Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus officially announced at MWC 2017

MWC 2017 hasn’t even officially kicked off yet, and we’ve already seen some killer new devices launch at the trade show. The new LG G6, BlackBerry KEYone, HUAWEI P10/P10 Plus and HUAWEI Watch 2 are certainly exciting, but it doesn’t stop there. Lenovo has just taken the wraps off two new budget-friendly smartphones, the Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus.

Wondering what the latest device from Lenovorola bring to the table? Without any further delay, here’s what you need to know about the Moto G5 and Moto G5 Plus!

Moto G5 and G5 Plus design

As expected, the Moto G5 and G5 Plus look basically the same, save for the Moto G5’s slightly smaller chassis. While they may not look as high end as the Moto Z lineup, both devices feature a premium aesthetic that rival other devices in this price range.

Both devices have metal finishes, which is a nice step up from their plasticky-feeling predecessors. You’ll also notice the large circular camera sensors on the back, which resemble the ones on the Moto Z.

Moto G5 and G5 Plus specifications and features

While the design of the two devices may be quite similar, here’s where things start to differ quite a bit. The Moto G5 sports a 5.0-inch LCD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080. Under the hood, it features a 1.4GHz Snapdragon 430 chipset, either 2 or 3GB of RAM (depending on the region), 16 or 32GB of storage (again, depending on the region), and microSD expansion up to 128GB. It also features a 13MP rear camera with an f/2.0 aperture, phase detection autofocus and a 1.1μm pixel size, as well as a 5MP front-facing camera with an f/2.2 aperture and a 1.4μm pixel size.

The Moto G5 Plus is the higher-end of the two, featuring a 5.2-inch LCD display with 1920 x 1080 resolution. It also has a 2.0GHz Snapdragon 625 processor, 2/3/4GB of RAM (depending on the region), 16/32/64GB of on-board storage (depending on the region) and microSD expansion up to 128GB. As expected, the Moto G5 Plus has a slight camera upgrade, with its 12MP rear-facing sensor with “dual autofocus pixels”, an f/1.7 aperture and a 1.4μm pixel size, as well as a 5MP front shooter with an f/2.2 aperture and a 1.4μm pixel size.

Below each of their displays, both the Moto G5 and G5 Plus sport fingerprint sensors, which is a trend that’s slowly catching on in the affordable handset market. You’ll notice that both devices also have on-screen navigation keys, too, just like the Moto Z line of phones. If you aren’t a fan of the on-screen buttons though, Moto has introduced a new One Button Nav feature, which allows you to disable the on-screen buttons in lieu of a gesture-based navigation system on the fingerprint sensor. A simple tap of the sensor will bring you home, a swipe right will bring up the recent apps menu, a swipe left will go back, and a press-and-hold will call Google Assistant (more on that later).

I should get something out of the way here – the Moto G5 isn’t coming to the U.S., but the G5 Plus is. I’m not sure why this is, but it might have something to do with Moto G4 sales in the United States. To that end, it’s also worth noting that the G5 Plus that is coming to the United States lacks NFC, which means no Android Pay.Moto says the reasoning behind this is that mobile payments are much more popular in other regions of the world than in the United States.

Unsurprisingly, both the Moto G5 and G5 Plus run Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, along with the typical vanilla Android-like software overlay Moto usually includes on its phones. Moto has added in a few notable software features this time around, too.

Both devices come preloaded with Google Assistant out of the box, which isn’t all that surprising given the news that just dropped this morning. Google is bringing the Assistant to all devices running Android 6.0 Marshmallow or later. Moto has also beefed up its Moto Display feature, adding new colors, a circular time widget and a shortcut feature that lets you jump right into parts of an app.

Moto G5 and Moto G5 pricing and availability

As is the case for all phones in the Moto G lineup, these two new devices are priced very competitively.

Both devices will be available in early March in Fine Gold and Lunar Gray color options, while the standard G5 will get its own Sapphire Blue variant in some regions. Moto G5 pricing starts at €199 for the model with 2GB of RAM/16GB of storage option. Remember, the cheaper G5 isn’t coming to the United States.

The Moto G5 Plus, on the other hand, will launch for $229 for the 2GB of RAM/32GB of storage option. The G5 Plus will be sold unlocked at Moto’s website, and will be compatible with all four major U.S. carriers.

So, what are your thoughts on these new devices? Be sure to tell us what you think in the comments below.

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