Moto G30 review – a decent budget phone with a bloat-free user experience

• The Moto G30 has been launched in India at a price of ₹10,999.
• It runs on almost-stock Android 11, and also offers a range of customisation options.
• Its unique selling point is its bloat-free user experience, but it faces intense competition in its price segment.
• Find out in our Moto G30 review if you should consider Motorola’s latest budget offering for your next smartphone purchase.

The Moto G30 is the latest in line of an expanding portfolio of smartphones from Motorola. Offering an almost-stock Android experience, the unique selling point of these Moto smartphones is that they are free of bloatware and ads.

The Moto G30 is a step-up when compared to other recently launched Motorola phones. It is still a budget phone but it packs in a little more power and features. The hardware is similar to the Realme 7i that is priced similarly and the bloat-free interface might help keep the experience smooth.

We have been testing the Moto G30 for two weeks now and here’s our detailed review.

Moto G30 price and availability

The Moto G30 is priced at ₹10,999. It comes in two colour options – Dark Pearl and Pastel Sky. It will be available for purchase from Flipkart starting March 17.

Design, build quality and display

The Moto G30 sports a chunky design. While it does feel solid to hold, Motorola could have improved the experience by using a subtle curved back design. The device weighs 200 grams.


The colour choice doesn’t sit too well with me. This is extremely subjective, though, so you might want to check out both the colours in person before making a judgement.

Apart from that, the build quality is great. There were no squeaks and the phone didn't flex. It almost feels as if it’s built like a tank.


The Moto G30 sports a 6.5-inch HD+ display with 90Hz refresh rate. The display size and refresh rate are positives, and while the resolution is low, it is acceptable at this price point.

I also struggled a bit when viewing the contents on the phone under direct sunlight.

Overall, Motorola could have done a better job with the design and display.

Software

Software is one of the strengths of the Moto G30. It comes with Android 11 installed out of the box, and despite offering an almost-stock Android experience, Motorola has included several customisation options without breaking the user experience.

The phone comes with the Moto app pre-installed which lets you customise the theme with different colour schemes and icon shapes. You can also enable up to six different gestures to quickly access the camera, turn on the flashlight, unlock the phone and more.

If you are a stock Android fan but still want some customisation options, then the Moto G30 could be on your list.

Performance and battery life

Motorola has opted for a Snapdragon 662 chipset which is paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. There’s no 6GB version, which might be a bummer for those who want to future-proof their phones.

In terms of real-world usage, the Moto G30 was adequately fast and smooth. The Snapdragon 662 chipset is no slouch, but it’s not very powerful either. While the general usage was smooth enough, I did notice some minor stutters while gaming and scrolling.

The phone is powered by a 5,000mAh battery and supports 20W fast charging. It lasted me an entire day easily with moderate gaming, streaming, messaging and calls.

Camera

The Moto G30 comes with a quad-camera setup, with a 64MP primary camera, an 8MP wide angle camera and two 2MP cameras. It has a 13MP selfie camera on the front.


Daylight shots were alright, but the colours were slightly washed out. This has been an issue with some Motorola phones and we hope it gets sorted out via updates.

The phone does struggle a bit in slightly more challenging conditions, especially when indoors and with the macro mode enabled.

The bottomline is that the cameras are decent in good lighting conditions.

Verdict

The Moto G30 is a good option if you are looking for a budget smartphone without ads and bloatware. It offers a smooth and clean user experience while still offering decent performance and long battery life.

Other options worth considering are the Nokia 5.4 (if you want a stock Android experience), the Realme 7i and the recently-launched Redmi Note 10.

SEE ALSO:

Oppo F19 Pro+ 5G hands-on review – sleek and fast, but could have been better

Moto E7 Power review – a breath of fresh air in the entry-level segment

Nokia 5.4 review – this one’s for the stock Android fans on a tight budget