Smartphone Reviews

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The good: The Motorola Moto G is extremely affordable, unlocked, and runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. The phone is compact and has premium build quality that belies its low price. The Moto G’s speakers pack lots of volum
The bad: The processor is slow, and the phone comes with a maximum of 16GB of storage and no LTE. The phone’s screen is dim and lacks contrast and vivid colors. The Moto G’s camera takes blurry photos without much detail.
The bottom line: You can't beat the price of the Moto G, but the more expensive and more powerful Nexus 5 remains your shrewdest unlocked Android option.

If your priority is to get your hands on the cheapest Android phone deal around, the new Motorola Moto G can’t be beat. Starting at just $179, the unlocked and unsubsidized Moto G flaunts a big 4.5-inch screen plus all the power of Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. That's a lot of smartphone with no strings attached. Even so, Motorola made some big compromises to help the Moto G reach its extremely low price, specifically a slow processor, an unimpressive camera, no 4G LTE, and a screen that won’t wow anybody.
To me, many of these flaws are deal-breakers on their own, let alone when piled into one device. Sure, the Moto G’s low impact on your bank account sounds tempting, and if $200 is all you can spare it'll serve you well. But if you’re willing to spend extra cash, the Nexus 5, or even Motorola’s own Moto X, are more capable and faster.

Editors' Note: I tested two versions of the Moto G for this review. The first was a Global GSM model connected to T-Mobile's cellular network. The second was a US GSM model linked to AT&T's cellular network. Motorola also plans to sell a CDMA model of the Moto G optimized for US wireless networks, which will likely be sold by Verizon.

Design
For a phone with such a low unlocked price, I admit I expected the Moto G to feel cheaper than it does. My prejudices were quickly assuaged the moment I picked up the device. The Moto G feels almost as good in the hand as its more expensive sibling, the Moto X. That’s because the newer handset has many of the handsome design elements I love in Motorola’s current flagship model.

The Moto G has a large 4.5-inch 720p resolution LCD screen.

These include a compact chassis that’s easy to manipulate one-handed, along with a curved back intelligently designed to fit comfortably in your palm. Measuring 5.1 inches tall by 2.6 inches wide by 0.46 of an inch at its thickest point, the Moto G shares an almost identical footprint to theMoto X (which only differs in thickness, at 0.41 inch). Believe me, it’s a good thing, since both gadgets are svelte enough to slip into tight pockets and tote around with ease.

And while the Moto G isn’t sculpted out of luxurious materials such as aluminum or polished steel, its plastic body is reassuringly solid and radiates quality craftsmanship. Even so, I definitely prefer the soft-touch back surface of Moto X to the G’s matte finish as it does a better job of repelling fingerprints and grease. That’s why I strongly suggest buying one of the Moto G’s shell backings for an extra $14.99, which feature a soft-touch texture and come in a choice of six snazzy colors.

The back side of the Moto G has a matte finish that smudges easily.

There are other small physical differences between the phones, such as the Moto G’s slightly heftier weight (5 ounces), and thicker profile. Besides that, thanks to an identical button layout, the Moto G could easily be mistaken for the Moto X. A tiny power key and trim volume bar sit on the right side, while a 3.5mm headphone jack occupies the top edge.

Around back is the G’s main 5-megapixel camera and LED flash. The phone even has a little circular dimple (matching the Moto X) placed just below the camera lens -- right where your index naturally falls. Here, too, is the Moto G's speaker, which I can confirm gets pretty darn loud without distorting.

The back is curved for a comfortable grip, and has a dimple great for resting index fingers.

Unlike the Moto X’s sealed chassis, the Moto G has a removable back plate. Don’t get your hopes up though, because underneath the phone’s back cover isn’t an SD Card slot, but merely an embedded 2,070mAh battery (2,200mAh on the X), and spring-loaded micro-SIM receptacle.

You can remove the back panel, but the battery is embedded and there's no SD Card expansion slot.

Screen
To meet the Moto G’s rock bottom price Motorola had to make some sacrifices and a major one was the handset’s display. At 4.5 inches across, the G’s screen is certainly big, especially considering the phone’s small footprint. Its 720p resolution (1,280x720 pixels) is also acceptably crisp. Sadly, however, the Moto’s G’s display is neither bright, nor has a high contrast.

In fact, when viewed side-by-side against the Moto X (with both devices set at maximum brightness), the G’s LCD panel literally pales in comparison. Not only is the Moto X significantly brighter, its OLED screen technology produces very wide viewing angles with deep blacks and vibrant (if oversaturated) colors.

The Moto G's screen is big but not very bright.

Core components
Motorola dialed back the Moto G’s processing power as well. Under the phone’s hood is a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor paired with Adreno 305 graphics and 1GB of RAM. It’s less muscular than Motorola’s X8 processing platform tucked inside the Moto X, which consists of a 1.7GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro (dual-core Krait) backed up by 2GB of RAM and quad-core Adreno 320 graphics.

The Moto G’s standard 8GB allotment of internal storage (16GB on premium versions) is less impressive compared with the Moto X’s base 16GB and 32GB options. The handset’s CPU is a far cry from true powerhouse devices such as the Nexus 5 and Galaxy Note 3, both powered by 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 chips, Qualcomm’s finest slice of mobile silicon to date.

Software and interface
With Motorola now owned and operated by Google, I’m not surprised the Moto G’s real draw is its modern Android software. Similar to the Moto X, the G comes running mostly stock Android 4.3 Jelly Bean right out of the box. Even better, Motorola has officially said the Moto G will soon enjoy an update to Google’s most recent flavor of Android, version 4.4 KitKat (though exact timing remains unclear).

The Moto G mostly runs a stock version of Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.

Along with Jelly Bean comes the Moto G’s native support of Google’s vast stable of popular services, including Gmail, Google Plus, the Chrome browser, and the Play digital media storefronts (music, movies, TV shows, and books). Of course, as with any Android smartphone, the Moto G also offers access to over 700,000 third-party apps (and growing) for instant download.

Another solution built into Android Jelly Bean, is Google Now advanced search. Google Now does its best to serve up timely information, such as weather forecasts, sports scores, and even how long your commute to and from the office will likely take. Other ambitious skills in the Google Now arsenal include status of flights in real-time, meeting appointments and other reminders, tracking package shipments, and keeping tabs on restaurant reservations.

Google Now serves up personal alerts.

(Credit: Brian Bennett)

Relevant notifications appear in the Android notification shade, and within an optional home screen widget, but you can also launch Google Now quickly by swiping your finger up from the bottom of the screen. In my experience using Google Now on the Moto G plus numerous Android phones, I’ve only consistently gotten alerts for weather, my daily commute, and appointments.

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With Carphone Warehouse promising that the Galaxy S3 Mini "brings the high performance and ease-of-use of theGalaxy S3 to a compact smartphone" and Phones 4U declaring it a "perfect new addition to the family," users looking for a more compact or more affordable version of the Galaxy S3 may think that the Mini is the perfect solution! However, this isn't really a case of like father like son, as the Galaxy S3 Mini doesn't actually have all that much in common with the full-sized Galaxy S3. Seeing as this Mini mobile is widely advertised as a pint-sized Galaxy S3, we'll be regularly comparing the two handsets throughout this review.

Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini review - from the back

Given the look of this handset, its product reference and all the marketing information that surrounds it, it's hard not to see this phone as a more compact version of the Galaxy S3. While this handset is smaller than the full-sized Galaxy S3 (although it is thicker) its overall design is very similar. However, its tech specs have been scaled down considerably. The evocative name may therefore prove a little misleading in this instance.

Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini review - from the side

So let's take a look at a few of those key tech specs. The Galaxy S3 Mini has a 4" AMOLED screen (800 x 480 pixels), a 1 GHz dual-core ST-Ericsson NovaThor U8420 processor, 1 GB of RAM, a 5-Megapixel camera and an 8 GB internal memory (but only half of that is actually available to users as storage space).

So for around £300 SIM-free, what exactly do you get with the GS3 Mini? Can it out-perform the Galaxy S2, an older handset that now sells for around the same price, but which comes with a better processor and camera? How does the Mini compare with entry-level smartphones? Answers below.

Design & Handling

While this phone is thicker than a full-sized Galaxy S3, the Mini is, as its name suggests, a smaller, lighter handset. And it's rather nice to hold and handle. Plus, the smaller format obviously makes it easier to use in one hand. Like the bigger version—and like many Samsung handsets—this mobile's casing is made entirely from plastic, which you may or may not like. But in spite of the fact that it's made from materials that feel a little cheap, the general product finish is perfectly fine.

Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini review - touchscreen

Unlike the original GS3, there's no LED notification light in the Mini mobile, which is a bit of a shame, as this can be handy when you need to be discreetly alerted to new text messages and e-mails.

Screen

The GS3 Mini has a 4" screen, compared with 4.8" in the Galaxy S3 and 4.2" in the Galaxy S2. Samsung has been a bit stingy with screen resolution for a device at this price point, as the AMOLED screen has 800 x 400 pixels. That's the same resolution as the GS2—which came out a good while ago—and is similar to the pixel count in the cheaper, entry-level Galaxy Ace 2.

Pixels are visible to the naked eye—and anyone who's used to higher-res screens will have no trouble picking them out. This clearly clashes with the GS3 Mini's reputation as a compact equivalent of the GS3, which boasts a high-definition screen with 1280 x 720 pixels.

Otherwise, the screen has a good "infinite" contrast level (5000:1), as often seen in AMOLED screens, but the 284 cd/m² brightness is a little on the low side compared with current market standards. On this front, the Google Nexus 4and Sony Xperia S do a much better job (400 cd/m²). In general, the higher the screen brightness, the more the onscreen image will stay readable in strong sunlight.

In terms of colour fidelity, the GS3 Mini is no show-stopper, with an average Delta E of 6.7. Delta E measures colour fidelity—the closer it is to zero, the more accurate the onscreen colours. The best smartphones these days have a Delta E of five or less (iPhone 5: Delta E = 3.4 / HTC 8X: Delta E = 3.2).

One good thing, however, is that the viewing angles are wide enough to ensure you can always see what's going on onscreen, even when looking at the display from an angle.

The Galaxy S3 Mini runs on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) embellished with Samsung's practical and nicely designed TouchWizinterface. For more information on how the interface handles and what intuitive new features are on offer, head over to our review of the full-sized Galaxy S3.

With its 1 GHz dual-core ST-Ericsson NovaThor U8420 processor and 1 GB of RAM, the GS3 Mini isn't as power-packed as the big GS3 with its 1.4 GHz quad-core Samsung Exynos processor. Raw benchmark test data show this handset clearly lagging behind plenty of its rivals at similar levels in the market (entry-level/mid-range), scoring a feeble 2.1/5. In comparison, the original Galaxy S3 scores 4/5 in the same tests, with graphics processing performances in particular that are miles ahead. Even the 1.2 GHz dual-core Exynos processor in the GS2 does a better job, and that phone came out over a year and a half ago!

However, in practice, it's generally quite a responsive phone to use, staying smooth when surfing the web and navigating around the internal menus. Applications are a bit slower to load than in the Nexus 4 or the HTC One S, although not enough to be truly problematic. The handset's limits are felt the most in games that use loads of graphics processing power. Still, for a spot of casual gaming with the likes of Angry Birds, the Galaxy S3 Mini does the job just fine.

Multimedia

Far from the current market standard of 8 Megapixels, the GS3 Mini has a 5-Megapixel camera. Again, this seems like a strange choice for a phone that's supposed to be on par with the full-sized GS3. Even the GS2—which came out in 2011—has an 8-Megapixel camera, as do some entry-level handsets! Thankfully, the number of pixels alone doesn't necessarily determine image quality—but still—Samsung hasn't exactly kept things consistent among Galaxy S handsets.

The camera in the Galaxy S3 Mini actually isn't bad, giving decent results that are consistent in quality over the frame (some smartphone cameras take photos that are sharp in the middle and blurred around the edges, including the Galaxy S3). There's a decent level of detail and noise is handled well enough for this kind of device. The GS3 Mini camera isn't far from the GS2 camera in quality, and it generally does a better job than the HTC One S and the Google Nexus 4.

We did notice that the Galaxy S3 Mini camera is a bit slow to focus, though. Is often struggles to focus and can take a while to lock on. The autofocus is nowhere near as fast or as precise as in the Galaxy S3. Plus, the Mini doesn't inherit the full range of camera functions seen in the GS3 (like the HDR mode), which seems quite inexplicable.

Compare the GS3 Mini with other cameraphones

Video quality is fine for a smartphone, although here you're limited to 720p while the Galaxy S2 manages 1080p. That's a bit of downer for the GS3 Mini, especially seeing as it's a more recent handset and that it's almost on par with the GS2 price-wise!

The Galaxy S3 Mini does a relatively good job of audio. The headphones socket delivers an accurate output with a good dynamic range and a good volume level with no interference. The speaker should only really be used from time to time as its audio performances are quite limited. Plus, even at the maximum volume setting, it'll soon be drowned out by noise in the surrounding environment.

Battery Life

The Galaxy S3 Mini has a 1500 mAh battery. From both benchmark test results (Battery BenchMark: a mobile stress-test which usually falls in line with our impressions from actual use) and real-life experience, we found that the GS3 Mini runs for around 12 hours non-stop before needing to recharge, which earns it a very good score of four out of five in this part of the review.

In comparison, the Google Nexus 4 holds out for 10 hours, the Motorola Razr i for 13 hours, the Galaxy Note 2 for 15 hours and the HTC One S for 11 hours.