Moto G82 5G review: It is all about a NICE display

Mid-range smartphones target niche audiences while focusing either on great camera performance, quick charging, gaming or quirky design with decent all-rounder performance. Best display in mid-range? That comes later in priority for most of the brands in the sub-30,000 segment. But Motorola brings a rare offering of a 6.6-inch pOLED display of a 10-bit colour depth with the Moto G82. And, it actually manages to flaunt one of the best display performances in this segment. But what about the rest? Does Moto G82 offer good performance, great camera output, long battery life, user-friendly UI, and everything else? Does it stand out in front of the strong offerings from Xiaomi, Oppo and Realme? I have found the answers after spending a week with it.

And as Moto G82 focuses on its display, let us begin with that..

Moto G82 5G Display

The display is where Moto showed its best colours this time! The difference, while moving from one mid-range AMOLED display smartphone to another with a 10-bit pOLED display, was clearly visible in the viewing experience in terms of rich colours, contrast, and brightness. And those slim bezels and thinner chin at this price range just make it look better. Even under the sunlight, one doesn't have to struggle reading or doing the daily basic tasks.

Moto G82 has a 6.6-inch display with up to a 120Hz refresh rate that makes transitions and animations appear smooth.. The only downside is the lack of HDR10 support which restricts you from enjoying your favourite content in the best of colours. Despite that, Moto G82 brings one of the great display experiences in the mid-range.

Moto G82 5G Design

The design of the Moto G82 is like a rehashed version of its sibling Moto G52, with some trivial changes. Besides those barely visible dotted patterns and camera module, the Moto G82 looks like any other Moto phone. No complaints with its lightweight and sleek design with curved edges which makes it handy to use, but, again the acrylic-made body is prone to get dust and smudges as soon as you take it off your pocket. The minimalist design may seem a safer approach, but in front of the brands like Oppo, Xiaomi, Vivo, and many others who are coming up with trendy designs, the Moto G82 seems no head-turner! Motorola could have spiced it up with a better design.

Moto G82 5G Performance

Moto G82 packs the same processor that we have seen in many mid-range smartphones - the Snapdragon 695 5G chipset. From generic daily tasks to playing high-end games for almost an hour, the Moto G82 managed everything with ease. The experience with COD: Mobile at high graphics was seamless, though, Asphalt 9 showed some minor stutters. Still, you can enjoy gaming at their best for a short span of time.

The best part is its Android experience, which comes with Android 12 out of the box, offering a near-to-stock-Android experience. No bloatware, no ads! A rare combo to be found these days on smartphones! It offers loads of customisation options, animations and wallpapers to make the experience according to your taste. This also features a 3.5mm audio jack and stereo speakers with loud and clear sound output except for some distortion at maximum volume.

Moto G82 5G Cameras

On paper, Moto G82 brings a triple camera setup of a 50MP primary lens with OIS coupled with an 8MP wide-angle and 2MP macro lens. But when it comes to its performance, the cameras did not meet our expectations. The photos in day-light with a primary camera are still decent with details and almost neutral colours. But you take your phone in some low-light conditions and the camera starts struggling to bring detailed and noise-free photos. Especially in night shots, where it looks way more softened.

The 8MP ultra-wide camera manages to capture shots with its true colours in daylight but the details aren’t that great. And the 2MP macro lens is left on the camera module just for the name, without much use with its soft images.

Check out the camera samples of Moto G82 5G here..

Well, the front camera with a 16MP lens can take good selfies without altering the skin tone. This goes with videography too, don’t expect much. You can take decent steady videos with normal video mode.

Moto G82 5G Battery

The Moto G82 packs a 5000mAh battery which impressively stayed for almost 1.5 days on a single full charge. This usually handled the casual day-to-day activities including 1-2 hours of calling, social media, surfing the internet, and listening to music. This comes with the support of 33W charging which helped to refill it from 10-100 percent in almost 1 hour and 20 minutes. Well, this seems slow while considering the fast charging solutions in this price segment from brands like Xiaomi and Realme.

Verdict

Moto G82 5G is all about that bright and colour-enriched display which makes it a great deal for binge-watchers! Plus, the clean and customizable UI works as a cherry on the top. Beyond this, the Moto G82 is a decent performer for your general tasks, not to forget its long battery life. But, if your expectations from a smartphone include good camera performance, fast charging, and an exciting design, then you have to look elsewhere! And in such a case, the Redmi Note 11 Pro Plus with the same processor takes many steps further with 67W fast charging and better camera performance even at a lower price. However, with an added stylish design and camera-dedicated smartphone, Oppo Reno 7 5G makes a good option priced at Rs. 28,999.

That said, if you want to move on from bloatware-loaded smartphones, and looking for a decent performer with one of the best displays in the mid-range space, then Moto G82, priced at Rs. 21,499 is for you.