Motorola Moto G8 Plus review

Competition

What Motorola could be seeing as the Moto G8 Plus' key selling point might actually make it stand out the wrong way - every single competitor has an ultra wide-angle camera, and they all can take at least 8MP still images and record video, while the Moto only really uses for video. Just how important is that one particular camera really, and how does the Moto hold up in the areas where it matters?

A Redmi Note 8/8T quickly springs to mind as an immediate rival, offering much the same package with a few extra niceties here and there including a dedicated memory card slot and an IR blaster. The Redmi would also be our pick for image quality, plus it has a slightly better display. The Moto counters with a nice stereo speaker setup and superior audio quality. Battery life and performance is a tossup between the two, and as for the choice between the Moto's vanilla Android vs. the Redmi's MIUI - to each their own.

A Huawei P30 lite is also a viable alternative if you're not fixated on the stock software look. It's a tangibly more compact one, and pocketability alone could settle it if that happens to be what you're after. Plus, you won't be sacrificing battery life along with the 30-gram savings. The P30 lite doesn't have 4K recording at all, and the Moto's average 4K videos are still better than none, but on the other hand, the the photos the P30 lite captures are superior. Oh, and the Huwei phone comes with 128 gigs of storage as standard, next to the G8 Plus' only 64GB option.

The Galaxy A50 sports an AMOLED display that is superior to the Moto's across the board. It also goes well with its more powerful GPU (slightly, but still) so it makes for a better gaming phone in this price range. The G8 Plus is actually the better cameraphone of these two, offering better image quality and 4K capture out of the box (the A50 needs a third-party app for the latter). Again, battery life is great on both, though the A50 can't match the Moto's web browsing endurance.

Perhaps our favorite phone of this bunch, though admittedly some 10% more expensive than the Moto G8 Plus, the Realme X2 brings an AMOLED display and a vastly more powerful Snapdragon 730G chipset. Realme's overall endurance leaves the G8 Plus behind, and on top of that, the X2 charges up almost twice as fast. Oh, and the Realme X2 takes better pictures and videos than the Moto G8 Plus too. On the other hand, it's not necessarily available everywhere the Moto is, and not everyone's willing to go with a relatively new online brand.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T • Huawei P30 lite • Samsung Galaxy A50 • Realme X2

Verdict

The Moto G8 Plus brings several major improvements over its predecessor. Chief among those is the battery life, which is now among the better ones in class. The newer, beefier, yet more efficient chipset is also appreciated, as is the move to Quad Bayer cams, even if they do appear underutilized. Then there are the stereo speakers, which you can't really find elsewhere for the money, and the flagship-grade audio quality.

Having said that, there are bits about the Moto G8 Plus that make it hard to recommend wholeheartedly. It's the display that has us put off the most, and the ultra-wide video camera doesn't really get us excited either. If you have the option to go for a Redmi Note 8T, which is cheaper, or the Realme X2, which is an overall better phone, you need to be seriously hung up on the G8 Plus' audio prowess to choose Moto.

Pros

• Excellent battery life, particularly where it matters most - screen-on tasks.
• Strong audio showing - both out of the stereo speakers and through the 3.5mm jack.
• Vanilla Android with some functional Moto enhancements on top.
• Unique ultra wide-angle camera concept, potentially useful to the right audience.

Cons

• While it does get reasonably bright, the display has several flaws (bluish whites in all modes, black illumination when looking it at an angle, and uneven backlighting along the edges).
• No video stabilization in 4K or 1080p/60fps.
• The ultra wide-angle camera can't be used for taking photos.