Moto G100 Review

The Moto G100 is the latest addition in Motorola’s mid-range lineup. It’s got the specs, the look, and a vibrant display. Does that give it enough to stand out in a competitive mobile space?

Motorola is marketing the latest Moto G as the most powerful and speediest to date. Equipped with a Snapdragon 870 processor, 8GB of Ram, a 5000 mAh battery with a rear Quad-Camera set-up it certainly appears to meet those standards in the specs department. The Snapdragon 800 series processor is present to power some high-end features – like Motorola’s Ready For platform and even compatibility with the ThinkReality A3 Glasses platform.  For the scoop on how it fares in day-to-day use, read more below.

Build Quality

The Moto G has a vibrant 6.7″ LCD display, with a 90Hz refresh rate, HDR10, and DCI-P3 color space. It will satisfy all but the most technical user who is accustomed to the deep blacks and bright contrast of an AMOLED display. The typical causal smartphone owner can’t tell the the difference. The display is more narrow than average, with a 21:9 aspect ratio that Motorola dubbs ‘CinemaVision’. It’s protected by Gorilla Glass 3.

The back has a plastic rear housing, which comes in either White or Iridescent Ocean – our review unit came in the latter. It gives off a two-toned look that gradients from sky blue to violet depending on the amount of light shining on the back. The phone also has polycarbonate rails (plastic). It’s not IP-certified, but it does have a splash-resistant coating to protect it from moderate moisture and occasional splashes.

A near-stock version of Android, and a minimal amount of apps come pre-installed on the Moto G100 – no carrier subsidized bloatware – and the usual Moto-favorites like chop for flashlight and twist to launch the camera are still present.

There are a few new additions to the Moto Setup, like Styles which is a part of the Android Skin Motorola calls MyUI – which let’s you customize the look of the User Interface.

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The Specs

The G100 is the most powerful Moto yet, touting the rarely seen Snapdragon 870 SoC, which sits right under Qualcomm’s 888 chip. It only comes in the 128GB config, but it has an SD card slot for external storage expansion. With 8GB of RAM finishing off the internals, it runs smooth, with very few stutters or delays.

For photography, the Moto’s Quad Camera set-up has a 64MP main lens, 16MP ultra-wide, a 2MP depth camera, and TOF Advanced Laser Autofocus. The main lens used Quad Pixel technology to merge four high-res 16MP photos out of the 64MP sensor for better overall photo quality. The selfie cam comes in at 16MP.

Operating System	Android™ 11
Storage	128GB (Internal), Up to 1TB expandable with microSD card
Sensors	Accelerometer, Magnetometer (compass), Gyro, Proximity, Ambient Light
Processor	Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 870 5G Mobile Platform Adreno™ 650 GPU
Memory (RAM)	8GB LPDDR5
Security	Side-mounted fingerprint reader Face unlock ThinkShield for mobile
Rear Cameras	64MP 1/2″ optical format f/1.7 aperture 0.7µm pixel size | Quad Pixel Technology for 1.4µm | 16MP Ultra-wide angle (117-degree FOV) Macro Vision f/2.2 aperture 1.0µm pixel size Ring flash | 2MP Depth camera f/2.4 aperture 1.75µm pixel size | TOF Advanced Laser Autofocus
Front Camera	16MP f/2.2 aperture 1.0µm pixel size | Quad Pixel Technology for 2.0µm 8MP Ultra-wide angle (118-degree FOV) f/2.4 aperture 1.12µm pixel size
Audio	3.5 mm headphone jack

The ReadyFor Platform

The Moto G100 comes with a USB-C to HDMI cable ( a whole dock if you’re in the UK), that allows for some big-screen functionality with the Ready For platform. Ready For, allows you to expand your phones experience to TVs and external displays – and there’s an HDMI cord included in the box. With four dedicated modes, the mobile desktop platform gives access to Mobile Desktop, TV, Game, and Video Chat – you can keep your laptop at home or skip the desktop in your home office altogether.

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While the Ready For platform does have some resemblances to Samsung’s Dex platform, Motorola does go the extra mile by organizing your device’s apps by use-case in four nice categories – each with its own custom software enhancements. Check out the Mobile Desktop mode below:

Conclusion

The Moto brand of smartphones has gone through quite a bit of transformation over the years. What started as Motorola’s flagship smartphone ended up being outsold by its more budget counterparts, and eventually was delegated two tiers down from the cutting-edge Razr 5G foldable AND the more premium built Edge/Edge + flagship series. That would mean the Moto G100 – while being the most high-end Moto and the 3rd most powerful handset from Motorola in 2021 – is not what you would categorize as a flagship. But when you factor in the specs, features, and compatibility with the ThinkReality A3 Glasses – most would be hard-pressed to tell the difference. The Moto G100 provides a reliable, trouble-free user experience – but it’s the little details that remind you that you’re not using the best that Motorola currently has to offer.

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