Motorola Moto G5S Plus Review

• Overview
• Design and Build Quality
• Display
• Performance
• Software and User Interface
• Camera
• Battery Life
• Connectivity and Networking
• Additional Features
• Comparison with Other Related Phones
• Pros and Cons
• Conclusion

Overview

The Motorola Moto G5S Plus is a budget-friendly smartphone that offers impressive features at an affordable price. With its all-metal unibody design, it exudes a sense of premium craftsmanship. The 5.5-inch Full HD display provides vibrant visuals, perfect for enjoying multimedia content. Powered by an octa-core processor and 3GB of RAM, it delivers smooth performance for everyday tasks. The dual camera setup captures decent photos, though low-light performance could be improved. The 3,000mAh battery ensures a full day of usage, while the fast charging feature keeps you connected on the go. Priced at $279, it's an attractive option for those seeking a reliable and affordable smartphone.

Design and Build Quality

The design and build of the Motorola Moto G5S Plus is impressive, offering a sleek and premium look and feel. The phone features an all-metal unibody design, which not only enhances its aesthetics but also adds to its durability and robustness. The construction is well-executed, with clean lines and a polished aluminum finish. The phone feels solid and sturdy in hand, giving a sense of confidence in its build quality. The form factor strikes a good balance, with a 5.5-inch display that provides ample screen real estate without compromising one-handed usability. The weight and dimensions are well-distributed, making it comfortable to hold and carry. The texture on the back panel adds to the grip, ensuring that the phone doesn't slip out of hand easily. The placement of buttons and controls is intuitive, allowing for easy access and smooth operation. The bezels are reasonably sized, not overly thick or distracting. Overall, the design and build of the Moto G5S Plus exemplify attention to detail and a focus on delivering a premium smartphone experience at an affordable price.

Display

The Motorola Moto G5S Plus features a 5.5-inch display with a Full HD resolution, providing a sharp and detailed viewing experience. The LCD technology ensures accurate color reproduction and vibrant visuals, making videos and images look great on the screen. The display offers good brightness levels, making it easy to read and view content even in bright outdoor conditions. The touch responsiveness is smooth and accurate, allowing for seamless navigation and interaction with the device. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, which helps prevent scratches and minor drops from damaging the screen. The pixel density is sufficient, resulting in crisp text and images. The viewing angles are wide, ensuring that the content remains visible and clear even when viewed from different angles. While the Moto G5S Plus does not feature HDR or wide color gamut support, the display still delivers a satisfying visual experience. The phone does not have a notch design and has slightly noticeable bezels, but the screen-to-body ratio is still decent. Overall, the display on the Motorola Moto G5S Plus offers a good balance of size, resolution, color accuracy, and brightness, making it suitable for multimedia consumption and everyday use.

Performance

The Motorola Moto G5S Plus offers a solid performance thanks to its efficient chipset and optimized software. Powered by a Snapdragon 625 processor, the phone delivers reliable CPU performance and smooth multitasking capabilities. It handles day-to-day tasks with ease, loading apps quickly and providing a lag-free user experience. The GPU benchmarks of the Moto G5S Plus indicate that it can handle casual gaming with ease, providing decent graphics scores. While it may not be the best choice for high-end gaming, it offers a satisfactory gaming experience for most users. The thermal management of the device is well-handled, ensuring that it stays cool even during extended gaming sessions. Although specific benchmark scores were not provided, the Moto G5S Plus has been praised for its overall performance and processor efficiency. The system optimization and software enhancements contribute to its smooth performance and help maximize the efficiency of the hardware. In terms of synthetic benchmarks, the Moto G5S Plus performs well, delivering competitive scores compared to other devices in its price range. Overall, the Moto G5S Plus offers a reliable and smooth performance for everyday use, making it a suitable choice for those seeking a budget-friendly smartphone with decent gaming capabilities.

Software and User Interface

The software on the Motorola Moto G5S Plus is a near-stock version of Android. It comes with Android 7.1 out of the box, with an update to Android Oreo promised in the near future. This means that the phone offers a clean and user-friendly interface, without the heavy customization or bloatware found on some other Android devices. The near-stock Android experience is popular among users who prefer a more pure and streamlined software experience. It also allows for faster and more frequent software updates, which is always a plus. The pre-installed apps on the Moto G5S Plus are minimal, with only a few essential Google apps and some Moto-specific features. This lack of bloatware is appreciated by users who prefer a clutter-free device. Overall, the software on the Moto G5S Plus provides a smooth and intuitive user experience, making it easy to navigate and use.

Camera

The Motorola Moto G5S Plus is equipped with a dual camera setup that aims to deliver impressive photography capabilities. The primary camera features a 13-megapixel sensor with an f/2.0 aperture, while the secondary camera boasts a depth sensor for creating bokeh effects. The camera system allows for capturing detailed and sharp images with good dynamic range in daylight photography. The natural colors produced by the Moto G5S Plus camera add to the overall image quality. Indoor and outdoor photography are also well-handled, with the camera performing admirably in various lighting conditions.

In low-light situations, the Moto G5S Plus camera struggles a bit, as noise can be noticeable in darker areas. However, the camera does offer a night mode, which helps to improve low-light sensitivity and reduce noise. The phone's image stabilization feature helps to counteract hand shake and produce steadier shots. The camera app provides various shooting modes including portrait mode, HDR, panorama, pro mode, and AI scene recognition.

On the video front, the Moto G5S Plus supports 4K video recording, allowing users to capture high-resolution footage. Video stabilization helps to reduce shakiness, resulting in smoother videos. Slow-motion video and time-lapse features are also available, providing creative options for capturing moments in a unique way. The phone supports multiple video formats, allowing for easy sharing and compatibility with different devices. Overall, the camera of the Motorola Moto G5S Plus offers a decent photography and videography experience, especially considering its affordable price point.

Battery Life

The Motorola Moto G5S Plus comes with a 3,000mAh battery, which provides solid battery life for everyday usage. The battery capacity is sufficient to last a full day on a single charge, with moderate usage. The phone also supports fast charging technology, allowing for quick top-ups when needed. The battery optimization features help in maximizing the battery life by intelligently managing power consumption. The screen-on time and standby time are decent, ensuring that the phone can be used throughout the day without constantly worrying about running out of battery. The battery performance is reliable, and the device efficiently manages battery drain. Although the Moto G5S Plus does not support wireless charging, the fast charging capabilities make up for it. Overall, the battery of the Moto G5S Plus offers a satisfactory experience with its capacity and power efficiency.

Connectivity and Networking

The Motorola Moto G5S Plus offers a range of connectivity options to keep you connected on the go. It supports 4G LTE network compatibility, providing fast data speeds for browsing, streaming, and downloading. The phone also has dual SIM capability, allowing you to use two different phone numbers on the same device. This is great for those who want to separate personal and work contacts or for frequent travelers who need to use local SIM cards in different countries.

In terms of wireless connectivity, the Moto G5S Plus supports Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n standards, ensuring compatibility with a wide range of Wi-Fi networks. It also has Bluetooth 4.2, which allows you to connect to other Bluetooth-enabled devices such as headphones, speakers, and smartwatches. NFC (Near Field Communication) is also included, enabling quick and easy pairing with compatible devices or making contactless payments.

For charging and data transfer, the Moto G5S Plus features a USB-C port, which is a convenient and reversible connector. It also supports GPS for accurate navigation and location services. Additionally, the phone can act as a mobile hotspot, allowing you to share your cellular data connection with other devices.

Overall, the Motorola Moto G5S Plus offers a wide range of connectivity options, including 4G LTE, dual SIM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, USB-C, GPS, and mobile hotspot functionality. These features ensure that you can stay connected and make the most of your smartphone experience.

Additional Features

Comparison with Other Related Phones

When comparing the Motorola Moto G5S Plus with related gadgets in the market, it becomes clear that it offers a competitive option for budget-conscious buyers. One of its main competitors is the Honor 6X, which also falls into the mid-range category. Both phones have similar specs but differ in terms of software and hardware design. The Moto G5S Plus, with its all-aluminum frame, gives it a more premium feel compared to the Honor 6X.

For those looking for a higher-end experience, alternatives like the OnePlus 5 and Honor 9 are recommended. However, these options come at a higher price point. The Moto G5S Plus, with a price of £259, strikes a good balance between affordability and performance.

In terms of design and build quality, the Moto G5S Plus stands out with its metal unibody design and water resistance. It feels solid and durable, although the camera housing does protrude slightly from the back. The phone's display is vibrant and accurate, making it enjoyable for multimedia consumption.

In terms of software, the Moto G5S Plus offers near-stock Android, which means minimal bloatware and a clean user interface. However, it is worth noting that the software is slightly outdated compared to the latest Android version.

Performance-wise, the Moto G5S Plus performs well for everyday tasks, thanks to its octa-core processor and 3GB of RAM. However, it may struggle with more demanding tasks and heavy multitasking.

The camera on the Moto G5S Plus provides decent image quality, particularly in well-lit conditions. However, the depth effect feature can be inconsistent at times.

Overall, the Moto G5S Plus offers good value for its price, competing well in the mid-range market. While there are higher-end options available at a slightly higher price, the Moto G5S Plus stands out with its solid build, attractive design, and reliable performance.

Pros and Cons

Conclusion

Conclusion: The Motorola Moto G5S Plus is a solid budget smartphone that offers a great combination of features and performance for its price. With its all-metal design, vibrant display, and near-stock Android experience, it feels more premium than its competitors. While the camera may not be the best in low-light conditions, it still delivers decent results in well-lit situations. The battery life is impressive, lasting a day and a half on a single charge. Overall, the Moto G5S Plus provides excellent value for money, making it a compelling choice for budget-conscious buyers seeking a reliable and capable smartphone.