Motorola has gone through so many in recent decades, changing owners a few times while constantly longing for the heyday of the original Razr clamshell or even the OG Android-powered Droid smartphone.
But if there is one thing that the Lenovo-owned brand has consistently attracted in recent years, it is undoubtedly budget-friendly handsets with incredibly large batteries. Attempting to capitalize on its biggest strengths, Motorola spreads the love “Power” to the newest “regular” member of the Moto G family.
Slim design, modest screen, triple camera action
There is no question that mid-end and even low-end Android phones have come a long way in recent years in terms of style and elegance, but like a number of other companies, Motorola can not seem to figure out which is the better choice between a waterdrop notch and a hole punch for their non-flagship devices.
The newly unveiled Moto G9 sits in the former camp, assumes a relatively discreet screen cutout and a fairly large can, unlike the spring 2020 release G8, which comes with a small hole punch in the top left corner and a … equally wide bottom bezel.
Made entirely of plastic, just like its predecessor, the G9 sports an ever-larger 6.5-inch “Max Vision” screen with a similarly unimpressive resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels, producing a modest 269 ppi density . Unsurprisingly, the Moto G9 is also slightly higher than the G8, but not much thicker despite packing a significantly larger battery.
At 200 grams, the G9 is absolutely no forward weight, while the triple rear-facing camera system is restored to integrate a 48MP primary sensor with 12MP output powered by Quad Pixel technology, as well as a mid-range 2MP depth lens and a instantly useless 2MP macro shooter. If you ask yourself, the Moto G8 used the same 2MP macro lens in addition to a 16MP main cam and an 8MP ultra-wide angle shooter, giving the G9 some skill thanks to the 48MP upgrade when actually downgrading the secondary camera.
The battery is the main selling point
It’s true, the Moto G9 comes with a 5,000mAh cell on tow, surpassed by an already respectable 4000mAh battery inside the G8 and tied with this year’s cell capacity G Power and 2019s G7 Power. That makes us wonder if there will even be a G9 Power variant now, but first we should just be glad that the Moto G9 exists.
The 5,000mAh battery is actually equipped with fast charging technology, and you even get a 20W TurboPower adapter included as standard in the handset’s retail box, which is not bad for such an affordable device.
Interestingly, the G9 packs a Snapdragon 662 processor, which is a (small) step back from the 665 chipset that the G8 and G8 Plus. For what it’s worth, there are no changes to report in the memory and storage departments, with the Moto G9 offering 4 gigs from the former and 64 gigs from the latter.
On one side, the phone has a dedicated Google Assistant button, while the fingerprint scanner sits on the back, “hidden” behind Motorola’s iconic “batwing” logo. Other features include a water-repellent design, good old-fashioned headphone jack, modern USB Type-C port, pre-installed Android 10 software, and a modestly priced 8MP front-facing camera.
Prices and availability
Unfortunately, we do not yet have much official information to share on this front. All we know is that the Moto G9 will go on sale in India on August 31st at a recommended price of 11,499 rupees. That equates to about $ 155 at the moment, and white Motorola, the handset will soon be released across several European markets at an equally competitive price.
However, even based on recent history, we can not be sure that the G9 will ever spread its wings to the US, which is bound to upset many bargain hunters around these parts.
Of course, the Moto G Power, G Stylus, en G Fast are still very attractive, not to mention that this is clearly just the beginning of a wonderful Moto G9 family, which will no doubt have a few members on their way to North America.
