The Moto G5s and Moto G5s Plus smartphones are being introduced as ‘Special Edition’ in the Indian market with some upgrades (especially in the camera department). The Moto G5s Plus has dual rear cameras while the Moto G5s has a single 16-megapixel rear camera.
Apart from this, the company also reduced the price of Moto G5 Plus smartphone in India on Tuesday. The 4GB variant of Moto G5 Plus was launched in March for Rs 16,999 and is now available in India at a price of Rs 14,999.
The new Moto G5s and Moto G5s Plus have been introduced with some new features and slight hardware upgrades. But will this phone be able to compete with existing competitors? The answer to this question will be available only after review. But let us tell you the first glimpse of the new Moto device.
Moto G5s Plus and Moto G5s design
The design of both the new phones of Moto G5 series is similar to the earlier Moto G5 Plus (Review) smartphone. Both devices have a metal unibody design and feel sturdy in the hand. However, we didn’t like the antenna bands on the rear panel of the Moto G5s Plus and Moto G5s as many other phones in the market already have a similar design. The front is also like the Moto G5 Plus. There’s a fingerprint scanner at the bottom of the display that can be used as a one-button navigation button for gesture-based access to Home, Back or Recent apps.
Due to the curved edges the phone fits easily in the hand. The Moto G5s and Moto G5s Plus also have a front LED flash along with the camera sensor. The signature batwing icon is engraved on the rear along with Moto branding on the front. Like the Moto G5 Plus, the primary sensor on the rear is raised, which means you’ll have to be careful when placing the phone on a flat surface otherwise the lens may get damaged. We recommend using a rear cover. The good thing is that the metal design makes the handset a pleasure to use.
Given that the Moto G5 wasn’t an all-metal phone, the Moto G5s is a big upgrade. However, the metallic rear means that the phone does slip a bit.
Moto G5s Plus and Moto G5s Specifications
Starting with the larger variant, the Moto G5S Plus sports a 5.5-inch full HD (1080×1920 pixels) display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top. Whereas Moto G5 Plus has a 5.2 inch full HD display. Much like the original variant, the Moto G5s Plus is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor clocked at 2.0GHz and paired with 4GB of RAM. This phone will be available in 64 GB storage while there will be support for microSD card up to 128 GB. This phone has a 3000 mAh non-removable battery and TurboPower charger is available in the box. Moto G5S Plus will be made available in Lunar Gray and Blush Gold colors.
Talking about the smaller variant, the Moto G5S has a 5.2-inch Full HD IPS LCD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. This phone has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 octa-core processor which runs at 1.4 GHz. It has 3 GB RAM. This phone has 32 GB inbuilt storage and the storage can be increased through microSD card up to 128 GB. Moto G5S has a 3000 mAh battery and along with it, TurboPower charger is also available in the box.
Both phones run on Android 7.1.1 Nougat which is equipped with features like Moto Action and Moto Display. These are Motorola exclusive software enhancements.
The most important feature of Moto G5S Plus is the dual rear camera given in it. This phone has two 13 megapixel rear cameras and depth editor. Both cameras are provided with aperture F/2.0, dual LED flash. Apart from this, there are features like Quick Capture, Best Shot, Tap to Capture, Panorama Mode, Burst Mode, Auto HDR, Video Stabilization, Slow Motion Video and recording 4K Ultra HD video. The phone has an 8-megapixel front camera for taking selfies and video chatting, which comes with wide-angle lens, aperture F/2.0, LED flash, panorama mode, professional mode and beautification mode. This smartphone has a 16-megapixel rear camera with aperture F/2.0, LED flash and phase detection auto focus (PDAF). Apart from this, there are also features like Best Shot, Professional Mode, Burst Mode, Auto HDR, Panorama, Video Stabilization, Slow Motion Video. For selfie, there is a 5-megapixel front camera which is equipped with wide-angle lens, aperture F/2.0, LED flash, professional mode and beautification mode. We will have to wait for the review to know the camera performance of Moto G5S Plus in low light.
Our initial thoughts about the Moto G5s Plus and Moto G5s
In the limited time we spent with the Moto G5s Plus and Moto G5s, we liked their performance. The touch response of the phone is good and multitasking is also done well. Compared to Moto G5 Plus, the camera of Moto G5S Plus has been upgraded in some departments. The depth effect was good in some of the photos we took. However, we will reserve judgment on the performance and cameras of the Moto G5s Plus and Moto G5s until we complete our detailed review process.
The Moto G5S Plus has a larger screen and dual rear cameras and is priced just Rs 1,000 more than the Moto G5 Plus. In Moto G5S, minor changes have been made in the metal body and hardware. Moto G5s Plus and Moto G5s have been launched in India for Rs 15,999 and Rs 13,999 respectively. With these price points, the new Moto G5s and Moto G5s Plus smartphones will challenge the likes of Samsung Galaxy J7 Max, Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and the upcoming Xiaomi and Coolpad.