Moto G (2013) review: The phone that redefined what a budget Android could be.
The budget phone that changed the rules.
The first Moto G proved a cheap Android phone didn't have to be terrible — near-stock software, timely updates and a clean HD screen at $179. It was a watershed that forced the entire industry to take the budget tier seriously.
01Display
60/10060/100 — right at the average for budget phones of 2013.
02Camera
46/10046/100 is one of the weaker camera results among budget phones of 2013 — 8 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
03Performance
50/10050/100 — right at the average for budget phones of 2013.
04Battery
56/10056/100 is one of the weaker battery results among budget phones of 2013 — 9 points under the average. Check the rows below before buying for this.
05Build
56/10056/100 puts it above the 52-point average for budget phones of 2013.
06Value
80/100At 80/100 this is one of the strongest value showings among budget phones of 2013 — 19 points above the cohort average.
- Near-stock Android with timely updates.
- HD screen at a sub-$200 price.
- Swappable back covers.
- Got to Android 5.1 — rare for budget.
- Only 8 GB, no microSD on base.
- 5 MP camera was weak.
- Mono speaker.
- 3G only at launch.
How this review is built: every section score, spec row and comparison on this page comes from SpecEagle's tracked catalogue — scores weight measured specs against the 29-phone cohort of budget devices released around the same time. We don't publish invented lab anecdotes. Spot an error? .