Review: Hello Moto – Workhorse Smartphones from Motorola

Motorola has what can easily be described as an eclectic smartphone range with the Razr 5G at the top of the tree all the way through to the motor e6s and plus.

Right in the middle are two devices from their ‘e’ and ‘g’ ranges that are perfect workhorses for people looking for a smartphone that will be as reliable as Santa on the evening of December 24th and feature-packed like a Swiss army knife.

The sub-$300 smartphone market is very competitive and with the e7 Power and the g30, Motorola is putting a very strong case forward across a wide target audience.

moto e7 Power

The moto e7 Power is a properly feature-packed smartphone for the $159 price point. You get a very recent generation of Android running the full Google OS spec. Also contained in the e7 Power is a 5000 mAh battery that with some careful consideration of your media and browsing habits will see this battery last well over a day.

My recommendation is that this is the perfect first device for the adolescent that’s after a smartphone of their own and not a hand-me-down from Mum or Dad.

A 2 GHz chip and 2GB of RAM are more than enough to power this 200g smartphone for everything you’re going to throw at it. Add to that IP52 water and dust proofing, a tried and trusted headphone jack and a huge 6.5″ HD screen and this device is seriously great value.

Other unexpected gems on the e7 Power include the dedicated Google Assistant button and the super-responsive fingerprint scanner on the rear of the phone.

That sub $200 price tag, however, does come with some compromises. There’s no stabilisation on the video (as you can see below). The images in the photos are great, but in a wobbly low-light situation, the images aren’t really as sharp as you might like. There’s also no NFC so that means no Google Pay.

All small prices to pay if you just want a smartphone to be a really good, reliable smartphone.

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moto g30

As the name suggests the moto g30 is a model lineup from the moto e7 Power but the really good news is that the uplift in impressive features is far greater than the price increase.

The moto g30 retails for $299 and for that you get a lot of mobile device in what is essentially the same physical packaging as the Motorola e7 Power. The same 6.5″ HD screen with 85% screen to device ratio. Pretty much the same physical size and weight and the 5000 mAh battery.

The Android OS takes a step up from 10 to 11 and supporting that is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 2.0 GHz CPU with a 950 MHz GPU which makes graphics and photos really pop. The 4GB of RAM means switching from app to app and back again won’t leave a trail of terror and latency during your day.

The quad-lens rear camera setup is very impressive and the results speak for themselves. Crisp and sharp images from any angle and in almost any light. The macro lens on the g30 is particularly impressive for those of us looking to hone our photographic skills. For the video enthusiasts, you will see below that the image stabilisation is very strong and makes a real difference in those low light situations.

For the gamers out there the 90Hz refresh rate will keep your thumbs in shape as the action always moves fast on the 6.5” HD+ ultra-wide screen. The inbuilt 128GB of storage is great for this range of smartphones and thanks to the expandable SIM tray you can add a microSD card (up to 1TB) for almost limitless storage.

Other features include a rear-mounted fingerprint reader as well as Face unlock, Thinkshield for Mobile – the comprehensive hardware and software security system, IP52 water and dust proofing like the e7 Power, and NFC for all those on-the-go purchases with Google Pay.

My favourite feature by far is the silicone phone case that comes with every Motorola g30 – no other smartphone maker does that!

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My Conclusion

These are two really great smartphones for their prices which are not really that far apart. If you could live without NFC and some of the clever image stabilisation then I’d go for the moto e7 Power – you can almost afford to lose it and replace it outright before you’re up to the moto g30 price.

That being said, if you can stretch to the moto g30, go for it – even if it’s just for the great photos and video and that very handy clear silicone case.

The moto e7 power is available in Tahiti Blue and Coral Red at JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, Officeworks, Mobileciti, Big W and the Motorola online store for $159.

The moto g30 is available in Phantom Black and Pastel Sky at JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, The Good Guys, Officeworks, Mobileciti, and the Motorola online store for $299.

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