The Moto G lineup and battery life

It seems that over the years the Moto G lineup proved itself as one of the most reliable and most wanted in the mid-range smartphone market. As one may validly assume, every next generation offers upgrades. When it comes to battery life, however, the situation is a bit more complex because a bigger battery does not always mean longer battery life. Fortunately for us, we have had the chance to test each Moto G device that has been released thus far, and we can easily juxtapose their battery performance and tell you which one is the most durable.

It was in January 2016 that the first Moto G smartphone appeared. Its battery is 2070 mAh, which does not seem as a lot from a modern perspective but back then the hardware was not so demanding and hence the results were more than pleasing.

 

OS	Android 4.4.2 (KitKat)
CPU	Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 / 8926 (4-core, 1.20GHz, Cortex-A7)
RAM	1GB RAM
Storage	16GB internal storage
GPU	Adreno 305
Display	4.5-inch (11.43 cm) – IPS, 1280 х 720 pixels (326 PPI)
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS (a-GPS + GLONASS), MicroUSB 2.0 (with On-The-Go support)
Cameras	1.3MP (front) and a rear 5MP camera with autofocus and an LED flash, 720p HD video recording at 30fps (with stereo sound)
Features	Accelerometer, proximity sensor, compass, FM radio
Battery	2070 mAh
Profile thickness (thickest point)	11.30 mm
Weight	143 grams

It was in September, the same year, when the second Moto G was announced, and it already had a bigger 5-inch display. Additionally, its resolution (HD) and mobile CPU (Snapdragon 400) remained unchanged but the larger screen consumed more energy. This does not seem to have been well thought over because the battery capacity was unchanged – 2070 mAh.

 

OS	Android 4.4.4
CPU	Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 MSM8226 (4-core, 1.20GHz, Cortex-A7)
RAM	1GB RAM
Sorage	8GB internal storage
GPU	Adreno 305
Display	5-inch IPS LCD capacitive multitouch display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels
Connectivity	Bluetooth v4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS, A-GPS
Cameras	8MP with autofocus and an LED flash (rear), 2MP (front)
Features	two SIM cards (Micro-SIM), microSD card slot (supports up to 32GB), integrated loudspeaker, 3.5 mm audio jack, FM radio, accelerometer, proximity sensor, compass
Battery	2070 mAh
Dimensions (W/H/L)	70.7 x 141.5 x 11.6 mm
Weight	148 grams

July 2015 – Moto G3 was presented. Now the third generation displayed that the engineers had done their homework and increased the battery capacity to 2470 mAh. On the other hand, the display remained the same – 5″ with HD resolution. Of course, it was only natural that this improved the battery life.

OS	Android 5.1 Lollipop
CPU	Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (MSM8916) (4-core, 1.36GHz, Cortex-A53)
RAM	1GB RAM (2GBs RAM for the 16GB model)
Storage	8/16GB + microSD
GPU	Adreno 306 (400 MHz)
Display	5.0-inch IPS LCD display, 1280×720 p, capacitive
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, GPS (A-GPS, GLONASS), Bluetooth v4.0, A2DP, LE
Rear camera	13.0MP, f/2.0, HDR, dual LED flash (with two tones), IR filter/ 1080p at 30 fps, slow motion – 720p
Front camera	5.0MP, f/2.2
Features	Dustproof FM radio MicroUSB 2.0 (supports On-The-Go, USB Host) 3-axis accelerometer – Kionix 3-axis Calibrated Magnetic field sensor – Asahi Kasei Microdevices Orientation sensor – Asahi Kasei Microdevices Ambient light sensor – TAOS (1.0 lux resolution) Proximity sensor – TAOS
Battery	2470 mAh
Dimensions (W/H/L)	141.9 x 72.3 x 11.2 mm
Weight	154 grams

Here we are with the latest Moto G representative, which was announced back in May this year. We are talking about the Moto G4 which also has a Plus version. It seems that the differences over the last generation are even more drastic. For example, the display is now 5.5-inches and Full HD. As far as the mobile processor is concerned, we are dealing with the more powerful octa-core Snapdragon 617. All this obliges the manufacturer to provide an even bigger battery, which here is 3000 mAh. But is this enough to match the Moto G3’s performance or exceed it?

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OS	Android v6.0 (Marshmallow)
CPU	Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 MSM8952 (4-core, 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4-core, 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53)
RAM	2GB
Internal storage	16/32/64GB
GPU	Adreno 405
Display	5,5-inch IPS capacitive multitouch display (1920 x 1080 p), Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Connectivity	Bluetooth v4.1, A2DP, LE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac, GPS, А-GPS
Cameras	13MP with autofocus and an LED flash (rear), 5MP (front)
Features	Micro-SIM card slot microSD card slot (supports up to 256GB) microUSB v2.0 port integrated loudspeaker 3.5 mm audio jack FM radio accelerometer proximity sensor
Battery	3000 mAh
Dimensions	153 x 76.6 x 9.8 mm
Weight	155 grams

The table below includes all above-described Moto G models and their battery durability in several tests. You can decide for yourselves.

You can browse through all available Moto models here: http://amzn.to/2cNHJ6L

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