Moto G5 Plus REVIEW: still an exceptional phone at an exceptional price
 |
| All the G series |
The Moto G5 Plus is powered by the Snapdragon 625 processor, an octa core CPU clocked @ 2.0 GHz (based on Cortex A-53 architecture), with the Adreno 506 GPU at 650 MHz. It has a 5.2” IPS LCD 1080p display with Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It is available in 3/4 GB RAM variants with 16/32/64GB storage depending on the region.
It comes with a 12MP rear-facing camera with Dual Pixel Autofocus and f/1.7 Aperture, a 5MP selfie camera with f/2.2 Aperture. The G5 Plus also supports Dual Nano SIM with a dedicated microSD card slot expandable up to 128GB. Last but not least, it comes with a 3000mAH battery with Quick Charge support, a fingerprint sensor and NFC support (*Region dependent).
Its packaging looks fun and colorful, with an updated Motorola logo:
 |
| inside the box |
Design:
The Moto G5 Plus refreshes the iconic design of the Moto G series with a metallic build, which is new to this family. There are many metal phones on the market but if you hold any side by side with the G5 Plus, you will feel the difference. It just feels so premium. This is why whenever Motorola releases a new product, it’s very different from others.
The Moto G5 Plus has a premium metallic body, made up of diamond cut aluminum 6000. The aluminum 6000 provides durability as well as giving a premium feeling to the G. It has a front mounted fingerprint sensor, front-firing speaker and there's a 3.5mm jack & micro-USB port at the downside. On the upper side there's a sim card tray along with the microSD card slot. It has the power button & volume rocker on the right side of the phone. At 7.7mm thick, it's the slimmest Moto G till now.
 |
| Gold or Silver? |
 |
| Beauty shots |
 |
| Micro USB next to headphone jack |
 |
| Premium backs |
Software and Battery:
The Moto G5 Plus runs stock Android Nougat (7.0) out of the box with minor additions that enhance user experience. It runs a very optimized ROM, and you know Motorola is still the fastest at updating its devices. It has all the Moto enhancements found on previous generations but the new add on is the "One-Button Navigation". This gesture-based feature replicates the home button, recent menu & the back button via the fingerprint sensor.
The G5+ is powered by 3000mAH battery which is small when compared other phones in the market at the same price. But Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 625 is known for providing greater battery life, so the battery management is awesome.
 |
| Screenshots |
Battery lasts a day with heavy usage, but for moderate usage it lasted about 1 1/2 days with SOT of 5 hours. The phone supports Quick Charge, that provides 6hrs of battery life in just 15 min. Due to that it can charge the phone from from 0-100% in 2 hrs.
Camera:
Year by year, Motorola's camera technology is improving drastically. Ever since the G4+ was launched back in May 2016, it stood as the best camera-phone in the price segment. Though 12 Megapixel is a cut down from last year's 16MP, it lets in up to 25% more light and can focus 60% faster than the G4+. Motorola's smart camera app chooses the best shot and adds beautification mode that results in a pretty looking selfie. There are 5 other modes: Professional, Slow Motion, Panorama, Video, & Photos.
When it comes to video recording, the Plus does a decent job, it can shoot 4k video @30fps, Full HD 1080p video @60/30fps, HD video @30fps and lastly 480p VGA @30fps. It focuses fast & also produces accurate color reproduction. However lack of OIS requires still hands.
Conclusion:
It is Priced at $229 (US[32gb]), £249(UK), 16999INR (India[32gb]) and it's the only phone that runs pure Android Nougat at that price point. With a mind-blowing camera, decent battery life, a very efficient processor and great ergonomics with its metal design, the Moto G5 Plus remains as the Budget KING of smartphones in spite of its shortcomings.
