Motorola Moto G7: Review | Pricing | Specs

Where to buy

While rumours continue to swirl around Motorola re-entering the premium market with a proposed foldable successor to the Motorola RAZR line, its core market, especially in Australia, has long been its G-series phones. They're affordable, powerful within their budget range and generally good if rather safe picks for those after a new smartphone.

That's the story of the Motorola Moto G7 in a nutshell. It's an improvement over last year's Motorola Moto G6 under the hood, but it's not the most exciting budget phone we've seen.

Design

• Simple plastic design
• Camera bump
• Teardrop notch
• Included protective case

• Read more on the Motorola Moto G7's design

  

  There was a time when budget phones had rather ordinary design. If what you wanted was flashy, you had to pay extra. In recent times, we've seen some really smart budget designs from the likes of Nokia and Huawei, but glancing at the Motorola Moto G7, it seems like nobody at Motorola got the memo.

  Which isn't to say that the Motorola Moto G7 is a particularly ugly phone. It's simply that, with the exception of a teardrop notch in the front display, it's a very plainly designed device. If what you're after is a simple phone that doesn't show off particularly, this could of course be ideal for your needs.

  What you're faced with is a 6.2-inch LCD display sitting in a 157x75.3x8mm plastic frame, with the teardrop notch at the top. The use of a teardrop display does give the Motorola Moto G7 plenty of space for top-of-display notifications. However, there's no way to black out the entire top section if you're not a fan of notches generally.

  Around the back, you'll find a prominent circular camera bump, just above the Motorola "batwing" logo, which is also where the fingerprint reader resides. Fans of wired headphones will appreciate the inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone jack at the bottom of the phone.

  One very welcome touch is the inclusion of a clear plastic phone case. This protects the Motorola Moto G7 from drops and scratches, but also minimises the wobble factor of that rear camera bump.

Camera

• Dual 12MP/5MP rear lenses
• Secondary lens only provides focus effects
• Some special camera effects are a bit wonky

• Read more on the Motorola Moto G7's camera

  

  Motorola's phones have long provided decent but not exactly class-leading performance, and that's precisely true for the Motorola Moto G7 too. At the rear, there are dual 12MP and 5MP camera lenses, but don't get too excited about zoom, wide or macro features. That secondary lens is purely present to provide bokeh to portrait style images. There's no way to use it separately from the primary lens.

  Motorola's default camera app is quite rudimentary, with basic auto and video modes, and a variety of "fun" camera modes thrown in as well. They're all computationally based, and the results can be quite variable.

  As an example, the "spot colour" feature, when pointed at a bright green Motorola droid toy I've had for many years managed this shot. I'd asked it to scrub out all the green, and it doesn't quite get there.

  

  Motorola Moto G7 Sample Photos

  

  

  

Performance

• Snapdragon 632 is a good mid-range option
• Android 9
• Motorola actions add neat functionality

• Read more on the Motorola Moto G7's performance

  
  The Motorola Moto G7 packs in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 alongside 4GB of RAM, which is an entirely decent, if not quite exceptional, recipe for a 2019 budget-range handset.

  As a result, it performs well in a comparative sense next to similarly priced handsets. Here's how it compares using Geekbench 4's CPU test:

  And here's how it stacks up for 3D gaming performance with 3DMark's Slingshot Extreme benchmark:

  Benchmarks can give us a comparative sense of handset performance, but it's in the more day-to-day use of the Motorola Moto G7 that it really shows its power. Again, it's hard not to feel that Motorola is somewhat resting on its laurels here, with its own "Moto Actions" layered on top of Android 9, and not much else. It almost feels like a shame that this isn't an Android One phone because then it'd have a couple of years of guaranteed Android updates ahead of it.

  Then again, Motorola's actually been one of the better performers for delivering Android updates to its handsets, especially in the budget range. The Motorola Moto G7 isn't cluttered up with an ugly launcher or awash with loads of rubbish apps you'd only want to remove anyway, and that's a big plus. It's not "new" for Motorola, however.

Battery

• 3000mAh battery performs well
• Fast charging

• Read more on the Motorola Moto G7's battery

  The Motorola Moto G7 comes with a 3,000mAh battery, which is absolutely in line with its price point. Again, that's perhaps not "exciting", and if battery life is a key concern of yours, you're almost certainly going to be better suited to the Motorola Moto G7 Power and its 5,000mAh battery.

  Still, the Motorola Moto G7 delivers decent enough battery performance, both in benchmarks and in real-world usage. Here's how it compares using Geekbench 4's battery test with screen dimming enabled and the full battery test running:

  The practical reality here is that a single day's battery life usage is generally within the Motorola Moto G7's reach, unless you push it particularly hard. There's no wireless charging, but Motorola does offer up its own Turbo Power charger to top up the battery at the end of a long day's usage.

Pricing and availability

• Price: RRP $399
• Where to buy: Amazon

Alternatives

Motorola hasn't massively tweaked the Motorola Moto G7 from last year's iteration of the same phone, and that's an approach with some definite upsides. If you like Motorola's mostly-soft-touch approach to Android, this is a good option for tweaking. Performance upgrades keep it apace and in some cases ahead of the competition.

However, the camera technology isn't the best, and neither is the underlying design, which is starting to feel a little tired. If you're after a conservative-looking phone, that might not be a big concern.

The Moto G7 also has to compete with its own siblings in this space, so it's worth considering if the Motorola Moto G7 Plus might meet your needs better. If battery life is a concern, the Motorola Moto G7 Power packs in 2,000mAh more than the Motorola Moto G7 – and at a lower price point too.

Motorola Moto G7

Motorola Moto G7

Motorola's budget phone

The Motorola Moto G7 provides plenty of value for those who prefer a simpler phone style.

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The Motorola Moto G7 is on sale in Australia now at a recommended price of $399 through Motorola's local website, Officeworks, The Good Guys and Mobileciti.

If you're a fan of Motorola's general approach to its phones, you could consider the slightly more pricey Motorola Moto G7 Plus, although it's built on essentially the same frame as the Motorola Moto G7:

Motorola Moto G7 Plus

Motorola Moto G7 Plus

Motorola's Plus-featured phone

The Motorola Moto G7 Plus is the G7 with added camera quality and a faster processor.

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Motorola Moto G7 Power

Motorola Moto G7 Power

Motorola's battery-packed phone

The Motorola Moto G7 Power has an incredible 5,000mAh battery.

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At the Motorola Moto G7 price point, you could also consider a number of competing Android handsets.

If you're after a clean Android experience in a well-built frame, consider the Nokia 7.1.

Nokia 7.1

Nokia 7.1

Nokia's HDR-ready Nokia 7.1

The Nokia 7.1 offers a superior display along with the power of Qualcomm's Snapdragon 636.

Buy at eBay

Or alternatively, you could consider the Nokia 5.1.

Nokia 5.1

Nokia 5.1

Affordable but stylish

The Nokia 5.1 provides a stylish phone for less than you might think.

Buy at eBay

If you're after a modified Android look in a stylish body, consider the Huawei Nova 3i.

Huawei Nova 3i

Huawei Nova 3i

Great performance at a budget price

The Huawei Nova 3i combines Huawei's excellent Kirin processor with its camera smarts at a more affordable price point than its premium Mate series.

Buy Now

Specifications

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