Moto G30: First Impressions | Mobile News

Moto G30: First Impressions

Motorola has launched its affordable G30 smartphone, bringing decent specs at an affordable price. Here are our first impressions of the new Moto G30 smartphone. 

By: DAVID DELIMA
| Updated on: Aug 21 2022, 15:31 IST
The Moto G30 sports a quad-cam setup with a 64 megapixel primary sensor.
The Moto G30 sports a quad-cam setup with a 64 megapixel primary sensor. (David Delima/HT Tech)
The Moto G30 sports a quad-cam setup with a 64 megapixel primary sensor.
The Moto G30 sports a quad-cam setup with a 64 megapixel primary sensor. (David Delima/HT Tech)

Motorola, no stranger to the budget smartphone arena with several value-for-money devices under its G and E series,  is back with another affordable smartphone. This time, the company is changing its traditional G series naming convention with the arrival of the Moto G30, which will compete in the crowded affordable budget segment, where Xiaomi and Realme currently lead the pack.

Priced at 10,999, the Moto G30 packs in decent specs and a large battery. The device will go up against the Galaxy A12 and M11, the Micromax In Note 1 the Redmi 9 Power, the Realme 6i, the newly launched Redmi Note 10 - as well as its older sibling, the Moto One Action. After using the phone for a few days, we can now tell you about our initial impressions of Motorola's latest offering, with a more detailed review at a later date.

Don't miss: Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro Max: First Impressions

The Moto G30 comes in two colour variants, dark pearl and pastel sky. We tested the former, which has a pleasing gradient effect on the back, and while you can't tell its a Motorola smartphone from the front, the company has added its logo on the fingerprint sensor on the back just like its predecessors. The back of the phone is made of plastic, but the phone feels a little heavy in the hand at 200 grams. The recently released Redmi Note 10 which has a glass back, feels lighter at 178 grams. In addition to the power switch and the volume rocker, the Moto G30 also features a dedicated Assistant button on the side.

The Moto G30 also features a dedicated Assistant button on the side.
The Moto G30 also features a dedicated Assistant button on the side. (David Delima/HT Tech)
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The Moto G30 also features a dedicated Assistant button on the side. (David Delima/HT Tech)

On the front of the device is a large 6.5-inch HD+ LCD display, which means that the screen resolution maxes out at 720p - par for the course at this price point. The screen supports a refresh rate of 90Hz, which makes it the cheapest smartphone to support the feature. Sure, the Redmi Note 10 has a 1080p AMOLED screen, but its screen still refreshes at 60Hz. While colours look great on Moto G30 screen, especially with the Natural mode turned on, this isn't the brightest screen we've seen when compared to other phones in the same category. Motorola also says that these phones run the company's proprietary ThinkShield technology to secure users from malware and phishing. 

Also read: Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G First Impressions: It keeps getting better

The back of the Moto G30 features a quad-cam setup with a 64-megapixel primary sensor, which takes clear shots in normal daylight. There's also an 8-megapixel sensor for wide-angle photos, and a 2-megapixel macro sensor and depth sensor. On the front is a 13-megapixel selfie shooter which takes photos quickly - but they're not very clear. Moto's camera interface is simple, but packs in several photo modes including live filters and a night mode. Stay tuned for our upcoming detailed review of the device's cameras.

The Moto G30 also comes with a rubber protector and a 20W charger in the box. 
The Moto G30 also comes with a rubber protector and a 20W charger in the box.  (David Delima/HT Tech)
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The Moto G30 also comes with a rubber protector and a 20W charger in the box.  (David Delima/HT Tech)

The Moto G30 sports an octa-core Snapdragon 662 processor which is a year old now but still quite capable, and is paired with 4 gigabytes of RAM. It is powered by a 5000 mAh battery, which easily lasted a day and a half with moderate use. It's still a little early to talk about performance or battery life, but the “clean” Android on the Moto G30 appears to give it a speed advantage and the lack of bloatware and not having to disable unwanted apps is certainly a relief. 

The stock interface, however, borrows the Pixel's theming engine and lets you choose icon shapes and system fonts, which is neat. It also packs in Moto's iconic 'Actions' so you can twist your wrist twice to turn on the camera or make a chop motion to start the flashlight. Seeing NFC support on the G30 was a pleasant surprise, as it means easier pairing with certain Bluetooth devices and quick tap-to-pay support with services like Google Pay.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy F62 first impressions: A little bit of everything

With Motorola pricing the Moto G30 at 10,999 the device will compete against similarly priced devices from Xiaomi's Redmi, Micromax, Samsung and Realme, to name a few.  Interestingly, the device only costs 1,000 more than the Moto G10 Power, but has a Snapdragon 662 instead of the Snapdragon 460 and a 64 MP camera instead of 48 MP.  

Based on our initial impressions, this seems like a solid budget device, but stay tuned for our detailed review of the Moto G30, where we will discuss the device's camera, screen and overall performance in greater detail.

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First Published Date: 09 Mar, 15:43 IST
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