Being a Motorola phone, the Moto G53 runs a very clean, nearly AOSP-looking version of Android 13 with just a few Moto mods on top. We still believe that this clean appearance is a selling factor generally applicable to all Moto devices.
The Quick Settings and notification shade are pretty distinct in recent AOSP versions with big and bubbly buttons, of which you only get four on the first pull, up to 8 on the second, and the full-screen notification shade.
On to widgets, which saw an overhaul with Android 12. The widget picker offers responsive previews for differently-sized widgets. The new API supports dynamic coloring by tying into the Material You theming engine, allowing the widgets to adapt to the wallpaper.
Quick settings • Notification shade • Widgets
The Material You auto-theming feature is here, too, though it's masked behind a slightly customized Moto-specific theming engine. You can still get wallpaper-based accent colors, which will apply to Google apps and the settings menu. Motorola also has a separate Interactive wallpapers app from which you can download a number of dynamic wallpapers.
Theming and interactive wallpapers
As is usually the case, Motorola has added a handful of useful extras. They are all placed in a Moto settings app that lists them in categories. The Moto app itself has a new look.
The first category is personalization - that's where the OS-native auto-theming found a foster home. There is also a wide selection of Moto wallpapers in addition to Google's own, plus the option to leverage AI to create your own from the photos in your gallery.
Then come the gestures. By now, you must have seen Moto's karate chop motion that turns on and off the flashlight and the twisting motion that launches the camera app. Both work even when the device is locked.
The lift-to-unlock gesture works well with the face unlock, as it unlocks the device as soon as you pick it up and look at the screen. A swipe-to-split function is available, too - it triggers split-screen multitasking. You can also double-tap the back of the phone to do a custom action.
The display-related features are Peek Display and Attentive Display. The former works as a second-best alternative to the Always-on display feature, which is actually missing, but with some added functionality to make up for it.
The screen lights up when it detects motion that's close to the phone or when you pick it up. Once you've received some kind of notification, you can tap on it, see the message, and even interact with it from the lock screen.
Attentive Display disables the screen timeout as long as there's a face looking at the screen.
Then there's the Play section. Here, you'll find the Gametime utility, which offers the usual functionality of tools like call and notification blocking and screen recording. Additionally, there are optional shortcuts for media playback when the screen is locked using the volume keys and a Dolby Atmos sound enhancement utility.
With recent versions, Google has been investing heavily in the privacy and security aspects of Android. This includes things like the Privacy dashboard, which offers a unified view of what permission is being used by what app and when.
There are also the camera and microphone indicators in the top right corner of the screen for an immediate clue that you're being watched/listened to, but also the quick toggles to limit access to those altogether. There is also the option to determine whether an app gets your precise coordinates or an approximate location.
Secure folder is pretty self-explanatory. It is a vault to keep your sensitive apps and files. There are a few interesting network protection options on board, like the ability to block certain apps from accessing the network while you are connected to an unsecured Wi-Fi hotspot.
Other interesting security features include the ability to lock your network and security settings for as long as your screen is locked. Also, the ability to scramble your pin input interface for higher security. You can access all of these security and privacy settings through a separate Moto Secure app shortcut as well.
A relatively new feature is the Overcharge protection toggle in the Battery menu. It will cut off charging once it detects that the phone hasn't been unplugged for three days straight and keep the battery charged at a much healthier 80%.
Predictably, the Moto G53 is missing the "Ready For" feature Motorola is offering on some of its higher-end models.
The Moto G53 5G runs on the Snapdragon 480+ chipset. The 480+ is an upgraded variant of the Snapdragon 480 that came out in 2021 as the first chip in the Snapdragon 4xx series to support 5G connectivity. The Snapdragon 480+ is made on an 8nm LPP process and has two Kryo 460 Gold (Cortex-A76) CPU cores clocked at up to 2.2 GHz, plus another six Kryo 460 Silver (Cortex-A55) ones working at up to 1.8 GHz. There is also an Adreno 619 GPU on board and an X51 internal 5G/LTE modem. The Snapdragon 480+ is paired with up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM. Our review unit has 4GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.
In a sense, the Snapdragon 480+ is a bit of a downgrade compared to the Snapdragon 680 inside the Moto G52. Presumably, Motorola had to make that sacrifice in order to deliver 5G connectivity at this price point.
Let's start with some CPU testing and GeekBench. The Snapdragon 480+ has pretty lackluster multi-core CPU performance. Inside the Moto G53, in particular, it seems to even be underperforming a bit compared to similarly-equipped devices like the Moto G51 5G and Moto G62. Not by a lot, mind you.
The Moto G53 fairs a lot better in single-core tests, which is arguably the more important bit when it comes to day-to-day average use.
Higher is better
Higher is better
AnTuTu is a much more compound benchmark that incorporates CPU, GPU and memory tests, among other things. It is actually pretty favorable towards the Moto G53 5G.
Higher is better
The Adreno 619 GPU inside the Moto G53 is pretty weak as well. However, there is one saving grace, of sorts, in the HD+ native resolution of the phone's display. This allows for relatively higher on-screen test results. Still, nothing amazing, though. We can at least see that the Moto G53 performs on par with the Moto G51 5G and G62 in off-screen tests, which means that Motorola is making the most out of the Snapdragon 480+ chipset.
Higher is better
Higher is better
Higher is better
Higher is better
As we go lower in GPU testing intensity, the Adreno 619 finally starts posting some more reasonable benchmark scores. At least on-screen, that is, in 720p resolution.
Higher is better
Higher is better
The Moto G53 even manages to break through the 60fps barrier in the lower-intensity Manhattan OpenGL ES 3.0 tests.
Higher is better
Higher is better
Higher is better
Higher is better
In practice, the G53 does fair reasonably well with gaming. Casual titles run just fine, but more intensive ones do experience stutters and slowdowns. As long as you have your expectations set accordingly, you can definitely have some quality gaming time on the G53, especially with all of the extra gaming features Motorola has put in place.
Higher is better
Higher is better
The Snapdragon 480+ might not be a chart-topper, but it is a pretty efficient chip. It doesn't run particularly hot, either. The Moto G53 never got above lukewarm under prolonged loads, and the chipset faired excellently with thermal throttling. It is done in a very controlled and gradual, not to mention minimal manner.
All things considered, the Moto G53 offers decent performance for day-to-day use but is largely unimpressive in this regard. We feel like Motorola sacrificed too much in the way of performance just to fit 5G into a budget price category. Some competitors from Xiaomi, POCO, Realme and Samsung manage to offer more raw power and 5G connectivity for a similar price, challenging the G53 in terms of value.
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