comes with removable pack panel that hides three slots - two for micro SIM cards and one for the memory card. The battery is non-removable yet impressive as it easily lasted me a day on a single charge.

Price: Rs 12,999

Specs: 5-inch display; 8MP camera; 1.2GHz quad core processor; 1GB RAM; 16GB internal storage, expandable memory card slot; WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth, dual SIM; 149 grams; 2070 mAh battery

Bag it or junk it: A good buy as the 16GB variant costs Rs 1,000 less than its predecessor.