Key Takeaways
- Motorola kicks off 2024 with a new Moto G Play, a budget device that doesn’t support 5G due to the use of a two-year-old chipset.
- The phone offers 64GB of internal storage, 4GB of RAM, and a 6.5-inch display with a 20:9 aspect ratio.
- The Moto G Play features a 50MP camera, 5,000mAh battery, and will be available for $150 starting Feb. 8.
Motorola had a pretty good 2023. Namely, the Lenovo-owned brand impressed critics with a duo of clamshell foldable Androids in the affordable Razr and excellent Razr+. For a long time, however, the company has leaned on its budget-focused Moto G series for steady sales. So it’s no surprise then that Motorola is kicking off its 2024 release schedule with a new Moto G Play.
The Moto G Play 2024 is the rare new budget device that does not support 5G. That’s due to Motorola’s decision to go with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 680, a two-year-old chipset with a 4G cellular modem, to power the phone. We don’t expect 4G to completely die out like 2G and 3G have in the past several years, but we are concerned about coverage in some areas where 4G spectrum might be refarmed for 5G only. Depending on how well you take care of this phone, you might see that happen.
That horsepower is linked up with 64GB of internal storage and 4GB of RAM, expandable to 6GB with RAM Boost — a feature that repurposes a portion of storage memory for RAM. There’s a microSD card slot with room for up to an extra terabyte of space for apps, photos, music and more.
Composite / Motorola
The 2024 Play features a 6.5-inch 720p display with a 20:9 aspect ratio and a variable refresh rate between 60Hz and 90Hz. It’s fine, but 1080p really should be table stakes at this size, even at this price. Between the processing power and the display, the 5,000mAh battery should keep users going for nearly two days. Charging remains a bottleneck, however, at 15W max with a 10W block included in the box.
You can unlock this Moto G Play via facial recognition or fingerprint read. It’s rated IP52 for some resistance to dust and rain. On camera duty is a 50MP on the back and an 8MP shooter for selfies. You can plug headphones into the 3.5mm audio jack or into the USB-C port. There’s Bluetooth 5.1 if you’re going wireless and also Wi-Fi 5 for your local internet needs.
Motorola is far from the best on software support. The Moto G Play 2024 will start on Android 13 — already one version behind the mainstream — and may or may not get an OS bump. Security patches may only come every other month or later.
What the Moto G Play will have in spades, however, is distribution. You’ll find it at AT&T, Verizon, and numerous prepaid carriers as well as unlocked (in this case, for T-Mobile users) from Amazon, Best Buy, and Motorola’s own site for $150 starting Feb. 8. In Canada, it will arrive at retailers on Jan. 26.
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