Motorola Moto G Pure

As the cheapest phone in Motorola’s 2021 line-up, the “pure” in Motorola G Pure has nothing to do with performance, so what makes it pure? Reviewers have weighed in!

Design

Very little about this phone’s design stands out. Apart from the wavy textured backplate, it’s your typical rectangular slab of plastic.

In terms of ergonomics, reviewers weren’t exactly thrilled that the fingerprint scanner wasn’t either lower on the back of the phone or moved to the power button like many phones now have and found it hard to reach.

Display

When tilting the phone even slightly, the 6.5-inch LCD panel shows a noticeable drop in brightness and the colors distort, giving away the phone’s budget roots. When viewed head-on, the display lacks sharpness but is otherwise good. But reviewers felt it was unnecessary in this stage of smartphones always to have to be looking at it head-on.

Performance

Don’t expect a lot from the Mediatek Helio 25. Reviewers experienced plenty of stuttering and apps crashing. The chip doesn’t appear up to the task of bouncing between apps, playing games, or doing anything remotely resource intensive.

Software & Storage

The Android 11 on the Motorola Moto G Pure is essentially stock except for the addition of the ever-popular Moto Gestures overlay.

Reviewers were annoyed that the phone only comes with 32GB of storage out of the box. Yes, it has a MicroSD expansion slot, but that’s small for storage these days — even in the budget tier.

Cameras

The 13MP primary lens isn’t terrible, but reviewers fell short of calling it good. Picture backgrounds often lack detail and, if you view the photos at full size, details like strands of hair or subtle differences in skin textures are lost in portrait mode. Reviewers also found the night mode useless.

Battery Life

Battery life is the most significant upside to the Motorola Moto G Pure. At full brightness, reviewers were able to squeeze out about 12 hours of use. There’s no fast charging, though, so prepare to wait a while once the battery is low.

Audio

The speaker on the phone was only okay) which can be said for nearly every phone out there right now.) It has a headphone jack, though, making it easy to upgrade your listening experience.

Specs at a Glance

• Plastic chassis
• 6.5-inch LCD panel
• MediaTek MT6762G Helio G25 processor
• 3GB of RAM
• Android 11
• 32GB of storage with MicroSD expansion slot
• 13MP camera
• 4,000mAh battery

Bottom Line

We try hard to find silver linings in phones or pick a group that might find value in even the most niche phone. But simply stated, there are a ton of other budget phones that offer more than the Motorola Moto G Pure at a similar price. Unless you’re looking for a nearly-disposable starter phone for kids or maybe a basic option for an older adult that doesn’t like a lot of frills attached, we’d recommend passing.

Tom’s Guide states, “You’ll save a lot of money with the Moto G Pure, but you’ll get plenty of frustration in return. Other phones like the Moto G Power only cost a little more and don’t have as many limitations — opt for that model instead.”

Tech Radar says, “The Moto G Pure is a phone very few should consider getting. It may be cheap, but it comes with such a performance penalty that it’s hard to use, and that’s a tough spot to be in when just a little more money can make for a major improvement in capabilities.”