Moto G5 – Battery Life

The Moto G5 has a 2800mAh battery that, unusually, can be removed. This means if it stops holding a good charge 18 months after buying, you can simply buy another.

It’s already readily available, as the GK40 unit is the same used by the Moto G4 Play.

The phone has semi-fast battery charging, with a 5.2W 2A (10.4 watt) charger. It’ll get you most of the way charged in an hour, but the more powerful Motorola TurboCharger used with higher-end Moto phones ramps up to 15 watts.

Stamina is acceptable, but not much more than that. With normal use it’ll last a full day, but on several occasions I’ve run it down by night-time after streaming one too many podcasts, or a bit too much Spotify. It would be good to see the next Moto G use a more power-efficient processor, as the 28nm process of the Snapdragon 430 is similar to that used in the Snapdragon 400, used in the very first Moto G back in 2013.

As with several elements of the Moto G5, it’s an issue common among budget phones. The Samsung Galaxy S8 has a 10nm processor while cheaper ones are still left with old 28nm. For those not deep into the tech, this refers to the size of transistors used in a processor: smaller ones enable power efficiency savings.

Finally, there’s just the speaker to look at. It sits on the front, doubling as the earpiece speaker. While useful for YouTube watching and podcast listening, it’s nothing to get excited about. It sounds thinner than the best budget phone speakers, so can’t cut through much ambient noise that well.

Should I buy the Moto G5?

If you find the Moto G4 at the same price as the Moto G5 or cheaper, there’s a very good argument for buying the older model unless you prefer the design of the new model. The screen’s bigger, the processor a little faster and the camera similar in terms of image quality.

The lingering issue is that any progress here is subjective. A more premium look and feel will be welcomed by many and using a smaller but still 1080p screen may appeal to those who found the Moto G4 that bit too big. It’s not a better phone than the Moto G4 and that’s a problem, despite its strengths.

As much as we complain about the Moto G series treading water, that this is still a great buy is what matters most.

Verdict

If you want a more significant upgrade over the Moto G4, the 2018 Moto G6 really comes into its own.