#Motorola’s $160 Moto G Pure Smartphone Redefines the Word “Budget” – Review Geek

There’s always room for a new, affordable Motorola smartphone. But the new Moto G Pure is a budget device like no other—it costs just $160, yet it packs some exciting features. And even more impressively, Motorola made the right compromises to reach this price point, making the Moto G Pure a genuinely compelling device.

So let’s start with the good. The Moto G Pure has a large 6.5″ Max Vision HD+ with a 20:9 aspect ratio and teardrop selfie camera. That’s a perfect setup for watching videos, so long as you don’t mind the 720p resolution. There’s also a 4000mAh battery rated for two days of use, a headphone jack, and an IP52 splash-resistance rating. (Water resistance in a budget phone, especially one that costs $160, is a big surprise.)

And unlike other budget handsets, the Moto G Pure doesn’t have a crazy big selection of cameras. There’s a 13MP main camera, a 2MP depth sensor, and 5MP selfie cam. To me, that’s a sign that Motorola has its priorities straight—a phone with two decent cameras is better than a phone with four crappy cameras. Of course, I haven’t tested the Moto G Pure yet, so I can’t really verify that its cameras are “decent” or not.

But the Moto G Plus is missing a lot of features that may be important to you. It doesn’t work with 5G networks, it only has 3GB of RAM, and the 32GB of internal storage leaves a lot to be desired (though you can expand the phone’s storage with an SD card). Buyers will also miss out on wireless charging, and of course, the 720p display may feel a bit outdated if you’re coming from a fancier phone.

While I think that these faults are a fair trade-off for such a low price tag, I’m wary of the Moto G Pure’s MediaTek Helio G25 processor. It’s a downgrade from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 460 that Motorola used in its Moto G Play phone, and to be honest, the G Play’s performance isn’t that great. But this slower processor probably isn’t an issue if you only use a phone for calling, texting, taking photos, and running simple apps.

Pre-orders for the Moto G Pure open October 14th at the Motorola website, Amazon, Best Buy, B&H, and Walmart. Carriers will also sell the device (and offer it for free with a new line) after its official launch.