Bargain Super-phone - the Motorola Moto G Gen 2
Updated: 5 July 2015
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Bargain Super-phone - the Motorola Moto G Gen 2
Buying a high end smartphone outright can be a very expensive step. When my Samsung Galaxy S2 failed (from very rapid battery drain with a very high case temperature) I looked around for a replacement. Having heard of Motorola's relatively cheap Moto E and G phones I checked on eBay to see what they go for, and discovered there was now a 2nd generation Moto G. With a 20% off special for selected vendors there was one going for about $A210 (Australian). That seemed remarkable, so I checked reviews and specs and was impressed:-
- 5 inch screen
- quad-core 1.2GHz processor
- good battery life
- Gorilla glass screen
- standard Android 5.0 (the newest, and not loaded with vendor bloat-ware)
- 8GB memory, and an Micro SD slot - I have a 32GB card inside it
- dual SIM card slots for those who have the need
- but only 3G, no 4G. Hasn't been an issue for me though. 3G speed is fine
I ordered it and could not be happier. I've had it about 3 months now. Here is a summary of my experience.
- much snappier and faster than the old Galaxy S2
- very good battery life - with normal use I get two days
- very fast charging - near empty to full in 3 or 4 hours using the charger supplied
- great camera, as good as the GS2's
- built-in stereo speakers are good enough to listen to music, though of course the headphones are better
- phone reception is a bit better than the GS2
- built-in flashlight using the camera flash LED
- works perfectly with a Bluetooth speaker system
- great web performance using the built-in Chrome browser
- remarkably good performance as a GPS navigation device, using the standard Google Maps app (our Tom Tom device failed on a recent trip, and I had the phone taking over within a couple of minutes, issuing fast and accurate voice instructions)
- no problems using apps from Google Play
A couple of learning curve items, tricky at first, but no problem later.
- Android 5.0 ("Lollipop") has a different look and feel from the earlier versions. Just google for a tutorial like I did, and it all quickly makes sense.
- in particular, the notifications area "roller blind" from the top has extra uses. Pull it down twice, or using two fingers together, and you get a menu that includes the radios, the flashlight app and the ability to cast the screen to a Chromecast TV device. It also has a handy shortcut to "settings".
- The Moto G has no hardware "Home" button. Instead, to wake the phone up just tap the side mounted power button.
- There are no dedicated soft buttons for "Back" or "Recently used apps". These appear in the screen, along with a soft "Home" button, as needed.
All up I reckon this must be the bargain phone of the year.
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