Moto G84 review

Introduction

Motorola has always had a knack for making great budget devices. Nowadays, the company has a rather full and fleshed-out portfolio, including more premium models from the Edge series and even its foldable form factor offers in the Razr line. Still, there is something about the Moto G line that remains the bread and butter of the legendary company.

Today, we have the Moto G84 in for review. It is technically the "highest end" offer within the budget G family, and budget does remain the main focus here, with an MSRP of INR19,999 ($245/€222) in India and €299 on European markets. The Moto G84 has a classical look all around, but one slightly spiced up by the inclusion of Pantone color options - Viva Magenta and Marshmallow Blue. Both of these variants come with a faux leather back panel and a vibrant color. The phone can also be had with a plastic back in the more conservative Midnight Blue color while still offering a color-matched camera island and middle frame.

Motorola Moto G84 specs at a glance:

• Body: 160.0x74.4x7.6mm, 166g; Glass front, plastic frame, plastic back or eco-leather back; IP54, dust and splash resistant.
• Display: 6.50" P-OLED, 1B colors, 120Hz, 1300 nits (peak), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 405ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM6375 Snapdragon 695 5G (6 nm): Octa-core (2x2.2 GHz Kryo 660 Gold & 6x1.7 GHz Kryo 660 Silver); Adreno 619.
• Memory: 256GB 12GB RAM; UFS 2.2; microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot).
• OS/Software: Android 13.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 50 MP, f/1.9, 1/1.5", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2, 120-degree, 1/4.0", 1.12µm, AF.
• Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.5, (wide), 1.0µm.
• Video capture: Rear camera: 1080p@30/60fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 5000mAh; 30W wired.
• Connectivity: 5G; Hybrid Dual SIM; Wi-Fi 6; BT 5.1; NFC; FM radio (market/region dependent); 3.5mm jack.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); stereo speakers.

Besides looking great, the Moto G84 also packs some interesting specs for its budget price tag. The 6.55" 10-bit OLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate and 240 Hz touch sampling rate stands out. Motorola promises 1,300 nits of maximum brightness on the particular panel. Other highlights include a stereo speaker setup complete with Dolby Atmos support, Moto Spatial Sound support, and a 3.5mm audio jack. The G84 also comes with two Nano-SIM slots, one of which also doubles as a microSD expansion slot.

Though only consisting of two modules, the rear camera system on the phone looks impressive on paper with a 50MP, OIS-enabled main snapper and an 8MP ultrawide, complete with autofocus in order to double as a macro camera. The Moto G84 also has a fairly large 5,000 mAh battery despite its pretty light 166.8 g body.

Unfortunately, Motorola had to cut corners somewhere and decided to skimp on the chipset. The Snapdragon 695 was never a particularly good chip, even back in 2021 when it was announced. It is not particularly powerful, but that's arguably not its biggest crutch, which is its ISP, which is limited to 1080p video capture. A very unfortunate reality to deal with in 2023.

Still, if you don't care about any of that, the G84 has plenty of other redeeming qualities and seems quite likable, at least on the surface.

Unboxing

Before we delve any deeper, let's see what sort of retail box the Moto G84 ships with. The packaging here is plastic-free, which we very much appreciate. Besides that, the two-piece box is nothing special and is mostly rocking a "natural" cardboard color, which is not intrinsically a bad thing. The box is hard and sturdy. It's definitely good enough to protect the phone during shipping. There is also a very decent, even if cardboard, internal cradle to hold the phone itself in place.

Motorola is quite generous when it comes to the accessory package. The Moto G84 comes with a 33W Moto "Turbo Power" charger in the box and an accompanying USB Type-A to Type-C cable. It is a standard USB cable without any additional pins, which is good to see. Motorola also included a nice transparent TPU cover in our retail box. That, however, might only be the case in some markets. You should check with your local retailer.