The popular Moto G series is due a refresh and we could be seeing it soon. Here is what we want to see from the new budget Moto device.
Motorola may be long gone but thankfully Lenovo saw sense in keeping the Moto series in their acquisition of the legendary manufacturer. We’ve seen big releases from almost every reputable manufacturer with HTC being the latest with their announcement of the HTC 10.
Now it’s Lenovo’s turn to pick up what Motorola left them, by announcing their attack on the technology world. We know Lenovo will be launching a new Moto device on June 9th after Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing confirmed at the ZUK Z2 Pro announcement.
Building up to it, Motorola India has been tweeting about the new Moto G’s features. Promising a better camera, battery, security and new chipset. Motorola are expected to announce the Moto G4 at a press conference on May 17th in India.
Below is what we know, what’s speculated and what we selfishly want.
Keep it under £200
The original Moto G was launched in 2013 with the excellent price of £135. The budget phone price has steadily rose over the years with each iteration, the recent Moto G (3rd generation) retailed at £159. To be fair with each Moto G device we saw, we wanted more from the diminutive device. Quite a good place for a phone manufacturer as it justifies them raising the price.
The Moto G4 is rumoured to go up in price with a ball park figure of £180. Any more than that it will lose the budget phone tag, which we know it well for. A lovely surprise would be a price tag below our expectation, the rumoured G4 Plus can have the £180 tag whilst the standard G4 can go for cheaper.
A top notch camera
We were surprised by the camera on the recent Moto G. For a budget phone to break into the double figures barrier in the megapixels department, it was a but unheard of. The Moto G had 13 megapixels to play with, and an aperture size of f/2.0. It was universally agreed by critics to be the best budget smartphone camera.
Recent flagship releases have shown it’s not all about the megapixels. The Galaxy S7 downgraded to 12-megapixels yet it takes some of the best pictures we’ve seen. Taking a leaf out of Samsung’s book and adopt wide pixels wouldn’t be a bad way to go and while you’re at it Lenovo, a wider lens please?
Bring us light for the front-facing camera
We really don’t know why more smartphones implement this feature. In a world currently dominated by selfies it seems almost damn ridiculous. Some apps try to help the situation, Snapchat for example, by turning on a white hue on your screen to get more light in the shot. To be honest it doesn’t do the job.
The Moto X Force is the only device that comes to mind, with a front-facing light and it made Skype calls so much better. Seeing as the Force is Motorola developed, it shouldn’t be too hard to bring light to their lower range. It would be a feature no one would appreciate at launch, but will be lauded in reviews.
A fingerprint sensor
This could potentially bump up the price quite a bit. Huawei’s Honor 5x is one of the cheapest smartphones you can get with a fingerprint sensor (on the back), but it only retailed for £169. With fingerprint sensor technology becoming prevalent in the past few years the technology behind them have become cheaper. We’re not asking for the blistering Huawei P9 fingerprint sensor, but that would be quite sweet.
It looks like our wishing is coming true already as a recent leak shows a Moto G4 Plus with a fingerprint sensor on the front. Fingerprint sensors in this day and age are fast becoming the new normal, to future proof their device for at least a year, a fingerprint sensor is greatly advised.
Indestructible screen
Another idea from the Moto X Force that we want brought down to the G series. Motorola had in the past stated a desire to bring the indestructible screen to the Moto G, so why not now? Well apparently it’s really expensive. Fair enough to be honest, we’d definitely see the price for the budget marvel skyrocket if that’s the case. But Motorola has stated they are aiming to bring it to the Moto G soon, maybe not this time around.
Introduce a phablet for phablet lovers
Bigger phones definitely have their advantages, more information is displayed and it’s a whole lot nicer to watch Netflix with a 5.5-inch screen. Google recognised the love bigger screens are getting, and are now catering to phablets with the next major Android update.
Well this want is looking likely to become a reality as a Moto G4 Plus has been heavily rumoured. Additionally, Nowhereelse has posted pictures claiming it is indeed the Moto G4 Plus.
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