Motorola launched its G13 smartphone earlier this year in India and now the brand has introduced another phone in this series in the form of G14. Looking at the name, you might think that the Moto G14 would offer improvements over the G13, as these two phones offer completely different specifications. In fact, the Moto G13 and G14 are currently priced at Rs 9,999 in India. While the first phone comes with an HD + 90Hz screen, the new phone comes with an FHD + panel with a display refresh rate of 60Hz. Not only that, these phones are powered by MediaTek Helio G85 and UNISOC Tiger T616 chipsets, respectively. While the UNISOC chipset provides better CPU performance, the MediaTek chipset provides an advantage in GPU performance, especially when it comes to gaming. As you can imagine, the phones target completely different audiences. Having spent more than a week with the Moto G14, I’ll share here if buying this phone makes more sense for you than the Moto G13 or if you should opt for a completely different phone. Without further ado, let’s get started with the review.
to lead
Moto G14 is an ideal phone for light work. The phone offers decent camera quality, clean software, and positive battery backup. nonetheless, the phone suffers when it comes to demanding tasks. And as a budget phone that is just shy of the Rs 10,000 mark, the phone presents itself as a positive multimedia companion with a long battery backup.
Design and presentation
The Moto G14 comes with a design reminiscent of Motorola’s other G-series phones, namely the G32 and G13. While looking for a tried and tested design that is not a poor choice for any brand, given the similar price range, Motorola could have opted for a different design to make this phone stand out from the crowd. nonetheless, the glossy back of the phone definitely catches the eye right away. If we talk about ergonomics, the phone is easy to hold and use, even with one hand. On the front, you get a perforated display design, which is seamless in nature and allows you to view the content displayed with ease.
Coming to the display panel itself is a 6.5-inch FHD + (2,400 x 1,080 pixels) IPS LCD with a standard refresh rate of 60Hz. With a great display resolution for its price range and a pixel density of 405ppi, the phone manages to produce crisp images and can be a positive choice if you consume a lot of multimedia content. While the brightness of the screen is quite adequate even for outdoor viewing, since this is not an AMOLED panel, you would be wise not to keep your expectations high when it comes to clarity.
Particularly in this price range, I could say that the Moto G14 has one of the best displays one can find but the lack of a high frame rate can be noticeable, especially if you are a gamer. In other use cases, the phone works just fine.
Surprisingly, the Moto G14 comes with stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support, which is not uncommon in this price range. This allows the phone to offer high quality sound, and together with the FHD + display, this feature makes the phone a great choice for consuming multimedia content.
camera
The Moto G14 comes with a dual camera setup, which includes a 50MP primary camera with f/1.8 aperture and a 2MP macro sensor with PDAF support and f/2.4 aperture. Now that we are done with the specifications, let’s talk about performance. The main sensor on the Moto G14 can take photos with positive details, especially with the macro sensor, with acceptable color accuracy but like most budget phones, the phone cannot produce these results in the absence of sufficient light.
Light shots clicked and the phone showed noise that lacked detail as well. A dedicated night mode manages to take photos a bit better, but if you want a phone that can click social media-worthy shots at your night parties, this phone might not be the ideal contender. Check out the sample cameras below and be the judge for yourself.
If you like to record a lot of videos, then you should keep in mind that the phone is able to record videos up to 1080p resolution at 30 frames per second. Just like in the case of still photos, videos recorded with sufficient lighting turned out positive, but videos in low light situations were grainy. If you want to record videos at night with this phone, you will have to make sure that there is an external light source that provides enough light before you hit the record button.
software and performance
The Moto G14 runs Android 13 out of the box and like other phones from the brand, you get a locked version of Android with some added features. With its My UX interface, which has been on the brand’s phones for some time now, the phone gives you access to useful gestures like the three-finger screen, quick capture, Quick Flash, and more. If you’ve used a Motorola phone before, you’ll feel right at home. Since the phone comes with a fairly clean interface that is easy to navigate, this is one of the strengths of the phone. nonetheless, I should note that the phone comes with some pre-installed apps and a “Glanc” lock screen (which shows ads but can be turned off), so if you’re expecting a completely stock Android action, you might want to hold off. this aspect of yourself. If you are not bothered by these things, which honestly I was not, you will find the user interface to be clean and easy to use.
Coming to performance, the phone packs a UNISOC Tiger T616 chipset, which is suitable for light work, but not so much for some of the most demanding applications and games. During my usage, while I didn’t action any app crashes, there was some slowdown and lag while switching between apps on certain occasions. If you are planning to buy this phone for basic tasks like browsing, watching videos, and messaging, you will be more than delighted to use this phone, but not for anything more demanding on processing power.
In the AnTuTu benchmark, the phone managed to score 283,998, which is a positive score for this price range.
Coming to the Geekbench benchmark, the G14 scored 449 in the single-core test and 1518 in the multi-core test. As you can see, the phone manages to score well in these tests as well. nonetheless, in actual usage, I encountered lag issues and texture loading issues while playing games like Battlegrounds Mobile India.
Battery life and charging speed
The Moto G14 comes with a 5,000mAh battery, and since the phone doesn’t have a high refresh rate and isn’t processor intensive, the phone can deliver an impressive battery life of up to a day and a half with ease. day with moderate use. nonetheless, when it comes to charging speed, the phone takes a long time to work. You can expect to spend up to 2.5-3 hours to fully charge the phone from zero percent with a 20W charger.
In our PCMark battery test, the phone managed to last 15 hours and 30 minutes, which indicates that the phone is very efficient in terms of battery life and ensures that you will not have to carry a charger with you.
The final verdict
Moto G14 seems a bit confusing as the brand already has a phone available at the same price point in the same range, although with slightly different features and a largely similar design. In this price range, Redmi 12 is also worth considering. Back to the Moto G14, does the inclusion of an FHD+ display and UNISOC processor make a big difference? The simple answer would be no. Does it make the phone a better choice for someone who doesn’t play games and spend a lot of time watching multimedia content, then I say yes. The clean user interface is an added bonus.
Editor’s rating: 7/10
Reasons to buy
- Long lasting battery
- FHD+ screen
- The Dolby Atmos speakers are great
- The user interface is clean and easy to use
Reasons not to buy
- The processor could be better
- Slow charging speed
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