Motorola - Moto G Plus (5th Gen) 4G LTE with 64GB Memory Cell Phone (Unlocked) - Lunar Gray

For what you get this is an amazing phone - at less than half the price of flagship phones you get 90% of the speed, screen, ram, and memory expandability. However A FEW FEATURES HAVE BEEN CRIPPLED AND THAT'S UNDERREPORTED AND YOU SHOULD KNOW THEM - the features are actually there they have just been deactivated and I hate when manufacturers and providers actually put the cost into the device and then just turn it off. Moto did two "no-no's" and my carrier AT&T's is responsible for one. You should know about them because they could be deal breakers for you. #1 THERE IS NO WIFI CALLING ON AT&T. That's it, they claim the device doesn't support it, but that's fake news from what I can tell being that other carriers do have it, but if that's important to you you should check with your carrier - I can only vouch 100% that AT&T doesn't let this phone on for Wi-Fi calling. #2 There is no notification light.. well there is, but it has been disabled for the notification screen feature. That's nice, but not as easy as just looking at your screen for a blinking light, you actually have to nudge the unit and the screen will briefly turn on to reveal if there are messages. If you root the device I read that it can be turned on, but I haven't done it. #3 No NFC, so if you want to use Android Pay forget it, they mention it somewhere, but I think it mentions mentioning it again - because also from reading, the radio is there, but it has been disabled. If those aren't deal breakers and you want an awesome phone that looks great in bright light, takes nice pictures, and is fast with plenty of space for your stuff and will get an update to 8 reportedly, then I would buy this unit, just know the shortcomings.

Bought on another e-tailer site on a Black Friday deal. This is the second one I've bought, previous was purchased from a here. I migrated from a Samusung Galaxy S5 on the Verizon network. Pros: You're not going to get a better performer at this price point. Long battery life, snappy performance, stock android (no bloatware), and service unlocked (works well on Verizon). 64gb storage to avoid "forced obsolescence", 4gb RAM, and an EXCELLENT fingerprint reader, better than the S5 even!. Love the "Moto Actions" app that allows the home / fingerprint reader button to act as a "back" and "active apps" button as well, giving more room on screen for apps by eliminating those from the display. Most Verizon apps still work (Message+, Visual Voicemail), except "My Verizon". It works, it just doesn't remember your password like it should, no big deal as you just have to keep entering your password to get your billing/account information (surprisingly, it still accurately shows the data "odometer" though). Why would anyone pay $1,000 for a smartphone when I can easily surf the net and make calls just as quick, for less than 1/4 the price. Very few users will EVER use a $1,000 phone to it's full potential. But what exactly is full potential??? We're not launching rockets here. I look down on Apple users that are running "bleeding edge" hardware. Then again, I thank those "first adopters", they're helping pave the way for more "cost conservative" options for the other 98% of us smartphone users. Cons: Very very "slick", it demands a case of some sort, otherwise, it's gonna slip right out of your hands. Some features not as smooth as Samsung TouchWiz UI. I installed Nova Launcher right out of the box to bring back some of that Samsung "slickness". I also didn't like that you didn't get the little red number notifications (officially, "unread count badges") on the app icons, so I installed TeslaUnread for Nova Launcher to get that back. I also don't like my notification volume tied to my ringtone volume, a limitation in Android Nougat apparently, and there is NO current workaround except for root maybe (I say "maybe" because I'm not willing to root currently, so I haven't looked into it). Native Camera app sucked, used a 3rd party app instead (be sure to deactivate native camera app before installing 3rd party app, otherwise you may suffer a reported glitch. As of this writing (11/24/2017), there's a Facebook crash bug / glitch being reported by many users including myself, although there are some "workarounds" that help reduce crashes. Hopefully there will be a fix from either Motorola or Facebook soon (not a deal breaker, but annoying as the app crashes quite randomly). Overall: My Samsung Galaxy S5 was hogtied at just 16gb of storage and then I did all I could do to "limp it along"...move apps to SD card, adoptive storage, etc. Those tweaks started making that phone quite wonky and it was time to move on. This phone is as responsive as the S5, if not more so, especially once the S5 got to it's maximum storage capacity. Migrating to this phone was only slightly painful as there are several things I liked on the S5 (some sounds even!). There are a few easy "tweaks" (Nova Launcher, TeslasUnread, etc) you can do to this phone to get it darn near close to that Samsung TouchWiz UI slickness. I even managed to find and download some Samsung specific notification and alarm sounds that I truly like!! (Don't hate me for the "whistle text notification" ;-) Yeah, it's not quite there, but at this price point, I laugh in the face of other "wireless provider coddled" phone buyers. You know, the ones that pay upwards of $600, or more, plus tax in most states, over the course of "interest free" 24 months just to get a phone that is "network proper". I took off one star, which is slightly being nit picky, for the need to tweak this to the "Samsung experience", horrible camera app, and the current Facebook glitch. In it's own right, it's a great phone, but if you've come from Samsung you'll be slightly disappointed unless you're willing to tweak the UI as I did. If I could, I would give 4.5 stars.

Bought this phone on Black Friday discount. Overall it's OK for the $229 cheap price. Software: Biggest drawback: slow software support and update. It's still running Android 7.0, and last week (early December) the security standards only got updated to --- August !! In the first week of December the security standard was January. Other than that, Motorola's very basic Android OS is good, no bloatware, makes the phone run faster and frees more storage space. But this also means it lacks some necessary utility apps -- such as text editor, calendar, and resource monitor -- need to download 3rd party ones. Not being able to customize program icons on screen is quite bad. "Setting" is confusing to use for new users. "Notification bar" on the top can be tricky to drag down, often I need to try multiple times. Notification for all newly installed programs are set to "ON" as default, but I wish the default could be "Silent", so I don't need to silence them manually. And when USB connected to computer, the option to enable "transfer files" isn't explicitly displayed in notification, but I must touch the charging battery icon to bring it up -- inconvenient. Also if you use prepaid service like I do -- it doesn't display the remaining minutes anywhere. Although your carrier may provide their own app for such things. Phone: The phone software sucks. If during a phone call I open some other apps, can't bring the back the number pad dial -- it will just disappear!! Had to quit some 800 customer service calls several times because of this! Speaker/sound: Sometimes sound is unclear. Plugging in headphone doesn't help much. Some ppl say the mic noise cancellation is bad, though I can't verify it. Camera: The big bump of camera lens seems fragile, and camera glass easily gets dirty. Fortunately I also bought a rubber phone case for protection, this isn't a big problem for me. But the case makes it bulky. "Twist to turn on camera" is a great feature, can skip the unlocking to instantly use camera. Main camera is OK, but the front selfie camera's field of view seems awkward, my face image seems slightly distorted on the photo. Button: The fingerprint scanner's swipe function isn't as convenient as advertised. I still haven't got used to it after 2-3 weeks. Also it won't work if you wear gloves---something quite bad in the cold winter outdoor. I would prefer 3 separate hard buttons (home, back and forward) instead. Volume buttons are too close to power button. Sensor: No NFC reader is a big drawback. Also I wish it could have a temperature sensor... Screen: The large screen is good for reading, and I like the "wider" aspect ratio (unlike some other phones with height:width = 2:1). Resolution is more than enough for a crystal clear display. But the touch often won't work if wearing gloves (even very thin gloves), again quite inconvenient in cold winter outdoor, especially when picking up a call... Network: wifi occasionally gets mysterious disconnections, though most of the time works OK. Battery: Battery life seems good (maybe because I haven't installed many apps). I'm able to get 4 days without recharging, if not used frequently. But, because of the cheap price, it definitely worth it. A very good deal. If you see it on discount, buy it!

I never spend a lot on common technology products. Okay, so I have lots of money tied up in DSLR bodies and lenses, but that's a hobby :) The Moto G5 Plus 64GB is the most I have spent on a phone since I had a bag phone in the 1990s. Having nearly pure stock Nougat baked into the ROM makes the phone a joy to use. I don't game save for logic puzzles, so video viewing is the heaviest use the phone will see. I have viewed full HD video on the phone, and it performs flawlessly. Battery life is far better than any other handset I own save for an old LG unit where the battery takes up nearly the entire back of the phone. Three updates arrived yesterday(as of posting time stamp) and I hope that the 6 month call errata has been addressed. Still waiting on Oreo. The updates were stability and security issues related. I'm quite impatient when it comes to tech. products being ready for interaction(I have an i7 6700K PC W/ 1TB SSD) and this little handset does not disappoint. I have paid for perhaps 100 apps, but use only half that many, so I have used hardly any space to this point. I have 48 GB free. I also inserted a 256 GB micro-SD card for audiobooks, pictures and off-line dictionary files. For me, the phone has massive amounts of storage. In handling, the apps open up quickly, the split screen works as Google intended, and the phone always seems to have extra RAM available for additional tasks should I need to call on them. Lots of people buy phones for their camera capabilities. I am not one of those people. I have found the camera to be merely capable, rather than stellar. However, there are NO cell phone cameras that I find stellar, so this is not a dig at the phone's capability as a shooter. Its low light deficiencies are real, but lots of users will never notice this. I would expand on this, but far more capable professional reviewers have done so. Unknowing friends and family believe my G5 Plus to be a premium phone. I think it is the metal case, fingerprint sensor, fast near-stock Android, and my customizations. For me, the G5 Plus is as premium as I need, and better than expected. The G5 Plus is a great 'bargain' phone. I'm getting my mom one for the holidays. I ULed a screenshot of my phone.I use NovaLauncher for lots of reasons, including installing the displayed Funkong Icon package and Wave Live wallpaper.

Just love this phone! I want to point out that my previous phones have been the Samsung S1, S3 and the S5. I don’t MISS them at all!!! I love stock android; with the right app launcher your app drawer is so customizable. I use Apex. I like the fact that the buttons are all on one side, to me it is easier to use and easier to handle. The swipe feature for the home button is great! It took a bit to get used to, but I like it. Swipe left to return swipe right to open up current apps that are open or you can close them. One thing I discovered is that if you drag all the open apps down a text shows to clear all without having to close them out independently or swiping to the left or right to get rid of them. Opening your phone from lock screen with fingerprint is awesome. I like the fact I can use this with certain apps without having to put in usernames, passwords and any other security info it needed. This phone is not a resource hog like my Samsungs were. The android system barely uses much space where my Samsung android (with Samsung features) sucked up a lot of space. I only had 16GB on the Samsung and was slowly running out of room on the S5 that I had. The Moto that I have has 64GB I have way more apps on it and I have tons of room left. Watching Netflix on it streams great. No issues. I am not a gamer so I can’t say how that works. The camera so far is far better than my Galaxy S5, a much clearer picture and with so many camera settings. This phone was an unlocked phone, so you can bring it basically to any carrier, I was surprised to see how many there were. I have my own number and used AT&T compatible SIM card on Net10. Set up took only 5 minutes! I was amazed on how seamlessly it went. Everything transferred over fast! I did all this on my own, on line on Net10s site, and I didn’t have to contact support at Net10 at all.

I have been very happy with the first 2 days on this phone. Phone seems quick to respond and has all the capability that I expect. It is an upgrade from my 1 1/2 year old Samsung S5. I had a S7 for a while before having to go back to a S5 and it seems to be as fast as I remember that phone. I went with the 64GB version to also get the 4GB RAM. I don't know if that makes much of at difference but this combination is working fast and was very fast when transferring data from my old phone or cloud backups. 64GB also lets me put on just about any app I want for a while. It has been an easy transition to the features of Moto. I originally thought the fingerprint scanner was in a terrible spot but it turns out to be very easy to use it there and I use it instead of the pattern to turn on the phone. I also thought they were wasting real estate with the back and home buttons on the screen but you can select to use the fingerprint button for swiping to replace the on screen buttons to go back, home or see open items and gain back the screen real estate. It is actually easier to use than finding the buttons on the screen. Battery life seems reasonable so far but time will tell. It is at 80% after 7 hours of use today with a lot of data moving via wifi but no phone call usage. It went down further yesterday but with more phone usage and not all wifi. I'm hoping that the battery life turns out OK. It does charge fast. Phone worked immediately on ATT by just moving the SIM card from my old phone. No issues on hookup. Negatives vs Samsung's: no wireless charging and not water proof. Positives: Performance is good, a lot less expensive and unlocked.

It was a big decision for me to switch from being a Samsung phone user to Motorola. But the Samsung price for top of the line is ridiculous. This Motorola G5 plus has been very easy for me to transition to; learning the operating system was not a problem. I love the 64GB storage and look forward to being able to load all the apps i want without worrying about storage issues that I always encountered with my former Samsung 16GB phone. This phone is packed with features and is a good value (for example speed, storage, good camera, external micro SD card storage capacity.). A big plus over Samsung is it does not come preloaded with a lot of nonsense apps you don't want. A minus is the back of the phone is not removable so you cannot replace the battery. &, Thus, inserting the Sim and micro SD card requires a special tool that came in the box with the phone. Don't throw that out, you might miss it in the box. Surely I will lose that tool and be frustrated down the line, but I noticed the salesperson at t mobile has one at the store, so I could get their help, if needed. Another minus is that the speakers aren't very good, so when I have someone on speaker phone I can't hear them well; instead I have to use my earbuds. The earbud jack is standard. The battery life seems extraordinarily good. But a minus is that the charger that came with this phone, which is a super charger, is very cheap quality and doesn't fit into my phone snugly. Our house now has three Motorola phone uses and each one came with a different charger. I am guessing that Motorola switches up who manufactures them and I got the poorest quality version. But, on the positive side, I can use my old Samsung chargers because they are the same size/type as this phone. I love that this phone is unlocked, which gives me the freedom for our household to change carriers if t mobile's service proves disappointing. I had no trouble getting it to work on the t mobile network, they activated it in their store within one minute.

I am a bit torn as to if I should rate this phone based as a budget smartphone or a smartphone overall. I decided to do a bit of a mix, hence the 4 star review. I'll cut to the chase: This phone is outstanding for the price. I purchased the 64 GB / 4 GB RAM version, and it was well worth the price of admission. I came from the Galaxy S6 active on at&t, and love how speedy this phone is compared to the 2 year-old flagship. Expandable storage is another huge plus -- added a 64 microSD card and have plenty of room for my entire music collection. Phone is speedy and stock Android is (mostly) preferable to any skinned version of Android on an LG or Samsung. Battery life is good. My needs aren't your needs, but I've yet to not make it through a full day of moderate-to-heavy use. What are the compromises? I won't go into the build -- metal back but sides are plastic -- because I recommend getting a case for the phone anyway, considering how the camera module sticks out, and a good TPU case makes it flush with the rest of the body. Even NFC, which I thought I'd hate not having isn't a huge deal. I had Apple Pay on an iPhone SE for a month or so and the speed of the transactions was not any faster, that I could tell, than using a credit card with a chip. No, the only major compromise is the camera. It is basically on par with the old Galaxy S4 camera, though the S4 has a slightly faster shutter speed, which makes capturing low-light shots a bit easier. But the images are less grainy on the g5 plus compared to the dinosaur S4. Performance is really solid on t his phone. App crashes are minimal, and everything just works. I find the 5.2 inch screen to be a good size; 5.5 would be too large for me to use on a daily basis. The primary competitor of this phone is probably the moto g5s plus, around $50 more. Is it worth the upgrade to the Special Edition? I don't think so. First of all, larger screen + same battery size = decrease in battery life. Secondly, all of the camera comparison tests I've seen between the two phones indicate that the more expensive phone is actually worse in low-light performance. The cheaper moto g5 plus captures faster too, which is great for me as I have 2 young children who like to move fast. Being unlocked is a big plus, too. We've been on AT&T for years, but if our budget changes, it is nice to know I can take the phone over to T-Mobile or metro pcs with no fuss or muss. Temper your expectations. When you purchase the moto g5 plus, you aren't getting a Galaxy S8. or the S7. or the iPhone 8. What you are getting is a phone that blaze through most tasks, without being tied down to ANY single carrier, at a very affordable price. For a more in-depth review, please watch the review from Mr.Mobile on YouTube. Michael knows what he's talking about. Good stuff.