Introduction
The Motorola Moto series of smartphones have been popular over the years. The Moto G is a mid-range model between the Moto E (economy) and Moto X (extreme) models. A search of Amazon for Moto phones results in mostly the Moto G models [View] due to the popularity, features, and value of the Moto G.
Moto G — Quick Buying Guide
The Moto G models are quite popular for the reasons explained above. Not all Moto G models are of similar features and performance. The Moto G Play models are lower priced and lower performance. The Moto G Power series of phones have additional battery capacity for longer use between charges. You can view a comparison between the Moto G Play and Moto G Power models on the Best Buy website. [View] The comparison is a good illustration of how similar phones can be very different with regard to specifications.
Here are some Moto G Power versions with brief descriptions.
- Moto G Power 2022 with 64GB — A renewed (refurbished) model of this phone can be purchased for about $130 on Amazon [View] for those not needing extra internal storage.
- Moto G Power 2022 with 128GB — A renewed (refurbished) model of this phone can be purchased for about $250 on Amazon [View] for those needing more storage. Motorola also includes some additional performance.
- Moto G Power 2023 with 256GB — As with the 2022 models, this 2023 version with higher storage capacity comes with additional features and better performance. At first glance, the only difference in the 2023 offerings seems to be storage, but here are some additional benefits of the 256GB unit ($300 retail $200 sale) over the 128GB ($180) unit in 2023:
- CAMERA — The front-facing selfie (screen side) camera is 16 megapixel instead of 8 megapixel. The rear-facing back camera is 50 megapixels instead of 48 megapixels.
- PROCESSOR — The larger capacity unit comes with a more powerful processor.
- RAM — The larger capacity unit includes 6GB RAM instead of 4GB RAM.
A side-by-side comparison of the 256GB and 128GB models of the 2023 Moto G Power can be viewed on the Best Buy website. [View] Right now the 256GB model is on sale for $200 instead of $300, so it is the clear best value at this time. That sale pricing is available through Best Buy, Amazon, and probably other vendors.
NOTE: The Moto G series of phones are priced at the midrange and features are roughly according to price. A step up to the higher priced Motorola phones may cost $100 or more, and for that extra money you would get features like NFC for making in-store retail purchases with your phone using tap to pay.
Moto G Power 2023 — Resource Pages
Here are some resources for the Moto G Power 2023.
- Amazon – Product page via Amazon [View]
- Best Buy – Product page via Best Buy [View]
- Motorola – Official Product Page [View]
- Motorola – Product Specifications Page [View]
- Wired – Product Review [View]
Moto G — Android 12 or 13
The Moto G Power 2022 model comes with Android 12 and as of November 2023, an update to Android 13 has still not been released as an automatic update. The lack of an update is probably due to the slower processor and 4GB RAM in the phone which may not be sufficient for Android 13.
The Moto G Power 2023 model comes with Android 13 and presumably will receive Android 14 before too long. The 256GB version of the phone has a faster processor and 6GB RAM which is probably adequate for Android 14, which makes it more likely an update will be available.
Phone Case
As we all know, a good phone case can provide extra protection for your phone. It’s not necessary to spend a lot of money on case. For example, Spec has a case for the Moto G Power 2023 that is normally $20 and is on sale for $10. [View]
Fingerprint Reader
Motorola phones have had fingerprint readers on the front of the phone in the lower bezel area, and later Motorola moved the fingerprint reader to the back of the phone in the top middle area where your index finger might naturally be placed when holding the phone.
For the Moto G Power 2023 model, the fingerprint reader is on the power button. This is similar to some Samsung phones. Apple also uses a fingerprint reader on the power button of some iPad models.
The power button fingerprint reader is considered a more convenient location since a person needs to push the power button anyway when powering on the phone.
Because the power button is a small rectangular surface, less area of the fingerprint is scanned. The Moto G Power 2023 model includes face recognition also, which is convenient if you are wearing gloves.
Moto Gestures
Most notably, with Motorola phones, there are gestures unique to the Moto phones not found in other Android phones. These can be enabled or turned off using the Moto app or Moto Actions app.
A few of the popular gestures are:
- CAMERA — Two twists of your wrist while holding the phone should activate the camera.
- FLASHLIGHT — A chopping motion, downward twice, will turn the flashlight on or off.
- SCREENSHOT — Hold three fingers on the screen to capture an image of what you see on the screen.
Close Apps to Speed Up Your Moto Phone
If your Moto phone seems slow, you may have many apps running in the background. To close them, follow these steps.
STEP #1 — Tap Square
Tap the small square in the lower right of your screen. For the example below, the screen is showing the Google Play home page.
STEP #2 — Active Apps Will Show
After tapping on the square icon in the lower right, you will see any running apps displayed on the screen side-by-side as shown below.
STEP #3 — Swipe Right
If you tap and hold, and swipe to the right, additional active apps become visible as shown below.
STEP #4 — Swipe up to Close Apps
You can tap and swipe up to close out any active apps, or if you keep swiping right, eventually you should see a Clear All option as shown below. If you tap that, all of the active running apps will close / quit / exit.
STEP #5 — Home Screen
Once the apps are closed, you should be automatically returned to your Home Screen as shown below. The example here shows a default screen for an older Motorola Moto X smartphone.
Conclusion
In addition to apps potentially slowing down your phone, if your phone’s internal storage is close to full, that can cause problems. Also, a browser like Chrome can be very demanding if many tabs are open, or if web pages with many rotating and animated ads are showing.
