Moto G (2014) review

The Moto G is dead! Long live the Moto G!

Moto G review
Same name, better specs - but a less inspiring phone

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Moto G 2014

This is a good example of HDR In action. The mode has made a good job of it, with a natural look, but the flats and Big Ben could have been brought out more

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Moto G 2014

Here I'm really pushing the Moto G's HDR to the limits. Contrast has taken a hit, but crucially we're still left with a clear, reasonably natural-looking image

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Moto G 2014

The f/2.0 lens is capable of some minor shallow depth of field effects. Nothing applause-worthy, but great for a low-end phone

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Moto G 2014

The impressive thing here is not the detail captured, which isn't that amazing, but the rather lovely colour reproduction, including in the shadow areas

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Moto G 2014

This shot is a good test of contrast and colour reproduction, and the Moto G does pretty well. Nice vivid reds, plenty of contrast

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Moto G 2014

The Moto G's focusing and metering system means it's easy to make photos with overexposed areas, like the building to the right

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Moto G 2014

Here the exposure is a bit off, making the right hand-side of the image quite washed-out

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Moto G 2014

At pixel level there's a fair bit of noise, but it's otherwise a nice, sharp shot

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Moto G 2014

With HDR applied this scene looks great, demonstrating what the mode is for

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Moto G 2014

Without HDR applied, we see how the metering style of the Moto G means you really need to know what you're doing. The sky is massively overexposed

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Moto G 2014

HDR once again proving its worth. Don't zoom in too much and you could believe this was taken with a 'proper' camera

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Moto G 2014

At night the Moto G holds onto its colours pretty well

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Moto G 2014

In very low light conditions, the Moto G still maintains nice colours. But it doesn't have super low light sensitivity to make your shots clear

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Moto G 2014

A lack of burst mode meant I missed the pigeon as it flew off. But the Moto G is still offers respectable speed

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Moto G 2014

With super-fine high contrast photos you see some purple chroma noise, but detail is much better than in the old model

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Moto G 2014

The Moto G HDR modes seems to apply some anti-ghosting processing. This is an HDR shot, but there's no dual exposure of the pigeon in flight

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Moto G 2014

It's no wonder there's an 'auto HDR' mode in the Moto G. Here by focusing on the foreground, the sky is massively overexposed. We'd really like to see the phone offer separate focus and exposure points

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Andrew Williams

Andrew is a freelance journalist and has been writing and editing for some of the UK's top tech and lifestyle publications including TrustedReviews, Stuff, T3, TechRadar, Lifehacker and others.