Android
Top 5 Phones to Consider Before Buying the Moto G [July, 2014]
Motorola’s Moto G is considered one of the best smartphones available thanks to its combination of hardware, software and price. And while the Moto G is a device that consumers should take a look at this month, there are five other smartphones that consumers should consider before taking the plunge with the Moto G.
At the tail end of last year, Google announced a brand new smartphone dubbed Moto G. The device, which the company pairs with its Moto X and Moto E offerings, is a low cost Android smartphone that comes with solid build quality, quick software updates, and an unlocked price tag that makes it appealing to the average consumer that doesn’t care about having all of the bells and whistles.
While it doesn’t provide a full HD 1080p display, a high quality camera or 4G LTE data speeds (unless you buy it for Verizon), the Moto G’s HSPA+ or 4G networks, good-looking 720P display and 5MP camera are good enough for many consumers. It also helps that the device recently got upgraded to Android 4.4.4 KitKat, an update that delivers a number of fixes and enhancements to the Moto G.
Motorola’s device is one of the best cheap smartphones on the market. And because it’s one of the best, affordable Android smartphones on the market, there’s great interest amongst consumers as we head towards the fall.
We are constantly bombarded with questions about which phones to buy. In particular, we’re constantly asked about the phones consumers should weigh against the Moto G. There are a number of different devices that we could recommend, the smartphone market is full of solid choices, but we want to narrow things down a bit and take a look at what we consider to be the top five.
These devices represent the devices that we’d recommend to friends and family. And while our list may differ from yours, these are the devices that Gotta Be Mobile editors have selected for recognition this month. We feel like the devices listed here deliver the best, all-around package for this month and this month alone.
That said, here are the top five smartphones to consider before buying the Moto G.
Nexus 5 | ||||||
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Nexus 6 rumors have sparked up again though the point to a possible release in November. So, for the time being, Google's Nexus 5 reigns as the company's top Nexus smartphone option and one of the best Moto G competitors out right now. The Nexus 5 comes with many of the hardware features that the Moto G doesn't have. It features 4G LTE for several carriers not just Verizon. It comes with a quad-core processor. It has an 8MP camera with OIS. And it features a 5-inch 1080p display. It also gets quick updates, just like Motorola's smartphone. The kicker is that you get all of this for $350 unlocked. Yes, it's a little more expensive than the Moto G, but for a little more money you get a fully featured phone that should last you for a few years. | ||||||
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Mike
07/31/2014 at 7:54 am
All lists are subjective, but the target demographic for the Moto G probably is not looking to spend a lot of money and may not want a contract, so a lot of the more expensive, higher-end phones (Nexus 5, G2, etc.) are unlikely to be considered by a Moto G customer.
The OnePlus One is invitation only, unless you want to pay a lot of money on eBay. It’s a great phone, but unless you know someone, it’s more than 2.5 times the cost of a Moto G. It’s also much, much bigger. And very few people have invites to buy them at list price.
And the Moto G is now available in an LTE version with an SD card slot.
Kay
07/31/2014 at 10:13 am
Meh. I wouldn’t buy any of these phones over a Moto G. I have a Moto G from Cricket and I paid $49 for it. Does it have LTE? Who cares? I don’t have any desire to stream movies on a 5″ display or glue my head permanently to a phone. I have four other family members who also have $49 Moto Gs on an unlimited talk, text and data plan (at less than 4G speed after 500MB) and we each pay $22 including tax on Cricket. I can buy six or eight Moto Gs for the price of these phones. And they certainly are not six to eight times better. It’s debatable for 90% of users if they are better at all. Frankly, only a fool would buy one of these phones over a $49 Moto G. That was the review you should have written.
Rajesh
07/31/2014 at 10:29 am
You Forgot to Mention the Asus Zenfone 5 which has already became a big threat to Moto G in India causing the prices of Moto G to drop by $100 just to stay in the competition
Tex Sputin
09/14/2014 at 1:33 pm
While the difference between the MSRP of $179 and $350 is not a ridiculous amount, to say it’s only “for a little more money” is perhaps a little misleading since ‘twice as much’ would be much more accurate. Great other than that.