Moto G200 review: great performance in budget

Motorola’s recent push to make low-cost smartphones with high-end specs has led to the Moto G200, which is one of the best phones we’ve seen from the company. The Moto G series has always been known for affordable phones with good specs, but in the last 18 months, the company has worked harder to make smartphones that are more similar to high-end phones like the iPhone and Samsung phones in terms of features and power.

In this way, the Moto G200 is the best model that has come out so far. The Moto G200 is the best of the Moto G family. It has a big screen, a powerful processor, and a high-resolution main camera. For many people, it will feel the same as other high-end flagships, but it will cost about half as much.

This phone is supposed to be the follow-up to the Moto G100, but it might be more like the Edge 20 Lite. It solidifies Motorola’s position as a major player in the mid-range phone market, ready to compete with the many Chinese brands that currently dominate that space.

The phone’s speed is its main selling point. With the Snapdragon 888 Plus chipset, it’s very quick for gaming and other high-end tasks. In this way, this power works well with the high refresh rate display, which also makes it easy to use the phone. The screen is huge, but Motorola has never made the best-looking screens because it usually goes with LCD instead of OLED.

Still, it’s a great choice for people who like to watch videos or play games on their phones because of its size and refresh rate. The Moto G200 fixes a lot of problems we had with the G100 and other Moto phones before it. The fingerprint scanner on the side is the best example of this. This time, it’s very quick and easy to use, which makes unlocking the phone very simple.

Specification

Moto G200 review: Design

We can see how the design of the Moto G200 could divide people, just because it’s so big. With a size of 168.1 x 75.5 x 8.9mm and a weight of 202g, this fits naturally in the palm of pretty big hands. Even with average-sized mitts, we had a hard time using this with one hand.

If you don’t mind using a mobile two-handed, this is a good buy. Aside from making it hard to reach the edges of the screen, the biggest problem with its size is that it can be hard to reach the fingerprint scanner on the side when you want to unlock the phone.

Thankfully, recognising your fingerprint is much more reliable and smooth than on previous Moto phones. When we tried to unlock the Moto G100, it was like rolling a 20-sided dice to see if we could get in, but that’s not the case here. On the right side of the phone, above the fingerprint scanner, is the volume rocker.

On the left side, there is a small Google Assistant button (pressing this brings up the AI companion). We don’t know how many people use this feature, because we don’t, but Moto has already put it in enough phones to make us think there’s a market for it. There is a USB-C port, but there is no 3.5mm headphone jack. You can buy this smartphone from its official website.

Moto G200 review: Display

The phone has a sharp 6.8-inch Max Vision display with FHD+ resolution and HDR10 support on the front. The 144Hz refresh rate is a standout feature that makes scrolling much smoother than on a standard 60Hz screen, which is found on most phones, including the cheaper Moto G31. The screen is bright and colourful, and the fast refresh rate will work well for mobile gaming, especially when combined with the fast performance of the flagship chipset.

Moto G200 review: Cameras

The Moto G200 has a 108Mp f/1.9 main camera, which is a big upgrade from the G100’s 64Mp camera. It also has the same 2Mp f/2.4 depth sensor and 16Mp f/2.2 front-facing selfie camera as the G100. But the Moto G200’s ultra-wide lens has an 8Mp f/2.2 sensor, while last year’s model had a 16Mp ultra-wide.

This affects the phone’s performance as a whole. The main camera on the back takes sharp and bright photos in most situations. This is because it has a wider aperture and a higher resolution. Depending on which shooting mode you choose, the camera will perform differently.

Motorola has put in 9-in-1 pixel binning technology, combining pixels to capture a scene’s light. This makes a smaller image with more light and detail than the original, but with a lower resolution. It also means that nighttime photos are a little less grainy than they were on older Moto phones, but it’s still not the best phone for taking photos in low light.

Moto G200 review: Battery Life

The 33W TurboPower charging for the big 5,000mAh battery and the clean Android experience with few Moto customizations show more of Motorola’s roots. And we like the Ready For support, which promises a powerful desktop experience despite its silly name.

Even though the package sounds great on its own, the price of the Moto G200 5G is what makes it really interesting. In the world of smartphones, prices are going up all the time. This Motorola, which could have easily been part of the Edge series, costs €449, but you can find it for as little as €400 if you look around.

Moto G200 review: Price and availability

All of this costs a very reasonable £400, and at least on paper, you can’t buy anything new that’s as powerful for this price. In fact, Samsung’s new and better late than never Galaxy S21 FE offers the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 without the Plus version for £299 more.

Other phones that cost £399 include the OnePlus Nord 2, the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G, and the Apple iPhone SE, which is getting on in age but is said to be replaced by a new model in a few months for 2022.

Moto G200 review: Final words

Even though the Moto G200’s performance isn’t quite what you’d expect from its Snapdragon 888 Plus chipset, it’s a great deal at just £399. The 6.8-inch screen has a fast 144Hz refresh rate and FHD+ resolution that make it great for mobile gaming, but OLED purists may not like the LCD technology.

FAQs

Is Motorola Moto G200 worth buying?

One of the most powerful CPUs currently available is the Motorola Moto G200, a Snapdragon 888+. This chip offers performance at the forefront of its class and can easily deal with any challenge you present.

The fact that this chipset powers virtually no other phones at this price point makes the Moto G200 5G’s inclusion of said processor its most compelling selling feature.

Is Motorola A Chinese company now?

American consumer electronics firm Motorola Mobility LLC, better known simply as Motorola, is best known for its production of smartphones and other mobile devices that utilise Google’s Android operating system. It is a division of the Chinese multinational technology company Lenovo, which is headquartered in Beijing.

Which cell phones are made in the USA?

Currently, the company now produces electronic goods like smartphones as part of its expansion. The Librem 5 USA model phone is the only smartphone anywhere in the world that bears the “Made in USA” stamp. The phone is manufactured by Purism.