Motorola Moto G53 5G Review: Not Looking Too Sharp

Value When Reviewed

Unavailable within the US

Motorola has just about blitzed us with tidy however samey £200-ish telephones in latest instances and you’ll see why. This form of cellphone has introduced the Lenovo-owned model appreciable success, even prompting it to vacate the flagship class for a time.

The most recent intense Moto bombardment comprises 4 (sure, 4!) low-cost telephones, however as we speak we’re specializing in the second-from-top Moto G53 mannequin (under the Moto G73 5G). It’s a well-known package deal, providing a 120Hz show, a 50Mp digicam, a sober all-plastic design, 5G connectivity, and naturally the model’s fat-free software program. Is that sufficient to warrant a suggestion, although?

Design & Construct

• Tidy, flat plastic physique
• USB-C, 3.5mm headphones jack, stereo audio system
• Fingerprint sensor in side-mounted energy button

You may inform Motorola is a seasoned vet at this entire low-cost cellphone factor. Constructing an reasonably priced handset is usually an train in not drawing consideration to the less-than-premium supplies which might be inevitably used, and Motorola does that in addition to anybody. 

Selecting up the Moto G53 doesn’t elicit any robust feelings, and that’s a great factor. My Arctic Silver mannequin is certainly one of three muted tones (the others being Ink Blue and Pale Pink) that every one come throughout as protected and business-like. 

The supplies, whereas plastic, really feel strong within the hand, with little signal of creak or flex. The rear cowl, in the meantime, has a frosted end that appears good and fashionable, even because it attracts fingerprints – sure, even on this lighter tone.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

The Moto G53’s flatter design, with no trace of curvature to the rear panel, is nearer to the Moto G22 than the Moto G62. It’s comparatively skinny because of this, with an 8.2mm-thick chassis. In any other case, it measures a reasonably typical 162.7 x 74.7mm and weighs a just-so 183g.

The model’s usually “water-repellent” end implies that it’ll stand as much as the odd splash, however you wouldn’t wish to drop it in a puddle or take it out throughout a torrential downpour. 

You get a dependable fingerprint sensor constructed into the facility button on the right-hand edge, although it’s not notably fast about its unlocking enterprise. That possible comes all the way down to the sluggish processor on the core of the cellphone, nonetheless. You get the same old 3.5mm headphone jack and USB-C ports on the underside edge.

Display screen & Audio system

• 6.5in HD+ LCD
• 120Hz refresh fee
• Not notably colour-accurate

Final yr I praised the Moto G62 for not selecting up Motorola’s nasty behavior for together with sub-Full HD shows on its G-series telephones. Sadly, that behavior is again on show with the Moto G53. Which, don’t neglect, has an RRP that’s solely £10 cheaper than the G62’s launch value.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

I received’t go into an excessive amount of element on the entire objection to 720p shows once more, apart from to say that Full HD or 1080p ought to actually be the default decision for all however the absolute most cost-effective (£100 or much less) handsets. Movies, pictures, and internet content material simply look manner higher at this decision, particularly on the super-sized shows that we’ve come to simply accept as regular.

On that entrance, the Moto G53’s display measures in at 6.5in. Not enormous, then, however actually not sufficiently small to warrant such a shortfall in pixels.

The supply of a 120Hz refresh fee is all effectively and good, however the cellphone’s restricted processor and RAM provision don’t precisely allow you to benefit from the full extent of that spec. I’d have most well-liked that Motorola had taken the Poco M5 route and scaled again to 90Hz, maybe redirecting these sources in the direction of an FHD+ decision.

It’s additionally an IPS LCD, so that you don’t get vibrant colors to make up for the decrease decision, whereas blacks are extra like darkish greys. By way of color accuracy, the Pure color mode is a greater guess (in sRGB phrases a minimum of) than the ramped up default Saturated mode. Even then, a gamut protection of 89.9%, a gamut quantity of 90.1%, and a Delta E rating of 1.57 actually isn’t notably robust, trailing behind the Poco M5 and the Moto G62.

I recorded a peak brightness of 454 nits with auto-brightness turned off, which is cheap.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

In a nutshell, then, the Moto G53 show isn’t very sharp or colour-accurate, and it solely will get reasonably vivid. It’s completely usable, however you are able to do higher for the cash.

Stereo audio system are all the time welcome on a sub-£200 cellphone, so it’s good to see them right here – particularly with Dolby Atmos assist. There’s a predictable lack of low-end oomph to them, however the readability is fairly respectable for the cash.

Specs & Efficiency

• Snapdragon 480+ 5G processor
• 4GB of RAM
• 5G connectivity

The Moto G53 is powered by the Snapdragon 480+ 5G, which is a recognized amount – not least as a result of it’s the identical chip that powered final yr’s Moto G62. You get the identical 4GB of RAM as that cellphone, too.

As I’ve already alluded to, this processor doesn’t make for a very snappy expertise while navigating round between house screens and menus. It’s not unusable by any means, however you’ll expertise frequent micro-stutters when doing pretty abnormal duties. 

A median Geekebench 5 multi-core rating of 1600 truly drops a little bit wanting its predecessor, and effectively wanting the Poco M5 with its speedy MediaTek Helio G99 chip. The Moto G53 hits again within the GPU benchmark stakes, however that may be accounted for by the truth that the Poco is having to drive a superior 1080p show.

One enchancment over the likes of the Moto G62 and the Poco M5 is the supply of 128GB of storage as commonplace. You may broaden that by as much as 1TB, too, because of the supply of a microSD card slot.

Motorola has gone all in on 5G connectivity once more, although this continues to be a ‘high-end’ characteristic I’d fortunately ditch in favour of nailing a few of the fundamentals. I’d take an FHD+ show, a sooner processor, or an ultra-wide digicam over very-occasionally-faster cell connectivity.

Cameras

• 50Mp extensive digicam
• No ultra-wide
• Pointless 2Mp macro sensor

It seems just like the Moto G53 comes with a twin digicam set-up, however there’s truly just one correct 50Mp extensive digicam. The opposite lens is accounted for by a 2Mp macro digicam which, as all the time, isn’t actually a lot use in any respect. 

Significantly, producers, if you happen to’re going to incorporate a digicam that actually focuses on the finer particulars of life, a minimum of give it ample pixels to promote the entire idea. To be honest, you may get good and near your topic (about 4cm with a hard and fast focus), however the stage of sharpness is poor.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

The primary 50Mp digicam is seemingly the identical because the Moto G62 and Moto G22 earlier than it, and as such is able to capturing some pleasing photographs in good lighting, with colors that pop with out trying too false. Auto HDR usually kicks in reliably and compensates effectively for extremes of sunshine and shade, although I did pick some telltale indicators of overexposure on a reasonably vivid early-Spring day.

As you would possibly count on, low mild photographs are the place issues crumble. The mix of a really small 1/2.76” picture sensor with a scarcity of OIS (optical picture stabilisation) and a humble ISP (picture sign processing) ends in very noisy night time photographs. It maybe says one thing that Night time Imaginative and prescient is buried away within the Extra sub-menu, however then low mild photographs with out this mode lively are noticeably worse.

There isn’t any ultra-wide digicam right here, which is a disgrace, however not fairly the catastrophe some would possibly assume it to be. Sure, it will have been good to have the choice of framing panorama photographs in a extra zoomed out manner. Conversely, most reasonably priced and even mid-range smartphone ultra-wide cameras suck. If it hadn’t been for that pointless macro digicam, I would even have praised Motorola for its fat-trimming strategy.

Portrait photographs have a tendency to go away a blurry halo across the topic, and also you would possibly discover that you simply lose the sting of an ear or another pretty essential element. It doesn’t look unhealthy, as such, simply not fairly proper.

The Moto G53’s 8Mp entrance digicam does a satisfactory job in ok lighting, although element isn’t notably robust and pores and skin tones are a little bit smudgey. It’ll do for these social media posts, which is what it’ll usually be used for. 

Battery Life & Charging

• 5000mAh battery
• Two-day battery life
• Weedy 10W charging

Motorola has geared up its funds cellphone with a wholesome 5000mAh battery. Along with that low-res show, fuss-free software program, and a tried and examined processor, it will have been a shock if the Moto G53 was good for something lower than a day and a half of normal utilization.

As it’s, you’ll usually have the ability to get to the tip of a second day of utilization if you happen to’re a lighter consumer and don’t hit the media too onerous. A day of average utilization tended to drop me down simply previous the midway mark into the 40’s.

Operating the PCMark Work 3.0 battery check yielded a rating of 10 hours and 24 minutes, which isn’t sensational, however isn’t uncommon for a cellphone of this value. A part of it is because I ran the check with the display set to 120Hz – go away it in Auto and it brings again a significantly better rating of 12 hours and 54 minutes.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

The primary criticism I’ve with the Moto G53 in relation to battery issues is that Motorola has solely bundled it with a measly 10W charger. Utilizing this puny brick, quarter-hour of charging from empty obtained me to only 10%, whereas half an hour yielded a mere 21%. It took greater than 2h 30m to get to 100%.

Apparently, the cellphone can seemingly assist a little bit sooner. I plugged in a Samsung 65W charger, and the telltale ‘TurboPower’ image appeared on the lockscreen. quarter-hour then took the cellphone to 13%, whereas half-hour took it to 26%. Nonetheless not speedy, however higher.

Software program

• Android 13
• Motorola’s ordinary helpful gesture gildings
• Gradual {hardware} weighs it down considerably

As all the time with Motorola, software program is likely one of the Moto G53’s strongest components. The model’s considerate dealing with of Android is a delight, and I want extra producers would observe go well with.

This can be a largely inventory Android 13 expertise as you’d discover on the Google Pixel 6a for instance, with a couple of tasteful gildings like Motorola’s signature clock, date, and climate widget, plus a few customized wallpapers.

Extra vital is the Moto app, which grants you entry to the well-known Motorola gestures. Right here you may toggle the likes of a double chop to activate the torch, double twist to leap into the Digicam app, and the flexibility to flip your cellphone over to enter Do Not Disturb. Welcome provisions every one.

Jon Mundy / Foundry

This trendy, extremely useful app additionally provides tips about find out how to get the perfect out of the cellphone, in addition to personalisation choices and entry to helpful options like Attentive show (which doesn’t energy the display down if you’re it).

Notable by their absence are the cluster of ineffective preinstalled apps that blight many an reasonably priced (and never so reasonably priced) rival. This lack of bloatware actually shouldn’t be as noteworthy as it’s, however them’s the breaks.

It’s a disgrace the Moto G53’s {hardware} weighs the entire software program expertise down considerably, because it’s not as silky easy because it could possibly be. Nonetheless, Motorola’s customized UI stays an aesthetic buyer.

Value & Availability 

The Moto G53 has arrived with an RRP of £189.99. That value is on the market on Motorola’s personal store whereas Amazon usually sells it for much less.

You can too purchase it from Currys, John Lewis and Very. The G53 doesn’t have an official launch within the US so look to the Moto G Energy 5G as a really related different.

That value places the Moto G53 into competitors with the likes of the Poco M5, with its £179 value. The Poco provides a few extras, together with a Full HD show and a barely speedier CPU. Conversely, Motorola’s elegant software program is manner preferable to Xiaomi’s.

Try extra choices in our greatest funds telephones and finest low-cost 5G telephones charts.

Verdict

The Moto G53 is one other completely useful cellphone from Motorola, however its {hardware} doesn’t really feel fairly as effectively thought by means of as earlier entries. What use is a 120Hz refresh fee when the {hardware} isn’t fairly as much as the duty of outputting constantly easily? Particularly when that show has a sub-optimal 720p decision and mediocre color accuracy.

One other barely superfluous inclusion is 5G connectivity. Certain, it’s a pleasant factor to have, however at this finish of the market, it usually comes on the expense of extra helpful options, like a Full HD show or a superior processor.

The primary 50Mp digicam can maintain its personal in superb lighting, but it surely suffers in difficult situations, and there’s no ultrawide possibility, only a pointless macro lens.

Motorola’s clear Android UI is right here to save lots of the day, as all the time, and can all the time be some extent of distinction over better-specced Xiaomi rivals. However I can’t escape the sensation that Motorola must focus its reasonably priced cellphone efforts a little bit and hone in on what actually issues.

Specs

• Android 13
• 6.5in, HD+, IPS LCD, 120Hz, flat show
• Aspect-mounted fingerprint sensor
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 480+
• 4GB RAM
• 128GB storage, as much as 1TB microSD
• 50Mp, f/1.8 fundamental digicam
• 2Mp macro digicam
• As much as 1080p @ 30fps rear video
• 8Mp front-facing digicam
• Dolby Atmos stereo audio system
• Twin-SIM
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
• Bluetooth 5.1
• 5000mAh battery
• 10W charging
• 162.7 x 74.7 x 8.2mm
• 183g 
• Launch colors: Ink Blue, Arctic Silver, Pale Pink