Motorola introduced two more affordable G-series phones, Moto G30 and Moto G10 Power in India. Of these the Moto G30, which we will be talking about here, offers features like a high refresh rate display, 64MP camera, ThinkShield security, and massive 6000mAh battery for a very competitive price of 10,999.
In our Moto G30 review, we will evaluate how these highlights add up and hold to scrutiny. By the time we are done, you will hopefully be able to decide if this is a phone that you should buy.
Contents:
- Moto G30 Review: Box Contents
- Moto G30 Review: Design and Build
- Moto G30 Review: Display
- Moto G30 Review: Performance and Software
- Moto G30 Review: Camera
- Moto G30 Review: Battery and Audio
- Moto G30 Review: Verdict, Pros & Cons
Moto G30 India Price and Specifications
| Product | Moto g30 |
| Display | 6.5-inch, 90Hz, HD+ (1600×720) | 269ppi, 20:9 , IPS TFT LCD |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 with 2.0GHz octa-core Kryo 260 CPU, 950MHz Adreno 610 GPU |
| RAM | 4GB |
| Storage | 64GB, Expandable |
| Dimensions and weight | 165.22 x 75.73 x 9.14mm; 200 grams |
| Software | Android 11 |
| Rear camera | 64MP sensor | 16MP output (f/1.7, 1.4um) 8MP (f/2.2, 1.12um) | 118° ultra-wide angle 2MP (f/2.4, 1.75um) | Macro Vision camera 2MP (f/2.4, 1.75um) | depth sensor |
| Front camera | 13MP (f/2.2, 1.12um) |
| Others | Bluetooth 5.2, capacitive fingerprint reader, NFC |
| Battery | 5000mAh, 20W charger in the box |
| Price | INR 10,999 |
Moto G30 Review: Box Contents
Here’s what Moto bundles in the box:
- Handset
- 20W Turbo Charging adaptor
- USB Cable
- Protective cover
- Documentation and SIM ejector PIN
Moto G30 Review: Design and Build
Moto G30 is a chunky phone but it’s not unwieldy. The rear shell is made of good quality polycarbonate and it folds to form the side frame. The camera array juts out a bit but the protective case bundled in the box can even out the hump. IPS display on the front has a water-drop style notch and is surrounded by substantial bezels.
The fingerprint reader is within easy reach and mostly reliable. Both the power button and volume rocker are on the right edge. The Google Assistant button is positioned above both of these – which makes it a tad inaccessible.
Overall, the G30 isn’t particularly fancy, but it feels pretty solid and enjoys IP52 splash resistance. That’s precisely what we expect from phones in the affordable price segment.
Also Read: Poco M3 Review
Moto G30 Review: Display
Moto G30 gets a 6.5-inch HD+ 90Hz IPS LCD display. By default, the display refresh rate is set to Auto, but for a smoother experience, we’d recommend you switch to 90Hz from display settings.
This is not a wide-color gamut screen and for the same price Poco M3 offers a sharper Full HD+ resolution. There are three color profiles of which the ‘Natural’ targets sRGB and is what we prefer. Colors and white points are more accurate than what we usually get in this budget.
Contrast, dynamic range, and black saturation levels are comparable to what we usually get on affordable phones with IPS LCD displays. The screen remained legible under direct sunlight.
Moto g30 has a DRM L1 certificate for HD streaming but HD streaming didn’t work on Prime Videos and Netflix. This shouldn’t be a major peeve point in this price segment and could be fixed with a future update. Youtube permits a 1080p @60fps playback option.
Motorola didn’t specify scratch resistance used on the phone but assured that it’s equivalent to Gorilla Glass 3.
Moto G30 Review: Performance and Software
Moto G30 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 octa-core chipset paired with up to 4GB RAM and up to 64GB of internal storage. There is also the option to further expand secondary storage using the SD card slot.
The SoC is not a performance beast but we’d say it’s a good enough proposition for the price. We encountered a lot of stuttering during the initial setup, but post that the day-to-day performance was mostly smooth. UI transitions feel smoother in 90Hz and 60Hz mode rather than in the auto mode.
As for high-end gaming, Call of Duty Mobile defaulted on ‘High’ graphics with ‘High’ frame rate, and we did encounter some frame drops here and there. Benchmark performance was on the lines of what we expect from Snapdragon 662 phones.
Moto G30 Benchmark Scores
- Geekbench 5.1 Single Core – 305
- Geekbench 5.1 Multi-Core – 1202
- PC Mark Work 2.0 – 6196
- PC Mark Work 2.0 writing score – 5860
- Androbench Random Read – 64.43 MB/s
- Androbench Random Write – 128.22 MB/s
The software is, of course, one of the high points of the Moto G30 experience. Interfaces from Chinese brands have significantly improved in the last few years, but they are still heavy on push notifications and adware, especially when it comes to the affordable price segment. This is why Motorola’s rather clean and minimal Android 11 strikes as appealing.
The software is further embellished by Moto Experiences that include gestures, peek display, game mode, and more. Since this is Android 11, Google’s immensely useful Smart home dashboard shows up when you long-press the power button.
Motorola lays a good deal of stress on ThinkShiled that refers to built-in four-layer end-to-end security and privacy safeguards. Motorola claims that they focus on user security right from when hardware enters their factories and through every stage of phone manufacturing. This differentiates the Moto G30 in an environment where most OEMs consider it perfectly ok to bog down low-end phones with adware.
We didn’t face any issues with call quality or connectivity in our time with the device. This is not a 5G ready phone, but that’s excusable considering the current state of 5G deployment in the country.
Moto G30 Review: Camera performance
First talking of the hardware, the Moto G30 has a 64MP primary camera, assisted by an 8MP wide-angle shooter, 2MP portrait camera, and a 2MP macro camera. For the selfies, there’s a 13MP snapper on the front.
Before we proceed with our analysis, we’d like to mention that consumers need to balance their expectations in the affordable segment when it comes to camera performance.
In proper daylight, the camera can capture a decent amount of details. Colors are well balanced and close to natural tones. On the downside, the software gets easily confused in tricky situations and there’s a noticeable shutter lag.
The lowlight performance is strictly average, and that is to be expected in the under 15K segment. In well-lit indoor settings, the Moto G30 performance exceeded our expectations, but the lag while shooting images worsened.
With the wide-angle camera and macro camera, quality deteriorates steeply.
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The portrait mode is slow with image processing, but it does a rather fine job. The selfie camera is about average.
So, overall, the Moto G30 manages decent camera performance for the price. It’s certainly above average when compared to most other recent options available under INR 15,000.
The videos we shot turned out pretty basic. The camera UI also needs some refinements.
Moto G30 Review: Battery and Audio
The 5000mAh battery driving the phone can last for 7 hours of screen on time with moderate usage. The 20W TurboCharger bundled in the box isn’t adequately fast and takes around 2 hours for a full charge.
The mono loudspeaker at the bottom gets plenty loud. Interestingly Moto also adds ‘Audio effects’, which is basically a built-in equalizer with 6 different presets that you can pick from to customize audio according to your taste.
We didn’t face any issues with Bluetooth connectivity. We tested Moto G30 with a couple of TWS earphones and it always defaulted to SBC codec for streaming.
Moto G30 Unboxing & Quick Overview Video [Hindi]
Moto G30 review: Should you buy it?
Overall, Moto G30 turned out to be a well-rounded phone. It has appealing software, decent hardware, and isn’t missing any basic connectivity options – And that’s good enough for us to pass it on as a recommendation for consumers looking for affordable options in the current market.
At the end of the day, it’s still an affordable phone and it would be unfair to expect much in terms of low light camera performance and design finesse. You can also score better performance if you are willing to extend your budget by a few thousand rupees.
For the same price, its biggest rival is Poco M3 that offers a sharper display. The Moto G30 however has more appealing software.
Pros
- Appealing software
- Decent daylight camera performance
- Battery mileage
Cons
- Lowlight camera performance
- Chunky design
Moto G30 FAQ
Q) What is the SAR value of Moto G30?
A) Head SAR is 1.11 and Body-worn SAR is 1.32
Q) Does Moto G30 have a dedicated card slot?
A) No, the card slot is hybrid
Q) Does Moto G30 support auto call-recording?
A) No, auto call-recording is not supported.
Q) Does Moto G30 have Gorilla Glass?
A) Motorola says the scratch resistance it is using is equivalent to Gorilla Glass 3, without divulging any further details.
Q) Does Moto G30 support HD stream on Netflix and Amazon Prime?
A) The phone has DRM L1 certification but doesn’t support HD streaming on Netflix and Prime.
