Motorola has dropped the deets on a trio of new budget-friendly smartphones in a bid to shake up the mobile market.
Available in Australia this week, the Moto G34, Moto G24 and Moto G04 vary in specs and features but all come in at under $300. That tendency towards thriftiness is nothing new for the Moto G line.
"Even if it isn't likely to topple the mavericks of the mid-range market when it comes to value for money, the Moto G53 defies the death by a thousand cuts that afflict most smartphones this cheap," we said in our review of the last year's Moto G53.
Motorola's head exec for the Greater Asia Pacific Kurt Bonnici said that this year's devices would continue the line's legacy of responding to changing consumer needs.
The first cab off the rank here is the Moto G34. Available in two colours (Ocean Green and Charcoal Black), this budget-friendly handset comes with a 6.5-inch LCD with HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The front-facing side of the handset is armed with a 16MP camera while the back boasts a 50Mp main sensor (f/1.8) and a 2MP macro lens.
On the inside, the Moto G34 is powered by a Snapdragon 695 Processor, 5000mAh battery, 128GB of storage and 4GB of RAM. Other features include Dolby Atmos speakers, 18W fast charging, a headphone jack and a built-in fingerprint sensor.
The Moto G34 will be available outright through the Motorola Australia website from 24 April 2024 at an RRP of $279 in Australia. The device will also be coming to select carriers at a cheaper $229 price-point later down the line.
The Moto G24 ticks a lot of the same boxes but cuts a few corners. Like the Moto G34, this handset has a 6.6-inch LCD screen with HD+ resolution, 4GB of RAM, a 5000mAh battery, 128GB of on-board storage and a rear camera setup that combines a 50MP main lens with a 2MP macro lens camera.
As for the differences, the list here includes a cheaper MediaTek Helio G85 processor, slower 15W fast charging and the drop down from a 120Hz refresh rate to a 90Hz one. Those are earth-shatteringly huge downgrades on their own, but together they do add up and explain the difference in price between the Moto G34 and Moto G24.
In Australia, the Moto G24 starts at $229. The device will be available in three colours (Charcoal, Ice Green and Pink Lavender) through JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, Officeworks, Big W, The Good Guys, Bing Lee, Australia Post, Amazon, Mobileciti and the Motorola Australia website from this week.
Last but not least, there's the ultra-cheap Moto G04. Priced at $179, the device is comparable to the G24 when it comes to the 6.6-inch HD+ display, 5000mAh battery, 4GB of RAM, a fingerprint sensor and Dolby Atmos speakers.
Past that, the downgrades are easy to spot. For starters, you're looking at a Unisoc T606 processor rather than the MediaTek and Snapdragon silicon mentioned above. At 64GB, you're also getting half the onboard storage found in the devices mentioned above.
The contrast in camera hardware is similarly stark. The Moto G04 is armed with a single 16MP camera on the back and a 5MP selfie shooter on the front.
Of course, the other big difference between this, the G24 and G34 is the amount of software support that Motorola is committed to. The manufacturer has said it'll support the Moto G34 with one major OS update and three years of security updates.
Those who opt for the Moto G24 instead won't get that OS update, but they will be covered when it comes to security for just as long. Finally, the Moto G04 comes with just two years of bi-monthly security updates.
In Australia, the Moto G04 will be available from this week in three colours (Concord Black, Satin Blue and Sunrise Orange) through JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, Officeworks, Big W, The Good Guys, Bing Lee, Australia Post, Retravision, and Amazon, Mobileciti and the Motorola website.
Motorola added that the device will also be available through Telstra at a later date for a cheaper price of $149.
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