Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsGreat Phone For The Price, but..
Reviewed in the United States on February 26, 2024
I purchased this particular cell phone because the previous cell phone that I had was the original Moto G power 2020. I bought that phone shortly after it came out, and it was still working perfectly just last month as it was when I bought it close to 4 years ago.
Based on that alone, I decided to buy the newest Moto G power when I upgraded my Verizon plan one that included 5G service.
Most of the features are the same, but with newer and better hardware. The coolest feature of this new phone that I have noticed is the fingerprint sensor. While the 2020 version had a round fingerprint sensor on the center back of the phone, this cell phone has the fingerprint sensor on the power button. It's worthy to note that the power button is not round, but a small line shaped button on the side of the phone. Don't ask me how this can read a fingerprint, since only about a third of your finger touches it, but it works perfectly and I've had several other people try to unlock it using their fingerprint and it has always said that the fingerprint is not recognized, while it reads my fingerprint every single time without fail perfectly. This is very convenient and handy and I'm very impressed with this feature. The camera quality, especially the video quality, seems to be of top quality for a phone that only costed me $200. I only use the camera for enjoyment and memories, certainly not for anything professional, so somebody that is into photography May disagree with this, but I think the quality is great for the price. The phone comes with Android 13 installed on it and with one promised upgrade in the future, but as of February 26, 2024, it is still operating Android 13. Just like the 2020 version of the Moto G power, the battery on this phone is wonderful. I use my phone to browse the internet, get directions from Google Maps, and take a few pictures during the day, and while I work overnight for 8 hours, I turn on battery saving mode and am able to play music on YouTube during almost my entire shift, without charging my phone during that entire time. When I do charge my phone, it's usually in the range of 10 to 20% battery left, but it still fully charges in less than two hours, probably closer to 1.5 hours.
What I DON'T like about this phone is the audio quality. The quality of the audio on phone calls, Zoom meetings, etc. is perfectly fine and will get no complaints from me, but when I play music in my car via Bluetooth, I quickly noticed that the quality and volume are both not nearly as good as it was on my 2020 Moto G Power. The 2020 version used something called Smart Audio, while this 2023 version has something called Dolby Atmos. I've tried different settings in Atmos, different pre-set options like Music, Movie, etc. as well as just turning Dolby Atmos off altogether, and nothing has really made any difference. The quality of the music just isn't nearly as good as it was with the 2020 version of the phone. There's not nearly as much base, and when you turn on base boost, the base sounds even worse than with it off, which produces almost no base at all. Nothing is as clear or as crisp as it was with the 2020 Moto G Power, and since I drive and listen to music a lot, this is the main factor in me giving this phone a rating of 3 stars instead of 4. The 2020 version of the Moto G Power, I'd give a 5 if I could review it.