Motorola has unveiled the latest update to its popular Moto G smartphone, offering the usual combination of low price and premium specs, but with added water-resistance and the ability to customise the device using Motorola's Moto Maker service.
When Google first launched the Moto G in November 2013, it was widely praised for its low price, quad-core processor and HD screen, offering a wallet-friendly alternative to some of the premium devices on the market at the time, like Apple's iPhone 5c.
Less than a year later, Motorola updated the device with a bigger screen, better cameras and microSD storage expansion, and raised the price from £135 to £145.
Now the company has unveiled the third-generation Moto G – the first to be launched since Lenovo bought Motorola from Google for $2.9bn (£1.8bn) in 2014. The new Moto G runs Android Lollipop and has a 5-inch HD display, all-day battery life and built-in SD card support.
It also has a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front camera – both significant upgrades from last year's model. The rear camera, for example, is the same camera module and sensor that Motorola put into the £499 Nexus 6 for Google.
"This is a great example of Motorola taking a high-end component and bringing it down to a value-tier customer, because taking pictures is so important to people," said Steve Sinclair, vice president of product marketing for Motorola.
"We have taken a lot of heat on our image quality and the cameras on our smartphones in the last year or two, and we've really doubled down on the effort that we've put into it, so the images you're getting out of these phones are on par or better than the phones that they're competing with."
The Moto G features IPX7-rated protection and Corning Gorilla Glass, protecting it from scrapes and scratches and allowing it to be submerged in up to a metre of water for 30 minutes.
It also boasts a number of enhancements that were previously only available on higher-end products like the Moto X, like "quick capture" that lets you twist the phone twice to launch the camera, and the ability to quickly check notifications without wasting battery power using "Moto display".
The Moto G can also be customised with Motorola's online design studio, known as Moto Maker, which allows customers to select their own covers, design "accents" and memory options. Moto Maker was previously only available for the Moto X.
"Moto G has been a runaway success in the UK," said Marcus Frost, Motorola's senior marketing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
"We've seen good success with Moto X, probably because it's the only device today that's available on Moto Maker. That's why it's so exciting that we're now extending that to Moto G – to a much larger price tier – and so many more consumers can now get their hands on the customisation that's available."
The Moto G is available in 8GB and 16GB storage options, costing £179 and £209 respectively. It can be purchased from operators such as Three, O2 and Vodafone, as well as retailers such as Dixons Carphone, Tesco Mobile, Argos and Amazon.
Moto has also updated its Moto X family with two new models – the Moto X Play for more active users and the Moto X Style for people who prefer a more luxury feel.
The Moto X Play features a 5.5-inch HD display, 21MP camera, up to 48-hour battery and a water-repellent design. It also has a 1.7GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, making it more than adequate for multitasking, streaming and gaming.
It also has support for Motorola's quick-charging technology called "TurboPower", which allows users to get hours of extra power from just a few minutes of charging. Motorola also sells replaceable backs, so users can change the cover without having to go through Moto Maker.
Meanwhile, the 5.7-inch Moto X Style offers the broadest range of customisation options. Users can choose from a variety of colours, as well as premium materials such as Saffiano leather and real wood. It also features stereo sound, a 21MP rear camera, and a 5MP front-facing camera featuring a wide angle lens and selfie flash.
The Moto X Play will be available in the UK for £299 from mid-August. The Moto X Style will be launched at a later date, with pricing yet been announced.
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