Motorola Moto G64 review: Decent budget phone with reliable battery life

Couple of weeks ago, Motorola launched the new budget phone Moto G64 in India.

It comes with the new faster MediaTek chipset and improved camera hardware compared to the predecessor. But, it should be noted that the launch price of the new phone is Rs 1,000 less than the Moto G54.

Here are my thoughts on Motorola's latest budget phone.

Design, build quality and display

The new phone retains the design language of its predecessor. It has the familiar rectangular camera module on the top left corner of the back. Also, it has a frosted glass finish. The material is made of glass-like polycarbonate material. It does a fine job of repelling the sweaty fingerprint smudges on the back.

Motorola Moto G64 5G series.

Also, the device comes with the IP52 dust-and-splash-resistant rating and the front display panel is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass 3 shield.

Add to that, the company offers a free transparent silicone case with the device. The Moto G64 is well protected to survive the daily wear-and-tear and be able to serve the customer for long.

Motorola Moto G64 5G series.

On the front, the Moto G64 sports a 6.5-inch full HD+ (2400×1080p) LCD screen with 120Hz refresh rate and supports up to 405 nits brightness.

It is good enough to view content or read messages or news on the website outdoors without any issues. However, under direct sunlight, the user has to take the phone a little closer to the face to read or watch content to avoid reflections on the screen.

Motorola Moto G64 5G series.

It also features a hybrid SIM slot -- one for primary nano SIM and in the second slot, the customer has to choose between having a second SIM and a microSD card for extra storage.

The device also boasts a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. It works amazingly well.

It also features a 3.5mm audio jack and stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos audio system.

Performance

The new Moto G64 comes with a MediaTek Dimensity 7025 octa-core processor with IMG BXM-8-256 GPU, 8GB/12GB LPDDR4x RAM with 128GB/256GB (UFS 2.2) storage (expandable up to 1TB).

In terms of regular day-to-day tasks such as watching videos, switching between multiple apps, or operating the camera, the device works fine without any pressing issues to complain about. As far as gaming is concerned, it performs smoothly while playing regular titles such as Angry Birds, Candy Crush and other online board games.

Motorola phone runs Android 14-based My UX OS. It is clean and has no bloatware. The base variant comes with 128GB storage, which is more than enough to install hundreds of apps and store thousands of photos captured on camera.

Motorola Moto G64 5G series.

The company has promised that the device will get the new Android 15 and offer up to three years of software security support.

With a 6,000mAh battery, it can easily last one and a half days under normal usage including a couple of hours of social media scrolling, and watch a full movie.

With 30W charger, it can power up the phone from zero to 50 minutes in less than 35 minutes and can reach 100 per cent mark in 75 minutes.

It supports 5G cellular services offered by Airtel and Jio in India.

Moto G64's camera sample.

Photography

Motorola Moto G64 comes with a 50MP main camera with f/1.8 aperture, OIS (Optical Image Stabilisation) with an 8MP ultra-wide (f/2.2) camera and LED flash on the back.

Moto G64's camera sample.

The dual primary camera fares well in the natural sunlight. It gets all the minute details of the subject and also boosts the colour temperature to make them (be it flowers or human faces) look vibrant.

Moto G64's camera sample with ultra-wide-angle photo mode.

With the ultra-wide angle mode, it manages to accommodate the wide area of the landscape into the frame. It does not employ any trick to bend the structure to fit them in the photo.

However, in the night mode, the phone tends to lose the speed of the autofocus. It takes multiple trials and a steady hand to get that perfect shot. But, it will be worth your patience.

Moto G64's camera sample with portrait mode.

With Portrait mode, the Moto G64 takes really good photos with a bokeh blur effect in the background.

Moto G64's camera sample.

The Moto G64 also features a 16MP (f/2.4) on the front. It takes decent-quality selfies in sunlight and indoors. The device can record full HD 1080p videos at 30 frames per second (fps). The video quality is good.

Final thoughts

Considering the overall aspects and the asking price, the Motorola Moto G64 is a decent budget phone. When it comes to day-to-day tasks, such as web browsing, phone calls, switching between multiple apps and operating cameras, the device works without any issues. It also performs well with regular games but is not made of graphics-heavy titles.

Motorola Moto G64 5G series.

Two notable aspects of the device are the build quality and battery life. It is best suited to senior citizens, who want a good and reliable phone to binge-watch on OTT apps, or spend more time scrolling on social media apps and not worry about battery life.

The company is offering the Moto G64 in three colours-- ice lilac, mint green and pearl blue. It is available in two configurations--8GB RAM + 128GB storage and 12GB RAM + 256GB storage-- for Rs 14,999 and Rs 16,999, respectively.

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