Review: Motorola Moto G100

Although Chinese-owned Motorola is present at the absolutely expensive end of the mobile market with flagship models such as the Motorola Razr 5G and Motorola Edge+, the former US mobile manufacturer stands strongest when it comes to mid-range smartphones. In particular, the Moto G series – of which we have tested several models, including the Moto G 5G Plus, Moto G8 Plus and Moto G7 Plus – Motorola has done well with smartphones that deliver an astonishing number of features and high performance at the price.

A few weeks ago, Motorola launched the Moto G100, which is the top model in the Moto G series so far. The Moto G100 is an (almost) flagship model at (almost) budget price, which means that in terms of price it is close to mobiles like the Huawei Nova 5T, while the Moto G100, in terms of specifications, is close to being able to compete with anything more expensive mobiles like OnePlus 8T and Samsung Galaxy S20 FE.

We’ve had the Motorola Moto G100 under scrutiny, and below you can read our verdict on the phone’s (many) strengths and (few) weaknesses.

Design and construction

Our test copy of the Moto G100 came in the color Iridescent Ocean, which offers a charming play of colors between deep blue and violet on the back when turning and turning the phone.

On the right side of the phone you will find the volume adjustment button as well as the power button with built-in fingerprint reader, while a dedicated button for Google Assistant is located on the opposite side.

The camera module on the back has four large lenses, but still protrudes so little from the body that the phone does not tilt when lying on a table. This is also due to the fact that the phone is unusually thick, almost 1 cm, as it i.a. contains an extra large battery. The chassis is made of plastic, but with a really high quality feel, and thanks to rounded edges, the phone is quite comfortable to hold in the hand.

Screen and sound

Now we get to the mobile’s probably biggest weakness. But some sacrifices had to be made to keep the price down.

The screen is 6.7 inches and , just like on the 2019 Motorola One Vision, it is in the elongated 21:9 format that we know from the cinemas. It provides more space for your feed in the Facebook app, and the same goes for web pages. Both YouTube and Netflix also have some content available in the 21:9 format. On Netflix, for example. two-thirds of the available films. In addition, there are also a number of games that adapt to the 21:9 screen.

On the other hand, you have to live with black bars to the right and left of the image in connection with content (both apps, games and video) that does not support the format.

But the 21:9 format is not the problem. But the fact that the panel is of the type LCD IPS is. Combined with a resolution of just 2520 x 1080 pixels and a brightness that can bareley reach 500 nits, the result is mediocre at best.

The screen is useless outdoors if the sun is shining, and even a refresh rate of 90 Hz cannot compensate for the lack of brightness that is tiring for the eyes. It does not help either that the color reproduction is quite inaccurate. Basically, you can choose between a few modes that give an over-geared and unnaturally dynamic color reproduction, or you have to settle for a “natural” state, where the result is flat and dull.

The same is the sound unfortunately. The Motorola Moto G100 otherwise comes with 3.5mm minijack connectors for headphones, but the wired connection is not used to improve the sound quality and the volume is also too weak. And since the mobile only has speakers built into the bottom, you also do not get stereo sound out of the powerful mobile, whether you are a gamer, listening to podcasts or watching video without a set of headphones in or on your ears.

Camera

On paper, the Motorola Moto G100 comes with four cameras, including a main sensor with a resolution of 64 megapixels and Quad Pixel technology. In addition, a 16 megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera. The other two lenses are a depth sensor and a Time-of-Flight (ToF), respectively. So in reality you only shoot with two lenses, while the others are used for distance measurement and focusing.

Therefore, the Moto G100 takes e.g. excellent images with bokeh effect, just as images taken in daylight are sharp and well-balanced with good dynamics.

The ultra-wide-angle camera also comes with a so-called built-in ring light, which is supposed to make it easier to take good macro pictures very close to the subject. In the real world, the image is just overexposed, so forget about luminous rings if you invest in the Moto G100.

Performance and features

Every penny Motorola has saved on screen and sound has been spent on making the Moto G100 the most powerful mobile in the G Series ever. Thus, it has been equipped with a Snapdragon 870 processor from Qualcomm, which is probably slower than this year’s fastest Qualcomm CPU, Snapdragon 888, but still is on a par with – and to some extent actually faster than – last year’s Snapdragon 865+. And it can be felt. Here, the benchmark figures speak for themselves.

A particularly honorable mention goes to the 5000 mAh battery, which gives the Moto G100 an insanely high battery life of over 19 hours in our benchmark test. This mobile just keeps going. Cool! Then you can live with the fact that the phone must do without wireless charging.

As something completely new, Motorola has also launched the so-called Ready For platform, which lets the user connect their Motorola mobile to the TV, computer screen or laptop – a technology that is basically a bit reminiscent of Samsung DeX.

The Moto G100 is the only G-series smartphone that supports the technology, which is a kind of desktop software that lets you use most apps and files on your mobile in a Windows-like interface via your regular computer or on your smartphone. TV or a PC screen.

Unlike Samsung DeX, Ready For, however, requires that you connect your mobile to the screen via HDMI cable, but then you can also use your Moto G100 as a kind of minicomputer or game console, which certainly only makes the mobile an even better purchase.

Conclusion

The Motorola Moto G100 is proof that you can not always get in both bag and sack. A mobile for less than 4,000 kroner with as high a performance as the Moto G100 can perform – as mentioned largely on a par with much more expensive smartphones such as OnePlus 8T and Samsung Galaxy S20 FE – is a find for the price, but you have to do without the super sharp and high-resolution screen and the excellent sound that otherwise characterizes the premium class.

But having said that, it’s hard to think of another smartphone that gives you so much for so little money as the Motorola Moto G100. The camera is excellent and adequate for the vast majority of users, and the impressive battery life we ​​have hardly seen before since the 1990s. That was when we had Nokia mobiles in our pockets that could hold power for a week. So bad that the Moto G100 does not have wireless charging.