Motorola’s G series stretches beyond the Rs. 20,000 price segment in India and the Moto G82 5G is the first phone to offer such a premium. It has a 120Hz pOLED display, stereo speakers, an IP52 rating, and a 50-megapixel main camera. Should you pay a premium for these features or are you better off saving some money and buying a cheaper alternative? Here is my opinion.
Moto G82 5G price in India
The Moto G82 5G is priced at Rs. 21,499 for the 6GB RAM variant, while the 8GB RAM variant is priced at Rs. 22,999. Both of these variants boast 128GB of storage. Motorola offers two color finishes for the Moto G82 5G, Meteorite Gray and White Lily.
Moto G82 5G design
Motorola claims the Moto G82 5G is the thinnest and lightest smartphone in its segment. It seems that the phone was inspired by the design of the Motorola Edge 30 (Review) which also makes a similar claim in its segment. The Moto G82 5G has a flattened plastic frame that matches the current design trend. Motorola curved the edges of the phone so they don’t dig into your palm when you hold it.
The Moto G82 5G sports a 6.6-inch pOLED display that uses the same screen technology as the more expensive Motorola Edge 30. Motorola says the pOLED panel helps make the screen thinner and reduce the size of the bezel. The Moto G82 5G has a punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera.
The Moto G82 5G’s acrylic back panel looks like glass
Using the Moto G82 5G on its own was not bulky, and its 173g weight did not cause fatigue. The phone sports a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and volume buttons, both on the right side. While the power button was easy to reach, the volume buttons required a little stretching of my fingers to reach while using the phone on its own.
All ports are at the bottom of the frame while the top only houses the secondary microphone. The left side of the frame only has the SIM tray. The back panel looks like glass, but it’s actually acrylic, which should be less likely to shatter if accidentally dropped. The camera module sits in the upper left corner and protrudes slightly from the rest of the rear panel. Motorola added its “batwing” logo in the center. Finally, the Moto G82 5G has an IP52 rating which should make it resistant to liquid splashes.
I found that my Meteorite Gray unit picked up fingerprints quite easily, requiring me to wipe the back of the phone quite often. Motorola bundles a transparent case in the box, which helps alleviate this problem.
Moto G82 5G specs and software
The Moto G82 5G is powered by the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 SoC. Motorola also uses the same processor in the Moto G71 5G (Review) that we tested recently. Smartphones such as the Vivo T1 (Review) also offer the same SoC, but at a lower starting price. As I mentioned before, you get two variants of RAM, but the storage is the same at 128GB. The phone has a hybrid SIM slot, so expanding the storage will cost you the use of a second one. SIM card.
The Moto G82 5G supports Bluetooth 5.1, dual band Wi-Fi, 13 5G bands and dual 4G VoLTE. The 6.6-inch display sports a Full HD+ resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate and 360Hz touch sampling rate. The Moto G82 5G also has stereo speakers that support Dolby Atmos. The phone packs a 5,000mAh battery capable of 30W fast charging, and Motorola bundled a 33W TurboPower charger in the box.
Moto G82 5G runs Android 12 out of the box
The Moto G82 5G runs Android 12 out of the box with Motorola’s custom MyUX interface on top. Motorola hasn’t gone too far in customizing the UI and it’s similar to stock Android. My unit was running the April 2022 Android security patch at the time of this review. Motorola guarantees an update to Android 13 and three years of security updates. Assured updates are always welcome, as long as they happen in a timely manner.
Motorola has managed to control bloatware and only the Facebook application is pre-installed, which can be easily uninstalled. The UI offers theme options through the Moto app. This app also offers Moto Actions that allow you to control different aspects of the smartphone, such as the camera and flashlight, using gestures.
Performance of the Moto G82 5G
The Moto G82 5G could handle my daily use without any lags or stutters. I was able to multitask easily on my review unit with 6GB of RAM. Application loading times were within acceptable limits. The screen had good viewing angles and it was bright enough outdoors. Watching videos was engaging, and the stereo speakers helped deliver an immersive experience. Those looking for a media-consuming device will certainly find the Moto G82 5G interesting.
The Moto G82 5G showed decent numbers in benchmark tests. In AnTuTu, he managed to score 404,838 points. In Geekbench 5, it scored 657 points and 1929 points in single-core and multi-core tests, respectively. The Moto G82 5G earned a decent score in 3DMark’s Slingshot benchmark, scoring 4031 points. In GFXBench, the Moto G82 5G managed 17fps in the Car Chase benchmark. These scores were similar to the Moto G71 5G and the Vivo T1 (Test), however the iQoo Z5 (Test) remains one of the most powerful smartphones in this price range with its Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G SoC.
The Moto G82 5G’s camera module doesn’t protrude too much
Gaming performance was good, and the Moto G82 5G could run Call of Duty: Mobile well on the “high” graphics setting with a “high” frame rate. The game was playable in these settings without any lags or stutters. I played the game for 20 minutes and it caused the battery level to drop by 6%. The smartphone got slightly warm to the touch, but nothing too alarming.
Battery performance was good for my usage, which included using Instagram, watching YouTube videos, taking a few calls, and browsing the web. The Moto G82 5G lasted more than a day with this type of use. In our HD video loop test, the phone managed to run for 16 hours and 13 minutes. The big 5,000mAh battery charges quickly with the supplied 33W charger, going up to 42% in half an hour, and it took just over an hour to fully recharge.
Moto G82 5G cameras
The Moto G82 5G sports a triple-camera setup consisting of a 50-megapixel primary camera with optical stabilization (OIS), an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, and a 2-megapixel macro camera. For selfies, it has a 16-megapixel selfie camera. The camera app is feature rich and easy to use. You can easily swipe left or right on the viewfinder to change camera modes. It has quick toggles for HDR which helps in bright scenes and Auto Night Vision which kicks in automatically in low light conditions.
While the monsoon is in full swing in Mumbai, most of the photos I took with the Moto G82 5G were in cloudy conditions. Daytime photos had good detail and nearby objects were recognizable. The phone automatically enabled HDR which improved the dynamic range of the output. Photos taken with the ultra-wide-angle camera had the same color tone but didn’t offer the same level of detail.
Daylight shots from the main camera (top) and ultra-wide-angle camera (bottom) (tap to see full-size image)
Close-ups were sharp and had accurate color. The phone was also quick to lock focus and it managed soft bokeh for the background. Portraits had good edge detection and the phone allowed me to fine-tune the level of background blur in the output. Macro photos were okay. The phone also suggested switching between main camera and macro camera depending on the distance between the phone and the object.
Close-up of the Moto G82 5G’s main camera (tap to see full-size image)
Macro shooting using the dedicated macro camera on the Moto G82 5G (tap to see full size image)
Low-light camera performance was good, and the phone automatically enabled auto night vision to help capture a better image. It took about three seconds to capture a photo and it managed good detail on nearby objects. Distant objects seemed soft but were still recognizable. Turning night vision on manually resulted in a brighter image with slightly better detail.
Low-light photo (top) and Night mode photo (bottom) of the Moto G82 5G (tap to see full-size image)
The Moto G82 5G’s selfies were good in daylight as well as in low-light conditions. Selfie portraits had good edge detection, but the phone applied a filter to smooth out the output. You have the option to disable this option if you prefer a natural looking output.
Moto G82 5G daylight (top) and low-light (bottom) selfie portraits (tap to see full-size image)
Video recording reached 1080p for the main cameras as well as the selfie cameras. Stabilization wasn’t the best I’ve seen and footage had some flicker when walking. Jitter in images was more prominent in low light. I expected good video stabilization since the main camera has OIS, but the output was below average.
Verdict
The Moto G82 5G is the first G-series smartphone to cross the Rs. 20,000 mark, but is still priced well below Rs. 25,000, which is not a very crowded segment. Motorola has equipped it with a crisp display, stereo speakers and made it splash resistant in an effort to set it apart from the competition. The Moto G82 might appeal to those willing to stretch their budget beyond Rs. 20,000 for its features.
However, if you’re willing to spend a bit more than the Moto G82 5G’s asking price, phones like the Realme GT Master Edition (Review) and iQoo Z5 (Review) offer significantly better performance. Those looking for good cameras should consider the Realme 9 Pro+ (Review), which also offers better video recording performance. If you want to spend less but want similar features to the Moto G82 5G, you can also consider affordable alternatives such as the Moto G71 5G (Review) and Vivo T1 (Review).
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