Surprise! Moto G and Moto G Plus launched – specs, release date, price revealed

Out of the blue, a press release! The new Moto G has been announced just hours before the scheduled UK launch event.

The fourth-generation Moto G has a 5.5-inch Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixel) display. It also features a 13-megapixel camera that will offer what Motorola calls ‘crystal-clear, share-worthy pics’ – good to know. That’s achieved courtesy of a f/2.2 aperture, an 84-degree wide angle leds, and a colour-balancing dual-LED flash. There’s also a 5-megapixel camera on the front. Camera features include: ‘Professional Mode’, Auto HDR, Panorama, and ‘Drag to focus and exposure’.

The phone is powered by a respectable 3,000mAh battery, and ships with a 1.5GHz Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor inside. There’s some fast-charging tech on board too – “TurboPower gives you six hours of power in just 15 minutes”, says Motorola. It features 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage.

WATCH: We go hands-on with the new Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus

^{Last year’s Moto G (third-gen)}

There’s also the new Moto G Plus, a more powerful brother to the Moto G with “all the features” of the smaller version. The headline difference is the 16-megapixel camera that has built-in “rapid focus” technologies. The Moto G Plus is the only one with a fingerprint scanner too – this unlocks in less than 750ms, apparently. Regarding memory, the Moto G Plus comes in two variants: 2GB RAM/16GB storage and 3GB RAM/32GB storage.

“When it comes to smartphones, sometimes we feel let down,” explains a Motorola spokesperson. “The things that matter most – like taking great photos at our kids’ soccer games, video chatting with mom or having an all-day battery life – simply don’t live up to our expectations.”

The spokesperson continues: “It shouldn’t be this way. Smartphones should focus on technology that priorities the things people really care about.”

The Moto G will be available in the UK from early June this year for £169, retailing at Tesco Mobile, Argos, and Amazon. The Moto G Plus, meanwhile, will be available from mid-June at Amazon exclusively, at a price of £199. Both phones come in black and white colour variants.

Related: Everything you need to know about the Moto Z

Moto G vs Moto G Plus specs

The Moto G features:

• 5.5-inch screen
• Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixel) display resolution
• Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• 1.5GHz octa-core Snapdragon 617 processor
• Adreno 405 GPU
• 13-megapixel camera
• 5-megapixel camera
• TurboPower fast-charging
• 3,000mAh battery
• 2GB RAM/16GB Storage
• Base price: £169

The Moto G Plus features:

• 5.5-inch screen
• Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixel) display resolution
• Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• 1.5GHz octa-core Snapdragon 617 processor
• Adreno 405 GPU
• 16-megapixel camera
• 5-megapixel camera
• TurboPower fast-charging
• 2GB RAM/16GB storage OR 3GB RAM/32GB storage
• Fingerprint scanner (
• Base price: £199

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What do you think of Motorla’s new Moto G? Let us know in the comments.