What a phone is it. Review on Motorola Moto G

It is a very good phone.The first thing that struck us about the Motorola Moto G was its novel packaging. When it came to our doorstep, we didn't realise that the sleek box hid a mobile phone inside. Amazingly everything from the device to the charger fits within this slim box.

The Moto G is a candybar phone. It doesn't have any contours - the design is very basic yet modern. When we first looked at the Moto G, we mistook it for the company's flagship Moto X.The G looks like a replica of the Moto X(except for its size), which is not really a bad thing considering the premium look of its elder sibling. However, the Moto G is different in a few ways. It's definitely thicker, measuring 129.9x65.9x11.6mm compared to 129.3x65.3x10.4mm for the X. At 143 grams, the Moto G is also heavier than the Moto X(130 grams). However, we assume that for an average buyer in this price segment, thickness and weight of a smartphone are not the biggest concerns. The Moto G features curved edges that offer a good grip.

The Moto G's front panel is dominated by a 4.5-inch screen, which is only marginally smaller than 4.7-inch display found on the Moto X. The front panel features a black strip of glass around the screen that visually differentiates the plastic front and rear panels. Notably, the Moto G does not have any logo or branding on the front.

There's a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera which to the left of the chrome earpiece. There are no soft-touch capacitive buttons on the front panel, a design touch that is commonly seen on the Nexus range of devices. It's worth pointing out that Google's Nexus 7(2013) tablet's front panel also bears a lot of similarities to the Moto G. The new Nexus 7 features a glass strip around the screen, identical to the Moto G.The curved rear panel is made of a soft-touch polycarbonate, and is comfortable to hold. Yes, it sometimes gets badly smudged by fingerprints, but this is nothing that cannot be cleaned. The panel is removable even though the battery isn't. Motorola has announced that there will be accessories including rear shells and flip covers(both in seven colour options) and Grip Shells(in five colour options). This means that customers will have a choice of colours, something we generally see on Nokia's Lumia range.The power and volume rocker buttons are placed on the right side of the Moto G, while the 3.5mm audio jack is on the top and the Micro-USB port is on the bottom panel. The placement of the physical buttons is fine and we had no problem reaching them even when we were not looking at the device. The Moto G's back houses a 5-megapixel camera with an LED flash with a speaker grille to its left. The Motorola logo is embossed just below the LED flash and is identical to the one found on the Moto X. Peel off the back panel and you can get to the SIM slot, which accepts a Micro-SIM. The unit we received was a single-SIM device, though Motorola has introduced a dual-SIM Moto G variant in India.One of the biggest highlights of the Moto G is its 4.5-inch 720x1280-pixel IPS LCD, which works out to a density of 329 pixels per inch. Notably, the Moto G's screen is a bit sharper than Apple's iPhone 5s, which offers 326ppi.Motorola has also used Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on the Moto G to protect it from scratches. It's worth pointing out that Gorilla Glass is usually found on premium devices priced at Rs. 30, 000 and above.

The IPS LCD screen doesn't have the fullest colour reproduction like the HTC One and LG G2 or the deepest blacks like Samsung's high-end Galaxy smartphones(Galaxy S4 or Galaxy Note 3) with AMOLED screens do, but it is bright and colours are consistently vibrant. Thankfully the viewing angles are never a problem. The screen is not very reflective and visibility in bright sunlight was also acceptable. Further, the Moto G's 4.5-inch screen is fine for video playback and gaming.