Motorola has introduced its third low-cost smartphone of 2024. Moto G04 is an entry-level smartphone which came to us for the review. It has a 90 Hz display, which is standard these days and is available in fascinating colour options. It has a 16-megapixel AI-powered camera with AI. The starting price is set at Rs 6,999. Does the Moto G04 represent the best value-for-money smartphone available right now? Let’s check it out in this review.
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Moto G04 Review: Design and Display
You’ll be amazed by how nice this phone looks. The phone appears to be incredibly powerful. We loved the handset’s colour. This is a sea green colour variant, which we are reviewing. Users get a premium-level feel and look for the price it comes in.
Moto G04 comes in four different colour variations and has a punch-hole rear panel style. The Motorola smartphone has AG glass or 3D PMMA material used on it. The device has a single-layered, streamlined back camera arrangement, which has a highly upscale appearance because of the colour-coordinating side frames.
Due to its lightweight design, which weighs only 178 grams and is 7.89 mm thin, it feels good in the hand. Over that, the phone has an IP52 rating, which means it is water resistant, which is useful in specific situations.
The good thing is that this phone has a silicon case in the box. The majority of Motorola devices already have a case coming with them. The case supplied here is of excellent quality and offers good protection.
As you go to the side, the design appears flat. A triple-slot SIM card tray with sufficient space for two nano SIM cards and a microSD card is located on the left side of the frame, suggesting that storage can be increased. Given the pricing, 5G support is not available, hence this smartphone only supports 4G which might be a letdown for a few.
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In addition, the right side of the frame has a volume button and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. On the top part of the frame, users will see a 3.5mm audio port with Dolby Atmos written. The primary microphone, Type-C port, and speaker vent are located at the bottom of the structure.
The side-mounted fingerprint sensor is integrated into the power button. The built-in sensor performed well. It is highly accessible and unlocks precisely.
The display seems to be good for the price point. The phone’s bezels are very thin, especially on the top and edges. You do have a small chin at the bottom, but it’s mainly acceptable given the price.
The Moto G04 sports a 6.6-inch HD+ IPS LCD screen with a resolution of 720×1,600 pixels. The display features a 20:9 aspect ratio and a pixel density of 269 ppi. 90 Hz refresh rate is supported. Additionally, Panda display protection is included.
Because of its maximum brightness of 537 nits, the content on it can be seen fine under direct sunlight. Everything on the screen is fairly crisp and offers pleasing colour arrangements.
Along with the Night Light setting, there is also an Ambient display option, which is a useful feature for reading at night.
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You only get an HD screen here, but it has excellent display quality that makes it suitable for watching videos and regular day-to-day use. It also offers some intriguing features, such as video display enhancements. Video colour becomes brighter and more vibrant as a result. You can watch HD-quality Netflix videos with support for Spatial Audio as well as Prime Video content. We’ve also watched a couple of web series, and we’ve been quite happy with the visual quality.
Although the phone just has a single speaker, it supports Dolby Atmos, which is uncommon in this price range. The audio quality is good and the voices are clear. Overall, the sound quality is incredibly well-balanced. Additionally, there is no distortion and the speaker has a respectable volume.
Moto G04 Review: Performance and Cameras
Performance wise Moto G04 includes a UniSoC T606 SoC paired with Mali G57 GPU and up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM. The device also supports virtual RAM expansion of up to 16GB, which can improve the system’s performance to some extent. The device comes with up to 128GB of UFS 2.2 storage that can also be further expanded up to 1TB using a microSD card.
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Android 14 runs My UX on the phone as a factory default. Motorola provides you with a near-stock Android experience. Hand in hand, you will also receive security updates for two years. This implies that consumers can use this phone for at least two years or longer. Nevertheless, there were still a few pre-installed apps that weren’t supposed to be there. The hubs for games and shopping are in different folders. However, you have the option to disable or fully uninstall them if you want to save storage space.
Moto G04 also supports Moto Gestures, and the haptics are good. You can save up to six of the apps that you use frequently in the sidebar designated for shortcuts.
We also played Call of Duty Mobile and BGMI on this mobile. This phone is not intended for gaming, by the way. It can be used to play games to some extent. Although there were latency issues during the game, it was still playable on low to medium settings.
There is an FM radio on the smartphone, tool. Do remember that the wired earphones need to be connected for the radio to work.
Moving on to the cameras. The Moto G04 has a 5-megapixel front-facing shooter for selfies and a 16-megapixel back camera sensor driven by AI. With the help of features like HDR and Portrait mode, the rear camera system can automatically produce images that seem professional. On the other hand, the selfie camera features Night Vision, Portrait Mode, Timelapse, and Leveller. Videos can be recorded at up to 1080p at 30 frames per second.
Its camera quality is outstanding for the low low price it comes in. The camera quality is fairly good when compared to other low-cost smartphones.
In bright sunshine, the camera gave excellent outdoor performance. The primary back camera aims to capture respectable images in both optimal and bad lighting conditions. However, there’s a lot of noise evident in very low light.
In portrait mode, the edge detection is likewise amazing. The background blurring is superb, and the skin tones and colours are quite genuine. Selfies, though, could have been superior. Even though the 5-megapixel camera sensor is quite outdated and the device is affordable, we still anticipate a better selfie camera in 2024.
A large 5,000mAh battery with support for 15W charging comes with the Moto G04. On the other hand, the phone requires approximately two hours to fully charge using the 10W charging brick that the firm has given in the box. Overall, its battery life is rather good; you may use it for an entire day or a day and a half after a full charge.
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Verdict
The Moto G04 has an outstanding design. Equipped with Android 14, this gadget is an absolute treat for individuals seeking to savour cutting-edge technology without going over budget. Motorola’s user interface is quite simple because it provides an almost entirely stock Android experience.
Furthermore, considering the price range, the display quality is respectable and at par with comparable inexpensive screens.
In the end, it’s the ideal phone for those who wish to stay in touch with the elderly, and even your teen kids. An ultra-wide camera would have been a boon, but no complaints considering it’s an ultra-budget segment phone. All in all, this phone offers great value, so if you’re looking for an affordable phone, you should definitely consider purchasing it.
Pros
- FM radio
- Dolby Atmos support
- IP52 certification
Cons
- No notification light
- There is no noise-cancellation microphone
