Moto G7 Power

amazon Moto G7 Power reviews

As the middle child in Motorola’s Moto G7 family, you might expect the new Moto G7 Power to be overlooked. Still, it may be the only phone in the lineup with a clear purpose and is reflected in the name: Phone This phone is all about Battery Life, thanks to its 5,000mAh cell. At $250, it’s $50 cheaper than the Moto G7, but the Moto G7 Power has more to offer than the value of the litter – Moto G7 Play. Aside from its siblings, it has to beat phones like the similarly priced Nokia 6.1. But if you constantly complain about your phone’s lack of stamina, this might be the perfect budget Android smartphone for you.

Chunky and not the sharpest screen

While the $300 Moto G7 strives for a premium feel with its striking glass and metal back, the Moto G7 Power is frugal with glossy, curved plastic for the back and frame. That is still part of the same family, with the signature circular camera module on the back and the M logo marking the fingerprint sensor below.

A 3.5mm audio jack on the top, a USB-C port on the bottom edge, and a volume rocker with the power key below on the right spine. It’s good to see budget phones switch to USB-C, as that means the charging cable is always on the right track. Many laptops also charge via USB-C, so it also means one less cable to carry around. I also love how Motorola includes a subtle texture on the power button, making it easy to find without looking.

Glass may look better, but plastic is always warm and comfortable in hand, and it’s less slippery. The Moto G7 Power feels rather cramped and heavy, no doubt because of the large battery, but I doubt many will accept an extra millimeter or so for longer battery life.

The phone’s front is all glass with a large chin at the bottom bearing the Motorola name, with a small notch carved out of the screen at the top.

This phone is all about battery life.

With a 6.2-inch IPS LCD, Motorola hasn’t compromised on size, but the 1,570 x 720 screen resolution is a disappointment. You could argue that the regular Moto G7 and the recent Sony Xperia 10, both with Full HD displays, are more expensive, but the Nokia 6.1 also manages to pack in a 1,080p display. The difference certainly shows because the Moto G7 Power has only 279 pixels per inch (PPI) compared to 405 PPI for the regular G7 and 403 PPI for the Nokia 6.1. Whether you’re reading or watching a movie, you want the sharpest screen possible.

If you’re switching from an older phone, the lower resolution may not bother you, but paralleling a Full HD display is another matter.

Thankfully, there’s no problem with screen brightness; It’s easy to read outdoors. Like the Moto G7, colors are slightly saturated by default, but you can change that in the display settings if you want a more natural look.

Best performance at this price

We can determine what makes this phone an appealing prospect for budget buyers with design and display on the go. There’s a Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 processor in the Moto G7 Power, backed by 3GB of RAM in the US version (4GB in Europe). The US version only has 32GB of storage, but there’s a MicroSD card slot if you need more space. The European model gets 64GB.

The Moto G7 Power feels fast and capable. Tapping and swiping around is fluid, and apps and games load pretty quickly. I played Injustice 2, the fire rate was slow, and it was a bit rough around the edges in terms of graphic quality, but it ran without a hitch. A quick burst of Super Mario Run is no problem either.

Here are some benchmark results:

AnTuTu 3D Bench: 107,068

Geekbench CPU: 1,260 single core; 4,894 multi-core

3DMark Sling Shot Extreme: 544 (Vulkan)

The Moto G7 Power has the same processor as the more expensive Moto G7 and, as you can see, the same performance. It easily beats rivals like the Nokia 6.1 and the Sony Xperia 10 (which costs over $100).

With the regular Moto G7, I ran into a few issues, but nothing repeated with the Moto G7 Power. Unfortunately, it kept dropping my Wi-Fi connection for no apparent reason. When prompted, it will reconnect, but I can’t see any reason for these power outages in the settings. I’ve had the same problem with my Moto G7, but not with any other phones I’ve used recently, so there’s some problem here. I’ve reached out to Motorola for comment and will update here if I hear back.

Some additional software, but update speed is a concern

With Android 9.0 Pie and Motorola’s relatively light UI on top, the software experience on the Moto G7 Power is good.

The Moto app gives you a choice of various gesture shortcuts, such as double-slicing to turn on the flashlight or to flip the phone to mute. There are also display options to let you interact with notifications on the lock screen or hold the screen while you’re looking at it. Sadly, the hands-free Moto Voice service is not available on the Moto G7 Power.

The Moto G7 Power will likely receive more than one update.

While there’s nothing wrong with extras, and they can add value to some, I’d still like to see Motorola take a page from Nokia’s book by adopting the Android One program. Not only does Android fail, especially when the hardware isn’t as powerful, but it guarantees two Android version updates and three years of security updates. Android 9.0 Pie just started rolling out to the Moto G6 last year, and that phone never seems to see Android Q. It’s highly unlikely that the Moto G7 Power will get more than one version update after Android Q.

Another disappointment with the US version of the Moto G7 Power is the lack of NFC support. Convenient near-field communication for file sharing and linking via Android Beam or paying with Google Pay. It’s available in the European version of the Moto G7 Power, so why not in the US?

Cameras with highs and lows

The main camera in the Moto G7 Power is a single lens rated at 12 megapixels. It has an f/2.0 aperture and supports HDR. A big step up from dual-lens Moto G7, which combines a 12-megapixel lens with an f/1.8 aperture and a 5-megapixel lens for depth sensing. The lower the f-number, the wider the aperture, which means it can let in more light. Dual lenses allow for much better bokeh, where your subject is well defined, and the background is blurred.

The Moto G7 Power camera performs amazingly in good conditions, and I’m pleased with the daytime landscape photos taken. It captures a lot of detail, and the colors look good. It also handles close-ups pretty well, as long as there’s enough light.

I shot the same coastline with the Moto G7 and G7 Power, and I like the slightly more vibrant colors of the G7 Power photo on the right.

Budget phone cameras struggle with low light, and the G7 Power is no exception. I wasn’t impressed with the low-light performance in the Moto G7, but sadly, the Moto G7 Power is even worse. There are other areas where the more expensive Moto G7 makes its superiority felt. The lack of that second lens for depth sensing becomes even more apparent when you’re shooting portraits.

Spend a little more, and you can secure a better camera. You could argue that the camera in the Moto G7 Power is good for the money, but the Nokia 6.1 has a decent 16-megapixel camera, although that’s not surprisingly even worse in low light.

Battery life for one day

As the name suggests, the Moto G7 Power is a highly enduring smartphone thanks to its large 5,000mAh battery. In our battery test, streaming video from YouTube at full brightness on Wi-Fi, the Moto G7 Power lasted an impressive 13 hours and 59 minutes. That’s the best result we’ve seen so far, although it’s important to note that the 720p max resolution helps here because we typically run our tests at Full HD 1080p.

The Moto G7 Power blows away the competition on battery life. The only phone we tested that came close to this result was the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, managing 12 hours and 40 minutes. That phone costs $1,000.

That is a reliable job of a phone.

When I plugged in the USB-C cable to charge, Motorola’s TurboPower, which charged at 15W, took the Moto G7 Power’s battery from 0 to 58% in an hour. Considering the capabilities, it’s nice and versatile for a budget phone.

The Moto G7 Power easily lasts two days between charges, but you can extend it longer with lighter use. If better battery life is what you’re looking for, you’ll find it here.

where can you get a Moto G7 Power online

Motorola MOTO G7 Power – GSM Unlocked 32GB Android Smartphone – Marine Blue (Renewed): Buy it now

Moto G7 Power with Alexa Push-to-Talk – Unlocked – 32 GB – Marine Blue (US Warranty) – Verizon, AT&T, T–Mobile, Sprint, Boost, Cricket, & Metro: Buy it now

Motorola Moto G7 Power 32GB XT1955-5 LTE T-Mobile Android Smartphone – (Marine Blue) (Renewed): Buy it now

Moto G7 Power – 64 GB – Verizon – Marine Blue (Renewed): Buy it now