Review: Motorola Moto G8 – A Durable Performer

We recently tested the moto e6s smartphone from Motorola and we were very impressed with the performance and capabilities of a sub $200 device.

This week we have moved up a notch in the range to the moto g8. Sitting between the moto e range and the Motorola one family, the g8 is packed with all the features you want in a sturdy and durable every-day device.

Running the Android 10 operating system, the moto g8 benefits from the complete gesture control interface of Google’s entire mobile product suite that includes; Photos, Google Assistant, Chrome, Messages, and Google Pay. On the moto g8 the Google OS just feels like a much better overall package than the competition.

Throw in a 118° ultra-wide 16 MP f/1.7 camera with Macro Vision, really excellent video stabilisation, and a 6.4″ HD+ Max Vision display, and the moto g8 is terrific value for $299.

Highlights

Hardware

Like the moto e6s, the moto g8 is finished in a hard wearing blue plastic housing that feels great in your hand.

The front face of the moto g8 is almost edge-to-edge with 88% of the surface area available. In the top left-hand corner there is a 8MP (f/2.0, 1.12µm) camera that is also capable of shooting high-quality video. The placement of the camera in the left-hand corner somehow feels like a much for efficient use of the space than the ‘notch’ that other devices have used.

On the sides, there is a single Nano SIM slot with a microSD card slot. On the opposite side there is a small textured power button and the volume rocker-switch.

The Neon Blue rear houses the fingerprint sensor (which I really like) as well as the quad-camera array and flash. Having specific lenses for each of the camera options makes a lot of sense – especially with the electronic video stabilisation. The picture quality on the video at full zoom is exceptional.

Software

As we mentioned earlier, the moto g8 comes packed with the 10th generation of Google’s Android operating system. The latest version is now 100% driven by gesture controls so there’s no back button on the device. Simply swipe up or down, left or right to get where you need to go.

All super easy to learn, leaving the screen to be the digital canvas for your life.

With the $299 price-point, the only thing we missed on the moto g8 was NFC which is quite a pain in the COVID-19 world.

The NFC niggle aside, the moto g8 is an extremely well priced smartphone for the level of hardware and software that it comes with.

Available from the Motorola Store for $299.