There are two fundamental areas of enchancment. First, the Moto G Energy lastly has an IP ranking of IP68/69, which means it has been examined to outlive water jets and submersion. It is going to survive heavy rain and an unintentional drop within the pool. These scores are sometimes solely out there on pricier telephones, so it is good to have that peace of thoughts.
Second, Motorola guarantees two Android working system upgrades alongside three years of safety updates. That is an enormous change contemplating I complained concerning the poor replace technique in Motorola telephones 4 years in the past. Thoughts you, it might stand to be longer, but it surely’s a begin. Which means for the primary time, a Moto G cellphone can get pleasure from two OS updates, which frequently embrace new options. Fortunately, the Moto G Energy 2025 launched with the present Android 15 model, so this cellphone will get Android 16 and Android 17, although do not anticipate the updates to reach quick.
Talking of software program, the consumer interface is clear and comparatively pain-free. Nonetheless, like earlier Moto G telephones, there is a boatload of pre-installed bloatware. You possibly can uninstall all of it—and you may wish to take the time to do it as it might probably avoid wasting space for storing.
Battery life is nice—the 5,000-mAh cell roughly lasts two days with common use, although on days once I used the cellphone for navigation, music streaming, and many Instagram Reels-ing, it dipped to roughly 30 p.c by bedtime. My favourite perk is that I can recharge it with a wi-fi charger, and this Moto G stays one of many few sub-$300 telephones with the aptitude.
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
The remainder of the explanations it’s your decision this cellphone over different gadgets stay: It nonetheless has a headphone jack for all you wire lovers; it retains the microSD card slot—on prime of the built-in 128 GB of storage—in case you usually use a number of storage; and the near-field communication sensor (NFC) permits you to make contactless funds so you may depart the pockets at residence.
Good Appears to be like
One factor Motorola did get proper once more is design. The vegan leather-based (aka plastic) texture on the again blended with the great inexperienced colour elevates this simple-looking cellphone into one thing extra. It has character and stands out from the ocean of boring black slabs, to not point out it feels a lot nicer to carry.
Over on the again is the place you may additionally discover three cameras, although one is simply an ambient mild sensor. The primary digital camera is a 50-megapixel sensor and it is joined by an 8-MP ultrawide that additionally doubles as a macro digital camera. The first shooter is respectable. Allow Motorola’s Evening mode and it might probably take some stable low-light pictures, although the outcomes may be blurry in case you do not stay nonetheless sufficient, and colours are muddy. Pores and skin tones and white stability are problematic too, however these are widespread points with cellphone cameras at this value bracket.