Moto G7 family hands-on review

Moto G7 Plus and Moto G7 hands-on

Physically, the 'top-end' Moto G7 Plus and the Moto G7 feel identical and that's hardly a surprise - it's basically the same hardware. You may point out that the Plus is 0.4mm thicker than the plain one, but that's virtually impossible to spot in real life.

You won't miss the notch in real life, that's for sure - as water-drop-style notches go, this one is torrential-rain-sized. It's got the front facing camera in there, naturally, and a couple of sensors above it and to the right, so it does what it's there for, but let's just say we've seen more elegant designs. That said, it's nothing like the notches on the G7 Power and G7 Play, so there's that.

Side bezels are reasonably thin and there's a slightly more sizeable chin down below, but chins are the norm, pretty much. Also, chin apologists will tell you that chins are good because they give you room to rest your fingers - we know, we have some of these mad men at the office as well. In any case the Moto G7 and G7 Plus aren't worse offenders that most phones in the class.

If anything, we're a bit more irked by the slightly thicker top bezel. General consesus among us is that the top and side bezels should be the same thickness and that's not the case here.

Unlike last year's Moto Gs, which had outlines on the front to match the back color, the Moto G7 features a black frame around the display. We understand the reasoning - black makes the frame disappear when the display is off.

Speaking of the back, we're really digging the color schemes. The Moto G7 Plus will be available in Deep Indigo and Viva Red and both are pretty in their own way. The flashier red option is sure to attract envious stares, while the blue one has a more restrained subtle look.

The Moto G7 (non-Plus) gets different paint jobs - Ceramic Black and Clear White. Fans of white phones who want the Plus's better chipset and cameras are out of luck - there's no white G7 Plus.

G7 or G7 Plus, you're getting a glass back that curves to the sides, making it sit comfortably in your hand. As with all similar designs, it's plenty slippery and attracts fingerprints, but such is life with a glossy-backed phone.

The camera assembly looks the same on the outside between the two higher-tier G7s even if the main modules are in fact different. It's the same large circular camera hump we've gotten used to seeing from Motos recently, only the face has a domino mask now. Can't be unseen.

Below the camera is the fingerprint reader with the stylized 'M' Motorola badge in it - form and function working together. We're less excited about the pinhole for the third mic in the lower back, but that's sort of a typical Moto arrangement, so it's better to just accept that's how they do it and move on.

A nice new addition to the Moto G7 Plus's specsheet is the inclusion of stereo speakers. Our initial impressions are that the G7 Plus is easily loud enough. Sadly, the plain G7 doesn't get the stereo treatment.

Another differentiation between the two is in the speed they'll be able to charge their otherwise same batteries. The Moto G7 Plus comes bundled with a 27W TurboPower adapter and the phone supports PowerDelivery and QuickCharge 4.0. The G7 non-Plus ships with a more modest 15W TurboPower charger and while Motorola doesn't explicitly state what standards it supports, Qualcomm's specs say QC3.0.

Speaking of batteries and charging, join us on the next page for a few words on the Moto G7 Power.