Moto G5S Plus hands-on review: Special first look

Design

The Moto G5S Plus looks nearly identical to the Moto G5 Plus, especially from the front. You have to pay closer attention to the design to find out the few changes.

The glass on the front now has gentle curves around the edges as it bends into real metal chamfers, courtesy of the aluminum unibody. There is now an LED flash on the front, which might be the easiest way to tell the two phones apart from the front.

Front panel

On the right are the power button and the volume buttons. All are well placed, made out of metal and work well.

On the left is the SIM tray. The SIM tray is also made out of metal and feels well built. Unfortunately, while this is a dual SIM device, you will have to choose between having a second SIM or a microSD, which is unnecessarily restrictive.

Right side • Left side

On the top of the phone is a headphone jack. On the bottom are the loudspeaker, microUSB connector, and a microphone. The loudspeaker has been moved to the bottom on the G5S Plus unlike the G5 Plus, which had the loudspeaker in the earpiece. Unfortunately, the G5S Plus does not use the earpiece as a second speaker and still has only one loudspeaker. The presence of a microUSB connector instead of USB-C is also disappointing.

Top side • Bottom side

On the back, you will find the dual camera system within the familiar circular camera bump. Because the phone now has a full metal back, there are now antenna bands running around the top and bottom, which are somewhat distracting, especially at the bottom where it gets a bit busy.

Back

Overall, the G5S Plus looks very similar to the G5 Plus. However, we appreciated how good the new phone felt in hand. The unibody construction provides it with excellent build quality and sturdiness that gives a feeling of holding a much more expensive device.

Display

The Moto G5S Plus has a 5.5-inch 1080p IPS LCD. Motorola has steadily been improving the quality of its displays over the past few years, and the G5S Plus is one of its best yet.

Display settings

Image quality out of the box is very good, and if you want more accurate colors, that can be selected from the Settings as well. The display also gets very bright and has good viewing angles. Overall, a very impressive panel that leaves very little to complain about.