Moto G5 Plus preview: A big dose of premium, without the prohibitive price tag

Not content with launching the best budget phone money can buy in the Moto G5, Motorola has also unveiled a G5 Plus version: a marginally larger, more powerful, svelter (and pricier) phone that’s touching on mid-level ground at its £259 price point.

With the earlier Moto G4 Plus model we were left feeling a little confused about exactly who it was for. It came with a fingerprint scanner but no NFC (so no mobile payments), its 5.5-inch scale felt mammoth for a device that wasn’t, ultimately, that much better than the standard Moto G4.

The G5 Plus leaves us feeling entirely different. This 5.2-inch device is only slightly bigger than its G5 brother, it comes with a much more sophisticated pill-shaped front-based fingerprint scanner, while bringing a design language that looks a lot higher-end than the price point might suggest. And it adds NFC, making that fingerprint scanner much more useful.

Of the two fifth-generation Moto Gs, this is the one to go for if you’ve got a little extra cash. And with the likes of the OnePlus 3T now commanding a £399 asking price, the £140 saving to be found in this Moto will make a lot of sense for those seeking to buy a handset outright without breaking the bank.

Moto G5 Plus review: Design

• 5.2-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) LCD display
• Front-faced fingerprint scanner
• Metal body, 3,000mAh battery (non-removable)
• 150.2 x 74 x 7.7mm; 155g

The G5 Plus looks and feels better than the standard G5. In pictures the two models side-by-side almost appear identical, but the extra heft and solidity of the G5 Plus give it an extra level of premium about it. You can only feel that in the hand though: it’s down to the slightly more slender body (7.7mm in the Plus rather than 9.5mm of the G5) and non-removable rear panel.

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The 5.2-inch scale of the Plus model isn’t as visually prominent as it may sound: the handset looks barely any larger than the G5 standard. The resolution is the same Full HD from its IPS LCD panel, too, so there’s no increase in resolution. Extra pixels would have been a nicety – but also probably cause for a yet higher price point. And, let’s not forget, this is, in essence, an affordable phone.

The battery of the G5 Plus is fixed into that rear shell, so there’s no removing it – unlike the standard G5 model. It’s slightly more capacious at 3,000mAh (the G5 is 2,800mAh) and comes with a 15W TurboCharge power charger. That means quick charging – some 6-hours of use from 15-minutes spent at the plug, Moto claims.

Of note is the circular camera enclosure to the rear, which protrudes from the body (it’s not flush like the standard G5). That doesn’t mean optical stabilisation though (there is none for either G5 device), it’s more to do with Motorola threading a design language through its range: look at the rear panel of the top-end Moto Z, for example, and you can see that familiarity in the G5 Plus.

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It looks good, but we’d rather than camera didn’t protrude beyond the rear, if it could be avoided. Still, the overall design is far more accomplished than the Moto G4 Plus ever was – and we’re glad to see the back of that ugly square-shaped fingerprint scanner.

Moto G5 review: One-touch Nav

• Home key can be used to swipe to control device
• Traditional android home/back/apps soft keys also available

Because the G5 Plus embodies that new pill-shaped fingerprint scanner – which looks oh so much better than a square one – it has a special One-touch Nav trick up its sleeve. This mode takes the usual trio of soft keys and instead uses gesture to make commands.

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Swipe to the left of the key to go back; swipe right to open current apps screen; press to return to home screen (or to lock the screen); press-and-hold to activate Google Now launcher (the only feature to provide haptic, vibrational feedback). You’ll be seeing a lot more of this kind of control on Android phones in the future we would think (it’s also on the G5).

At first it might feel a little alien to use, but the fact is you can always revert back to standard controls, so the phone doesn’t force this control mechanism upon you (it’s not default out of the box either). There are no capacitive buttons to the sides of this home key, however, so if you want Android soft keys on display then you’ll have to accept them eating up screen space. The choice is yours.

Moto G5 review: Storage and power

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor
• 3GB RAM, 32GB storage (microSD card slot available)
• Android 7.0 operating system; NFC built-in

Plus is in the name, and there’s some “plus” in the power department too. With a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor under the hood, the Plus’s 2Ghz cores outshine the capability of its lesser G5 brother. It might not the ultimate powerhouse, but it’ll be more than enough to handle daily tasks, some gaming and so forth without issue.

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The G5 Plus experienced is built upon Google’s Android 7.0 operating system and Motorola doesn’t interfere too much with that. There’s only the Moto Actions app to differentiate, avoiding unnecessary bloatware. Actions, which allows you to take control of gesture controls. Chop like a ninja with the phone in hand for the flash to activate; swipe upwards to shrink the screen to a miniature OS; pick up the phone to stop it ringing and flip it to activate Do Not Disturb. All these features can be individually controlled from within the app, or switched off.

Moto G5 review: Camera

• 23-megapixel rear camera, f/1.7 lens
• Dual AF pixels (for on-sensor phase-detection autofocus)
• No optical stabilisation present
• 5-megapixel front-facing camera
• Selfie ‘Beautification’ mode; Professional mode

Cameras are always a big deal and, well, the G-series cameras have never been all that great. In the G5 Plus it really steps up its game. There’s a 12-megapixel rear camera, complete with Dual AF pixels for on-sensor phase-detection, paired with an f/1.7 aperture lens. However, there’s no optical image stabilisation, despite that protruding lens.

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If those specs sound somewhat Samsung Galaxy S6 then, well, it’s because they appear to be the same components. Therefore, expect a strong camera performance, further bolstered by new modes such as Professional mode (to select various settings manually) and Beautification mode for the front-facing selfie camera.

First Impressions

The Moto G5 Plus is a really interesting prospect. When once the mid-range market was awash with so-so phones, this near-£250 device sets out a strong stall of specs and style, in a category where many of the previous front runners are now up and away at the £400 price point. It clears the decks somewhat, leaving Motorola to take advantage.

As such the G5 Plus seems to flip around what the G4 Plus was all about. This new Moto feels like a phone with purpose, built for an audience that actually exists for such a device. From the camera performance to the overall design, if you’re not in the phone market seeking an over-powered processor in your device then this lil beauty ought to have everything sewn up.

The Moto G5 Plus will be available from late spring (end-of-April to early May anticipated) in fine gold and lunar grey finishes, priced £259. It’s currently only due to be stocked in Carphone Warehouse in the UK.