Motorola Moto G5s: Plans | Pricing | Specs

Where to buy

Motorola's G-series phones are all about essential smartphone features and just a small quantity of style. They're phones for the masses, in other words. The Motorola Moto G5s was the smaller sibling of the generally excellent Motorola Moto G5s Plus, and while it's a lesser phone, it's also one you should be able to score at an even better price, especially with the Motorola Moto G6 already available.

Design

• Metal body design

• Read more on the Motorola Moto G5s design

  The Motorola Moto G5s features a metal unibody design, and while that's not a fresh concept now, when it was new, very few budget range handsets offered anything but plastic bodies. It gives the Motorola Moto G5s a definite sense of style, and of course a degree of ruggedness compared to other budget handsets.

  Physically, it measures in at 150 x 73.5 x 8.2mm with a carrying weight of 157g. The front panel is a 5.2 inch 1,080x1,920 pixel display with a fingerprint sensor at the base. It's all a very standard Android approach, but one that Motorola does rather well.

  Back to top

Camera

• Single lens camera only

• Read more on the Motorola Moto G5s camera

  The Motorola Moto G5s Plus features a dual lens camera, albeit one where the secondary lens is only used for depth effects, but the lower cost Motorola Moto G5s makes do with a single 16MP f/2.0 rear camera. Around the front lurks a simple 5MP f/2.0 camera for your selfie purposes.

  Camera technology has progressed remarkably through the life of smartphones, and this is a benefit for the Motorola Moto G5s. No, it's not a stellar camera phone, because you simply won't get one at this price. But for basic photography in reasonable light it's a serviceable model, if not an exciting one. However, if you do crave more photographic flexibility within the budget space, it also does mean that a more recent budget range phone will likely outclass it.

  Back to top

Performance

• Snapdragon 430 provides limited power

• Read more on the Motorola Moto G5s performance

  Again the Motorola Moto G5s takes second place to the Moto G5s Plus. Where the bigger phone has Qualcomm's Snapdragon 625, the G5s is only packing the cheaper and lower power Snapdragon 430, alongside 3GB of RAM for the model officially sold in Australia. Motorola did produce 4GB variants of the Motorola Moto G5s, and that should give it a little more headroom for app performance.

  The Snapdragon 430 is a processor you throw into a phone when you're building to a specific price point, rather than seeking high-end performance. Don't expect the Motorola Moto G5s to fly, but if you only need the basics, it should work fine.

  Back to top

Battery life

• 3,000mAh battery

• Read more on the Motorola Moto G5s battery life

  The one area where the Motorola Moto G5s doesn't play second fiddle to the Motorola Moto G5s Plus is in battery capacity, as both phones share the same 3,000mAh battery.

  The Motorola Moto G5s Plus had good battery life, and the Motorola Moto G5s should (at least in theory) do a little better, thanks to a smaller display and lower power processor. Fast charging is also supported, but there's no capacity for wireless charging built in.

  Back to top

Verdict

• Another good Motorola handset, although its newer efforts do eclipse it

• Read our Motorola Moto G5s verdict

  For its time, the Motorola Moto G5s represented solid value, and that's very much what Motorola wanted out of it. It has more premium phone lines, such as its X-series and especially its modular Z-series phones, but its G-series phones are the ones that sell the most to those who just want basic phone experiences.

  The Motorola Moto G5s has been replaced by newer Motorola handsets such as the Motorola Moto G6, and that means it's best suited if you can get it at a discount price.

  Back to top

Pricing and availability

• The Motorola Moto G5s is no longer available for purchase in Australia

Specifications

Latest Motorola Moto G5s news

Motorola Moto G9 Play review

Motorola's Moto G9 Play includes some compromises to meet its price point, but it's an overall appealing smartphone.

Read more…

Motorola Edge review

Motorola's first 5G-capable handset for Australia aims high with a funky curved design, but its limitations in other areas leave us wanting.

Read more…

Motorola Moto G8 2020 review

Motorola delivers yet another quality mid-range phone in the Motorola G8, but it's a phone with few really exciting features.

Read more…