Moto G 2014 (2nd Generation) - BLTN

A couple of months back when the device was first officially released for the Singapore market, I decided to skip the 2014 Moto G in favour of the Moto G LTE (1st Generation), and even did a review of it. My reason was simple, the 2014 Moto G did not have LTE, something that was a deal breaker for me. Months later (due in part to my itchy hands), I finally decided to give the 2nd Generation Moto G a go.

The 1st Generation Moto G LTE was damn near the perfect low cost smartphone in my opinion. It ran Android 4.4.4 Kitkat without a hitch, and gave phones that costs more a run for their money. Its only major flaw, was a less than mediocre camera. So putting the LTE connectivity aside, all Motorola had to do was to include a better camera in the Moto G 2014 to make it great. So when you factor in the bigger display, along with dual front firing speakers, it sounds like a combination for a great device. But after using the device for a while, I found it was more like “2 steps forwards, and 1 step back”.

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First step forward: The camera

Comparing the 1st and 2nd Generation Moto G, the 2nd Generation Moto G saw huge improvements in the imaging department. Which is great news, because the 1st Generation Moto G had a camera that (in my opinion) cannot even compete with the camera on a much older budget Motorola device like the RAZR i (due to poor image processing).

While a little slow shot to shot, a little slow to focus, and a little lacking in dynamic range, the photos taken with the phone has decent colour reproduction and details. Just make sure not to zoom in too much as you will start to see signs of over-aggressive noise reduction. The camera is actually pretty good for a phone in this price range, and definitely much better than on the 1st Generation Moto G.

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Second step forward: The speakers and display

The speakers, while no HTC Boomsound speakers, still gives decent clarity and volume. The display, while only a 1280 x 720 5” display, still looks plenty sharp enough for me. Sure, the speakers could use more oomph and less crackling at higher volumes. Sure, the display could use better daylight visibility. But both of them still adds up to a much better media experience (though at the cost of one-handed ease of use). It definitely looks and sounds better than one would expect of a phone this price.

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Another step backwards: The software

Typically I would consider Motorola’s near stock Android experience, and fast (relatively) updates a positive, but not this time round. To be specific, I am talking about Android 5.0.2 Lollipop. It is buggy. More so than on the Nexus 5 and Nexus 6 somehow. On Kitkat, both the 1st and 2nd Generation Moto G feels snappy, unless you really start to multitask and stress the processor. Which makes sense since it is a relatively low end processor (Snapdragon 400) with only 1GB of RAM. But on Lollipop, even without doing much on it, I am seeing the UI stutter frequently. UI animation frame rates feels… inconsistent. The phone is almost never in a hurry to do anything. Tap an icon… pause… launch app. Tap home button… pause… go back to home page. Press recents app button… pause… launch recent apps.

Then bugs…

(from something small like a small misalignment when adjusting volume while in app drawer, and funnily enough the misalignment on the Nexus 5 and Nexus 6 is on the left side rather than the right)

(to many others off the top of my head; like the missing Google search widget that randomly decides to go missing, weird system items showing up in recent apps after clearing all items, Play Music remaining in notification shade after the app has been cleared from recents apps, apps force closing, etc)

If there was an easy way to roll back to 4.4.4, I probably would do it if I had to keep using this as my daily driver.

(Before people start telling me to do a factory reset and wipe cache, that was the first thing I did. And no, I did not restore any backups, or transfer app data from an older phone into this.)

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Would I recommend getting a 2nd Generation Moto G 2014 now? Definitely not (That is unless you really need a dual sim phone now and do not mind not having LTE). With the lack of LTE connectivity (huge difference where I live), and with the phone being 6 months into its product cycle, I would definitely recommend holding out if you can.

(Left: 1st Gen Moto G LTE, Right: 2nd Gen Moto G. Both tested at the exact same location in my room.)

Also, Android 5.0.2 Lollipop is still plagued with bugs. With the recently launched 2nd Generation Moto E 2015 packing a newer Snapdragon 410 processor, and packing features like Moto Display and Quick Capture (likely due to the chipset), it makes sense that the next generation Moto G would likely get the same upgrade.

With that being said, I cannot wait to see what Motorola has to offer for the next generation Moto G.