Motorola G82 5G Review: A mid-ranger that widens your horizon

Motorola G82 5G review Summary:

Editor’s rating: 3.5/5

Motorola has expanded its existing G-Series of smartphones by adding a new member to the clan. The Motorola G82 5G has been launched in India which is the priciest G-Series phone to date with premium hardware and features. It comes with up to 8GB RAM, a triple camera setup, an AMOLED display, and large battery life. The G82 is claimed to be the lightest and slimmest phone in the segment as well. But does it justify the cost? Should you upgrade to this one? Let’s find out.

Motorola G82 5G Review: Design

The Moto G82 5G is a good-looking device from the back. Its rear panel is made of acrylic but the smartphone doesn’t look cheap. It comes in 2 colours- White Lily and Meteorite Grey and I received the grey variant for review purposes. The device looked nice from the backside as its back panel reflects light that falls on giving it a glass-like look. The Moto G82 weighs mere 173 grams and is 7.99mm thick, making it one of the slimmest and light smartphones in the segment.

Its light and sleek body combined with curved edges make ensures it feels superior in hand. The build quality is strong but the rear panel is a smudge magnet. Holding the phone in hand for a few minutes leaves loads of smudges behind on the entire backside except for the camera module. The display at the front is protected by Gorilla Glass 3. The camera lenses don’t protrude so the balance of the device on the surface is even.

The right side of the smartphone has volume rockers and a power button cum fingerprint scanner whereas the left side consists of a dual SIM tray. The bottom edge houses a speaker grille, USB Type-C port, microphone, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The top side also has a speaker and an additional microphone. The Moto G82 5G is IP52 rated for water resistance which is not common in this price segment.

Motorola G82 5G Review: Display

The Moto G82 features a 6.6-inch P-OLED display with a Full HD+ resolution. It is a 10-bit display that gives support for a billion colors and a vivid viewing experience. The visuals are decent with paunchy colors and the 120Hz refresh rate gives a smooth scrolling experience as well.

While the panel support HDR10 it lacks HDR 10 certification which is a big lest down. Motorola had to sacrifice HDR 10 support due to Snapdragon 695 chipset limitations as it is not whitelisted for HDR playback.

The fingerprint scanner is moderately responsive while the 360Hz touch sampling rate gives good results. There is DC Dimming for a flicker-free experience. It also supports the DCI-P3 color gamut for richer color tones, no matter which app you are using to watch videos. The peak brightness levels are also good which makes it visible even under sunlight.

There are dual stereo speakers that are loud and clear. The speaker delivers decent bass and the audio has a certain character to it.

Motorola G82 5G Review: Battery

The Moto G82 5G packs a 5000mAh battery under the hood. The battery easily lasts an entire day with moderate usage. Usage might include calling, texting, browsing, watching videos, listening to music, social media apps, and more. If you have long gaming sessions, you might need to charge your device slightly earlier.

Motorola gives a 30W charger with the smartphone. It takes more than an hour to charge the battery from 0 to 100%. This could have been improved as 1 hour is a lot of time considering the charging speeds that are being seen these days.

Motorola G82 5G Review: Camera

The Moto G82 5G has a triple camera setup at the back. It includes a 50MP main camera, an 8MP ultrawide camera, and a 2MP depth sensor. For selfies, there is a 16MP snapper at the front. I haven’t used much of the camera setup, so will update more when I do so. For now, this is my first impression of the camera on G82 5G.

The 50MP main sensor is impressive in daylight as well as nighttime. The images are full of details and clear. The dynamic range is decent and colors are warm in most of the images.

The 8MP ultrawide camera clicks decent shots in daylight. The colors are bright, the area covered is fair and the detailing is decent as well.

2MP lens is useless. The images don’t have autofocus and closeup shots have no clarity. This lens should have been avoided.

The 16MP selfie camera does a decent job in an indoor setting. The selfie gets skin tone accurate and edge detection is good as well. I haven’t tested it in outdoor settings, so will update my experience when I do that.

Moto G82 5G Review: Performance

The G82 5G is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 chipset. The 6nm SoC handles everyday tasks with ease and speed. Switching between apps is seamless and the device never lags or crashes even when multiple apps are running in the background. All these thanks to 8GB RAM with a 695 chipset.

Talking about gaming, lite games like Temple Run can be played for hours but heavier ones like BGMI: Mobile will pose problems when played for longer durations and with high frame rates. Casual gaming works but if you are an avid gamer, then this phone is not for you. Playing heavy games also leads to heating up of the device which indicates below-par thermal performance.

In terms of software, the Moto G82 5G runs Android 12 with a layer of Motorola’s custom My UX out of the box. There are options for customization and personalizing themes and wallpapers as per one’s tastes.

The Colour palette allows you to change the colors of icons and buttons based on the color of your wallpaper. The UI is very clean and there is almost no bloatware or adware present. The only pre-installed 3^rd party apps are Dolby Atmos and Facebook. Motorola has promised only a single software update to Android 13 but there are 3 years of Android security patches available.

If we talk about connectivity options, there is Bluetooth 5.2, headphone jack, dual-band Wi-fi, USB Type-C port, and FM radio along with 5G, 4G LTE cellular connectivity.

Motorola G82 5G Review Verdict: Should you buy it?

The Moto G82 5G invokes mixed feelings. The phone has a lot going in its favour except the Snapdragon 695SoC which clearly lets down what otherwise have been an excellent package. The phone has a good 10-bit HDR screen but the Chipset lets it down.

Other than that, I have no major concerns with the phone as it can easily handle everyday tasks with ease. The 120Hz POLED screen, stereo speakers, a good camera setup, and IP52 rating make it worth considering. Having said that, if you are into gaming, I would recommend you look for other options.