Motorola is a legendary name in the cellular phone business — the company released the world's first ever commercially available cellular phone, the DynaTAC 8000X, 40 years ago, in 1983. We've come a long way since then obviously, with Motorola itself riding a rollercoaster. From the highs of its success with the original moto razr — I always coveted that one — to being sold to Google, and then to Lenovo, it's safe to say Motorola's mobility business didn't exactly have the most stable time in the mid-2010s.
But once it found a home at Lenovo, Motorola slowly and steadily tried to establish itself as a beloved brand again, and it has seen varying degrees of success, especially in the packed budget-t-midrange field.
The company's latest effort in this direction is the g84, the latest in its vaunted G series. From the first glimpse, it's clear that the company has put a lot of thought into ensuring this device stands out, from its vegan leather finish to slim profile and light weight at just 167 grams, to even partnering with Pantone for truly eye-catching colours.
Motorola sent me the moto g84 in the Viva Magenta colour for review, with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. Purely on aesthetics, the phone looks so good, I could eat it. It reminds me of red velvet cake. It is bright, vivid, oozes style, and is very magenta. The vegan leather back and the aluminium sides make it comfortable to hold in one hand, and I had to stop myself from staring at it on multiple occasions.
But this phone is as much for the aesthete as it is for a budget-conscious user looking for an excellent experience at under Rs 20,000 — the g84 comes at 19,999 for the 12/256 variant, but here's the kicker — the dual-SIM hybrid SIM tray allows you to use one SIM card and a microSD card of up to 1 TB in capacity. Not many companies offer that option these days.
The smartphone offers an IP54 rating for dust and water resistance — so you can take it out for a spin in the rain without worry. It also comes with the increasingly rare 3.5mm headphone jack.
The screen
On the front, the g84 sports a vibrant 6.5-inch pOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. This display offers excellent visual quality with punchy colours and deep blacks. The display's peak brightness, rated at 1,300 nits, delivers impressive outdoor visibility and its responsiveness makes it one of the better displays in the sub-Rs 20,000 segment. The only drawback is its inability to play Ultra-HD 4K content on platforms like YouTube or Netflix, owing to chipset limitations associated with the Snapdragon 695 chip.
The hardware
Under the hood is where the g84 stands tall — it offers exceptional performance for a device in this price range. The additional RAM provides room for multitasking and smooth app switching. Motorola's Android skin, MyUX, offers a clean, close-to-stock Android experience, but the promise of just one software update limits its longevity, especially when most other brands offer at least three OS updates.
Battery
Packed with a 5,000 mAh battery, the g84 lasted me all day and then some, and charges quickly with the included 33W charger — yes, it comes with a charger. With nearly seven hours of screen-on time, and carrying out all my daily tasks, such as checking emails, answering phone calls, replying to text messages, tweeting (or is it X-ting, now?), plus a few minutes of video streaming, this battery handled everything I threw at it and said, "What's next?"
Cameras
In terms of camera capabilities, the moto g84 features a dual rear camera setup, with a 50-megapixel primary shooter and an 8-megapixel ultrawide lens. The camera performance is impressive, capturing detailed images with a wide dynamic range. The images often appear dull in the viewfinder but come to life with vibrant colours and sharp details once captured. The wide-angle lens produces decent results, although with slightly muted colours and shadows along the edges. Portrait mode delivers pleasing results, with accurate edge detection, despite some skin smoothening. Overall, the camera setup offers a satisfactory photography experience.
What I didn't like
Not much, honestly. The phone had a few jitters and would sometimes take an extra second, but not often enough for it to become an annoyance. I am not a big fan of the haptics — the buzz you get whenever you go anything on the screen is not exactly pleasant, and a far cry from the haptics that other smartphones implement, but then again, for this price, I can live with it.
In conclusion
The moto g84 5G is a well-rounded smartphone that excels in various aspects — a premium design, a stunning pOLED display, and a reliable battery life, all for under Rs 20,000. Although restricted by the Snapdragon 695 chipset's inability to record 4K videos or offer HDR playback, these limitations are unlikely to be significant drawbacks for most users in this price range. The Moto G84 5G's strengths in display, camera, and battery performance make it a compelling choice. Despite the disappointing update cycle, it stands out as one of the best smartphones under Rs 20,000, offering a complete package for budget-conscious consumers.
