Motorola Moto G30 review

Almost AOSP Android 11, some Moto mods

If you are looking at Motorola phones to buy, you are probably here because of the clean Android experience, Android 11 out of the box on the Moto G30. While the UI basics are, indeed, stock, Motorola has introduced a host of neat features that add value without getting in the way.

A single Moto app combines all the proprietary features. The first category is personalization allowing you to choose the icon shapes, the quick toggles appearance, the accent colors and the font. There is also a wide selection of wallpapers, the same ones you'd find in the Google Wallpapers app, plus some Moto-specific interactive ones.

Moto App • Personalization

Then come the gestures. The karate chop motion that turns on and off the flashlight is here along with the twisting motion that launches the camera app. Both work even when the device is locked. The lift to unlock gesture works well with the face unlock as it unlocks the device as soon as you pick it up and look at the screen. A new addition is the swipe to split function that triggers the split-screen functionality.

The display-related features are Peek Display and Attentive Display. The former works as a second-best alternative to the Always-on display but with some added functionality. The screen lights up when it detects motion that's close to the phone (most likely uses the proximity sensor) or when you pick it up. Once you've received some kind of notification, you can tap on it and see the message itself and even interact with it from the lock screen. As for the Attentive Display, it's pretty self-explanatory - it disables the screen timeout as long as there's a face looking at the screen. Pretty useful when reading long articles, though you do probably scroll often enough for the screen not to lock anyway.

Gestures • Display

Since Android 11 brings some new features of its own, Motorola has added a 'What's new' section to get you acquainted with those. The one-time permissions allow you to grant access to certain apps to your storage, location, contacts, etc., only temporary. You will be asked again when the app needs the said permission once more when you use it. Notification grouping is an effort to keep your notification shade tidy and focus on your conversations. Notification cards from ongoing conversations from your messaging apps will appear on top as high-priority compared to other app notifications.

Bubbles is one of the long-awaited features for messaging apps that Facebook's Messenger has had for years now. The apps that support the feature will prompt you with a notification in the form of a floating, interactive bubble. Tapping on it will open up the chart for a quick reply, just like Messenger.

Get to know Android 11

Nearby Share with other Android devices a recent Android version is also possible, so transferring files has never been easier. And lastly, we have the updated power menu that now displays shortcuts to connected devices such as home automation or Chromecast through the Google Home app.

Lockscreen • Homescreen • Folder view • App drawer • Notifications • Quick toggles

The optimized charging feature is a new find that's not necessarily inherited from the Android 11 OS, but it basically does what all similar features from other brands offer. It learns your usage and charging patterns, so it doesn't 'overcharge' the battery, although this term isn't exactly correct. What it does is charge the handset to 80% and then delay the last 20% until right before you disconnect the adaptor. You need to toggle it on, though, as it's disabled by default.

Battery features

The G30 being more powerful than the G10, we didn't really encounter any delays or hiccups in general operation across the UI and menus. The fingerprint reader, as we mentioned on the previous page, leaves a slightly unresponsive impression. It's not that it's slow to unlock - you get the vibration feedback when the fingerprint's scan is successful; it's just that lighting up the display takes a bit longer than usual.

Synthetic benchmarks

The Moto G30 is powered by the Snapdragon 662 chipset, a midrange piece of silicon introduced in 2020 and built on an 11nm process. It features an octa-core CPU in a 4+4 configuration with Kryo 260 Gold cores in the high-performance cluster (Cortex-A73-based) and Kryo 260 Silver ones (Cortex-A53-based) for less demanding tasks. The graphics department is handled by the Adreno 610 GPU.

Different RAM and storage options exist, from 4GB/64GB to 6GB/128GB, with our review unit being the base spec.

The Moto G30 posted predictable numbers in benchmarks, on par with other SD66x-equipped handsets. The Realme 7 with its beefier Helio G95 and the Poco X3 NFC with a 7-series SD732G are in a different league for CPU performance in GeekBench. The Galaxy A21s that you can get for Moto G30 money in most places isn't as powerful, while the more expensive A31 is slightly ahead in single-core, slightly behind in multi-core.

GeekBench 5 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Poco X3 NFC
  1777
• Realme 7
  1681
• Motorola Moto G9 Play
  1402
• Xiaomi Redmi 9T
  1400
• Realme Narzo 20A
  1400
• Poco M3
  1398
• Motorola Moto G8 Power
  1394
• Motorola Moto G9 Power
  1374
• Realme Narzo 20
  1328
• Realme 7i
  1318
• Honor 10X Lite
  1317
• Motorola Moto G30
  1265
• Samsung Galaxy A31
  1216
• Motorola Moto G10
  1139
• Samsung Galaxy A21s
  1100
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  1034
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  495

GeekBench 5 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Poco X3 NFC
  568
• Realme 7
  536
• Realme Narzo 20
  385
• Samsung Galaxy A31
  352
• Motorola Moto G9 Power
  315
• Motorola Moto G9 Play
  314
• Realme Narzo 20A
  314
• Realme 7i
  312
• Motorola Moto G8 Power
  311
• Poco M3
  308
• Xiaomi Redmi 9T
  307
• Motorola Moto G30
  306
• Honor 10X Lite
  300
• Motorola Moto G10
  247
• Samsung Galaxy A21s
  184
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  169
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  131

This is more or less the way things stand in Antutu - Moto G30 is a bit more powerful than the Galaxies in the price range, on par with the SD66x competitors, and way behind the Realme 7 and the Poco X3.

AnTuTu 8

Higher is better

• Realme 7
  292828
• Poco X3 NFC
  283750
• Realme Narzo 20
  193912
• Motorola Moto G9 Power
  182875
• Xiaomi Redmi 9T
  177917
• Poco M3
  177904
• Motorola Moto G8 Power
  173607
• Realme 7i
  172933
• Motorola Moto G30
  170968
• Motorola Moto G9 Play
  170064
• Realme Narzo 20A
  169543
• Honor 10X Lite
  161375
• Samsung Galaxy A31
  151815
• Motorola Moto G10
  140230
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  107189
• Samsung Galaxy A21s
  107157
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  90811

When it comes to GPU oomph, the Moto G30 has just the right amount of it for its 720p display and puts out respectable fps numbers in the onscreen tests in GFXBench. The Realme 7 and the Poco X3 remain ahead, even with their higher-res 1080p screens, with the gap widening in raw-power offscreen tests.

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Realme 7
  34
• Poco X3 NFC
  33
• Realme Narzo 20
  16
• Honor 10X Lite
  15
• Motorola Moto G30
  14
• Motorola Moto G9 Play
  13
• Poco M3
  13
• Motorola Moto G9 Power
  13
• Xiaomi Redmi 9T
  13
• Motorola Moto G8 Power
  13
• Realme Narzo 20A
  13
• Samsung Galaxy A31
  13
• Realme 7i
  13
• Motorola Moto G10
  9.4
• Samsung Galaxy A21s
  9.4
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  7.7
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  6.1

GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme Narzo 20
  32
• Realme 7
  28
• Poco X3 NFC
  27
• Motorola Moto G30
  26
• Motorola Moto G9 Play
  26
• Motorola Moto G9 Power
  26
• Realme Narzo 20A
  26
• Realme 7i
  25
• Motorola Moto G10
  19
• Samsung Galaxy A21s
  19
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  13
• Honor 10X Lite
  13
• Motorola Moto G8 Power
  12
• Samsung Galaxy A31
  12
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  12
• Poco M3
  11
• Xiaomi Redmi 9T
  10

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (offscreen 1080p)

Higher is better

• Realme 7
  20
• Poco X3 NFC
  19
• Realme Narzo 20
  16
• Honor 10X Lite
  8.2
• Samsung Galaxy A31
  8
• Xiaomi Redmi 9T
  7.5
• Motorola Moto G30
  7.3
• Poco M3
  7.2
• Motorola Moto G9 Power
  7.2
• Realme Narzo 20A
  7.2
• Motorola Moto G8 Power
  7.1
• Motorola Moto G9 Play
  7
• Realme 7i
  7
• Samsung Galaxy A21s
  6
• Motorola Moto G10
  5.2
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  3.4
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  3.3

GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Realme Narzo 20
  18
• Realme 7
  17
• Poco X3 NFC
  16
• Motorola Moto G30
  13
• Motorola Moto G9 Play
  13
• Motorola Moto G9 Power
  13
• Realme Narzo 20A
  13
• Realme 7i
  13
• Samsung Galaxy A21s
  11
• Motorola Moto G10
  9.2
• Samsung Galaxy A31
  7
• Honor 10X Lite
  7
• Motorola Moto G8 Power
  6.6
• Samsung Galaxy A02s
  6.1
• Poco M3
  5.9
• Xiaomi Redmi 9T
  5.8
• Samsung Galaxy A12
  5