Motorola has been slowly adding budget 5G smartphones to its G series for the past one year. We recently tested the Moto G51 and were pleased with its performance. Motorola has now launched the Moto G71 5G, which is the first smartphone to sport the new Snapdragon 695 SoC in India, and also packs a 50-megapixel primary rear camera. So, is the new Moto G71 5G a reliable option or should you consider alternatives? I tested this smartphone to find out.
Moto G71 5G price in India
Moto G71 5G Available in a single configuration with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. Its price is Rs. 18,999 in India and is sold exclusively on Flipkart. You get to choose from two color options: Neptune Green and Artic Blue. I had an prior for this review.
Moto G71 5G Design
The Moto G71 5G is smaller than other smartphones in this segment. In addition to its compactness, motorola Attention has been paid to ergonomics, and the curved edges make this smartphone comfortable to hold. The Moto G71 5G sports a 6.4-inch display with a camera hole and thin bezels on both sides. This makes the phone easy to use with one hand, although you still can’t easily reach the top of the display.
Motorola has used plastic for the frame of the Moto G71 5G but it doesn’t look cheap. However, the right side feels a bit cluttered with the four buttons lined up close to each other, whereas you only have the SIM tray on the left. The power button has a textured finish, which is easily recognizable just by touch. However, the moment you turn on the supplied case, you may have trouble finding the right button without looking. The volume buttons are right up front, and are readily available. They provide good, engaging feedback. Apart from this, there is a Google Assistant button which would have been better if it was on the left side for convenience. In the present position you have to spread your fingers to reach it.
Moto G71 5G sports a crisp AMOLED display with a single camera hole
Unlike most smartphones, which now sport a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, Motorola has gone old school with a capacitive fingerprint scanner on the back. It is well positioned, and my finger naturally rests on it while holding the device. Also, the back of the Moto G71 5G houses the camera module, which protrudes only slightly compared to some of the other phones I’ve tested recently. The back has a glossy finish and it easily caught fingerprints and smudges. To avoid this, you can use the case in the box.
The 3.5mm headphone jack, primary microphone and USB Type-C port are at the bottom of the Moto G71 5G along with the loudspeaker. On top of all, it only has a secondary microphone. The phone has a splash-resistant design and weighs 179 grams which is manageable.
Moto G71 5G Specifications and Software
Motorola has taken a slightly different approach to hardware with the Moto G71 5G. It sports a 6.4-inch AMOLED display with full-HD+ resolution, scratch-resistant glass, and a standard 60Hz refresh rate. You can find smartphones like realme 8s 5g ,Review) And moto g51 ,Review) that sport higher refresh rates, but these phones do not have AMOLED panels.
The Moto G71 5G is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 695, making it the first smartphone in India with this SoC. This octa-core chip is clocked at 2.2GHz, and has 6GB of RAM. The G71 5G also has a RAM Boost feature that provides 1.5GB of storage to be used as RAM, and this was enabled by default.
It packs in a 5,000mAh battery and has support for 33W fast charging
The Moto G71 5G supports 13 5G bands, which is currently the highest number in this price range in India. It also supports 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 5, NFC, dual-band Wi-Fi and six satellite navigation systems. It packs in a 5,000mAh battery and you get a 33W TurboPower charger in the box.
Motorola ships the Moto G71 5G with stock android 11, and my unit had the December Android security patch. Hope this gets updated too Android 12However, the timeline for this rollout is yet to be confirmed. The top-notch MyUX customization is unobtrusive, and those who prefer stock Android will still find themselves at home.
There are some useful additions like Moto Actions that let you perform certain actions using gestures. Legacy features include a double-chop gesture to toggle the flash and flip-to-silence. Moto’s GameTime app lets you quickly mute incoming notifications and disable auto brightness while gaming. Motorola’s smartphones have long been free of bloat, and usually only come with Google apps preinstalled. However, the Moto G71 comes with 5G Cred and Facebook, which thankfully can be removed.
Moto G71 5G Performance and Battery Life
The Moto G71 5G delivered a great performance. The phone loaded apps and games quickly, and with 6GB of RAM, I could easily multitask between them. However, I did notice an unusual lag in the camera viewfinder when the battery level dropped below 15 percent, even without battery saver mode enabled. Barring this minor discrepancy, the Moto G71 5G didn’t disappoint. The rear-mounted fingerprint scanner was accurate and only required a single effort to unlock the smartphone. Facial recognition was also consistent. I enjoyed watching videos on the AMOLED display, as it had good viewing angles and was quite bright outside.
Since the Moto G71 5G is the first smartphone in India to sport the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 SoC, I was curious to see how it stacks up against the competition. In the AnTuTu benchmark, the Moto G71 5G scored 3,78,268 points, which is higher than the MediaTek Dimensity 810-powered. redmi note 11t 5g ,Review) managed. The Moto G71 5G scored 668 and 1,900 points respectively in Geekbench 5’s single-core and multi-core tests. It managed 60fps and 18fps in graphics benchmarks GFXBench’s T-Rex and Car Chase tests, respectively, and 4,159 in 3DMark’s Sling Shot test.
The triple camera module on the Moto G71 5G doesn’t protrude much
I played Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) on the Moto G71 5G, and it defaulted to ‘HD’ graphics and ‘High’ frame rate. The game was playable at these settings without any problems. After about 33 minutes, I noticed a 6 percent drop in battery level, which is acceptable. The phone was not hot to touch after this gaming session.
I got about a day and a half of battery life out of the Moto G71 5G, and casual users may be able to get even more out of it. For heavy users, the phone should be able to provide a full day’s use. In our HD video loop test, the G71 5G lasted 17 hours 58 minutes, which is good for the 5,000mAh battery. Motorola has bundled a 33W charger in the box which helps in fast charging this phone. It managed to take the phone from zero to 54 percent in 30 minutes and to about 91 percent in an hour.
Moto G71 5G Cameras
The Moto G71 5G packs a triple camera setup that includes a 50-megapixel primary camera with f/1.8 aperture, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle camera with 118-degree field of view, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. For selfie, it has a 16-megapixel front camera. Motorola’s camera app is simple and easy to use. Commonly used photo and video shooting modes are front and center, while others are hidden under a menu. The phone also remembers the previous shooting modes which makes it convenient to pick up where you left off. Apart from the laggy viewfinder that I mentioned earlier, I didn’t face any other issues with the camera app.
The Moto G71 5G was quick at locking focus and exposure. The phone saves photos by default at 12.5 megapixels. Daylight photos had fine details and distant objects were recognizable. Dynamic range was strictly average though, so shooting bright scenes resulted in some blown-out highlights. Photos taken with the ultra-wide angle camera had less than detail and it looked distorted at the edges of the frame.
Moto G71 5G daylight camera sample. Top to bottom: Standard, Ultra-wide (tap to see full size)
Close-ups were crisp and colors were fairly accurate. The phone also adds a soft blur to the background thanks to the wide aperture, which helps make the subject stand out. The camera UI will suggest switching to the macro camera when you’re close enough to a subject. Macro shots weren’t as detailed but the camera lets you get very close to subjects. Objects shot in portrait mode had good edge detection and I could set the level of blur before taking a shot.
Moto G71 5G camera sample. Top to bottom: Close-up, Macro and Portrait (tap to view full size)
Low-light camera performance was mediocre. Photos weren’t as detailed, and enlarging them revealed grainy output. When Night Mode was enabled, the phone took about four to five seconds per shot. Output was overly bright and made a huge difference especially in shadow areas. However, upon closer examination the artifacts were visible.
Moto G71 5G low-light camera samples. Up: Standard, Down: Night mode (tap to view full size)
Selfies taken with the Moto G71 5G were crisp and portraits had a good background blur effect. The low-light selfie was good enough to post on social media.
Moto G71 5G selfie camera sample. Top: Daylight Selfie Portrait, Bottom: Low-Light Selfie (Tap to see full size)
Video recording tops out at 1080p for the primary as well as the selfie cameras. This phone only has Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) and was enabled by default. Footage shot while roaming had a very slight flicker during the day, and was enhanced in low light.
Decision
Sub Rs. The 20,000 smartphone market is slowly witnessing an increase in 5G-enabled smartphones from every manufacturer. The Moto G71 5G is a capable model in this price segment and one that you should definitely consider for your next purchase. It has a capable processor, good battery life with fast charging, and good cameras. The Moto G71 5G will especially appeal to those who like a no-frills design and stock software experience.
Low-light camera performance is one area in which the Moto G71 5G falls short of being a true all-rounder. If you are looking for options in this price range, redmi note 11t 5g ,Review, realme 8s 5g ,Review), And iQoo Z3 ,Review) are also worth a look.
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