iDevice review
Motorola Moto G (2026) review: a stylish phone with a long battery and a dull screen
A soft vegan leather back and big battery, held back by a low-resolution display and hollow speakers.
Thumbs up
- Big 5,200mAh battery
- Stylish vegan leather back
- microSD up to 1TB
- 30W charging
- Fingerprint and face unlock
Thumbs down
- Low-resolution HD+ screen
- Modest performance
- Hollow-sounding speakers
- 1080p video only
- Only splash resistant (IP52)
Pick up the Moto G (2026) and it doesn't feel like every other phone. The soft vegan leather back is stylish and different in a sea of glass slabs. It comes in Pantone Slipstream.
Then you look at the screen, and that's the letdown. The 6.7-inch panel is only HD+, at 1604 x 720 and 263 pixels per inch, so text and photos look softer than you'd like. Motorola rates it at up to 1,000 nits at peak, which helps outdoors, but sharpness doesn't come with it.
Battery
Battery life is where this phone shines, and the 5,200mAh battery easily covers a full day. It supports 30W TurboPower charging; the charger may be sold separately, so check the listing before you buy.
Speed
The MediaTek Dimensity 6300 and 4GB of RAM handle everyday apps, texting and browsing, but performance is modest. RAM Boost can borrow storage to stretch memory to 12GB. Heavy games and big multitasking sessions will slow it down. As a basic phone for a kid, it works.
Cameras and sound
The 50MP rear camera handles everyday shots, and the 32MP front camera is fine for video calls. Video tops out at 1080p and 30 frames per second. The speakers get loud, but they sound hollow.
Everything else
It's IP52, so it can handle a light splash, but it isn't waterproof and shouldn't go near the pool. You get a fingerprint reader and face unlock, a nano-SIM plus eSIM, and a microSD slot that takes cards up to 1TB. It runs Android 16. At 167mm tall and 8.44mm thick, it's a big phone.