Moto G to Raise Motorola Profile in Android Market: 10 Reasons Why

By Don Reisinger

The Moto G won’t be an iPhone 5S or Samsung Galaxy S 4 killer, but it’s also not supposed to be. The device is designed for customers on a budget and those in emerging markets. Perhaps, that’s why Motorola’s decision to include a 4.5-inch HD display in the device is so surprising. At that size, the Moto G comes with a screen that’s bigger than Apple’s flagship handset.

It’s hard to argue with the price of Motorola’ Moto G. The handset goes for $179 with 8GB of storage and jumps to only $199 for 16GB of storage. At that price, the Moto G is apt to have quite a few fans in emerging markets.

The central component in Motorola’s mobile strategy is customization. That’s precisely why the company is offering Shells with the Moto G that will allow owners to customize the aesthetics of the handset. The sheer number of Shells is impressive and makes one wonder what Motorola might drum up next on the customization front.

Does the Moto G come with a groundbreaking processor? No. But the device’s Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 chip with 1.2GHz quad-core processing power is certainly no slouch. With that chip, users should have ample opportunity to test just how far to the limits they can take the Moto G. And they might discover that it can go awfully far.

OK, so 8GB and 16GB of on-board storage don’t seem like much. However, thanks to Motorola being owned by Google, the company is able to offer two years of 50GB of Google Drive storage free with each Moto G. So, maybe storage really isn’t an issue with Motorola’s latest handset.

Surprisingly, the Moto G comes with Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) and not Google’s latest distribution, Android 4.4 (KitKat). However, Motorola has said that the handset will be updated free to KitKat. In fact, on its Moto G Website, Motorola guaranteed that the update is coming.

The HD display’s resolution deserves its own mention. The screen is 720p, instead of the latest and greatest 1080p screens, but Motorola has been able to bunch a boatload of pixels into the screen. The handset comes with 329 pixels per inch, meaning it’ll deliver a stellar visual experience. That’s impressive for a device that’s designed to be cheap.

The Moto G comes with support for a data-transfer application, called Motorola Migrate. The software allows owners to transfer their call histories, texts, videos, photos, music and SIM contacts from their old device to their Moto G. Granted, Apple’s iCloud and other synching services can do the same, but such a feature isn’t typically found in the lower end of the market. Kudos to Motorola for delivering it.

So, there’s something about the Moto G’s price that should be clarified: It’s not for a two-year agreement with a carrier. No, the Moto G starts at $179 unlocked and contract-free. If that doesn’t make the device even more appealing to those who want to be able to take it from one carrier to another, what will?

Whenever it comes time to evaluate a mobile device, one must also consider the company that built it. Although Motorola had its fair share of trouble in the last few years, Google isn’t going to let anything happen to Motorola now that it owns the company. In fact, Google has invested a significant sum in Motorola to get it back in the mobile game. So, don’t worry about Motorola—for the next several years at least, it should get all the backing it needs from Google.