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Moto G9 launched in India: A worthy follow-up to Moto G8? (Update)
Update, August 25, 2020 (1:24 AM ET): Motorola is bringing the G9 to Europe, albeit with a new suffix and a minor design tweak, the company announced in a release. Dubbed the Moto G9 Play, the phone features the same display, chipset, battery, and camera setup as its G9 sibling, but it does gain a Google Assistant button to call up the virtual assistant on demand.
The Moto G9 Play is available in Germany for €169 (~$199) in blue and green colorways.
Original article, August 24, 2020 (3:28 AM ET): Motorola teased a launch in India this week and it’s indeed revealed the Moto G9, marking the latest entry in its popular budget-focused range. So how does the new phone stand out compared to the Moto G8?
Those expecting a more powerful phone might be disappointed, as the Moto G9 features a lower mid-range Snapdragon 662 chipset with the same CPU and GPU as the G8’s Snapdragon 665. We might not see a power upgrade here then, but the Moto G9 should offer significantly longer endurance in theory owing to the 5,000mAh battery (with 20W charging).
Switching to the camera side of things, the new Motorola device sports a triple rear camera setup. You’ve got a 48MP f/1.7 main camera, a 2MP depth sensor, and a 2MP macro shooter. Oddly enough, there’s no ultra-wide angle camera here as we’ve seen with its predecessor and other budget phones in India. Meanwhile, an 8MP camera in a waterdrop notch handles selfies.
Other noteworthy features include a 6.5-inch HD+ LCD screen, water-repellent design, rear fingerprint scanner, NFC, and a 3.5mm port.
The Moto G9 is available in a 4GB/64GB variant for Rs 11,499 (~$154). The phone goes on sale via Flipkart from midday IST on August 31. There’s no word on a wider release just yet, but we’ll update the article as soon as we hear anything.