Moto G5S Plus and Moto G5S were launched in India
on Tuesday as the 'special edition of the Moto G5 series.' Lenovo-owned
Motorola lately has been expanding the product portfolio aggressively in India
and launching Moto smartphones across different price points. Continuing the
strategy, the company has unveiled the Moto G5S Plus and Moto G5S in India
within six months of the original Moto G5 Plus launch. Notably, both the
smartphones have been introduced in India within a month of their global
launches, which confirms the brand's commitment to the Indian market.
The Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus smartphones are
being heavily marketed as 'Special Edition' devices which promises some
upgrades, most significantly in the camera department. The Moto G5S Plus sports
dual rear cameras while Moto G5S features a single rear camera with a
16-megapixel sensor.
Additionally, the company on Tuesday also slashed
the price of the Moto G5 Plus smartphone in India post the launch of the Moto
G5S Plus. The 4GB variant of the Moto G5 Plus, which was launched in March at
Rs. 16,999 will now be available at a reduced price of Rs. 14,999 in India.
The new Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus bring new
features and minor upgrades in terms of hardware but will those be enough to
take on the current competition? I will be able to answer the question only
after my review, here is my first impressions of the new Moto devices.
Moto G5S Plus and Moto G5S design
Both the new Moto G5 series phones largely follow
similar design cues earlier seen on the Moto G5 Plus (Review) smartphone. Both
feature metal unibody design and feel solid right away. However, I didn't
really like antenna bands that were running at the back panel of both the Moto
G5S Plus and Moto G5S, which make them look like many phones already available
out there. The front is also similar to what we have already seen on the Moto
G5 Plus. There's fingerprint scanner at the bottom of the display which can
also be used as one-button navigation key for gesture-based access to home,
back, or recent apps.
The rounded corners make sure that the phones fit
well in the palms. Both the Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus feature front-facing LED
flash alongside the camera sensor. There's "Moto" branding at the front
while legendary batwing icon embossed at the back. Much like the Moto G5 Plus,
the main sensor at the back protrudes, which means you have to be careful while
placing the phone on the surface or else you could damage the lens. My
recommendation will be to use a back cover. Thankfully, the metal design gives
confidence in using the handset.
Considering that the Moto G5 wasn't an all-metal
phone, the Moto G5S is a big upgrade for the smaller variant. However, the
metallic backs also means that the phones are slightly slippery.
Moto G5S Plus and Moto G5S specifications
Starting with the bigger variant, the Moto G5S Plus
features a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) display with Corning Gorilla
Glass 3 protection on top. The Moto G5 Plus, on the other hand, features a
5.2-inch full-HD display. Much like its original sibling, the Moto G5S Plus is
powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC clocked at up to 2.0GHz
coupled with 4GB of RAM. It will be available in just 64GB storage while also
supporting expandable storage via microSD card (up to 128GB). It packs a 3000mAh
non-removable battery and comes with TurboPower charger in the box. The Moto
G5S Plus will be made available in Lunar Grey and Blush Gold colours.
Coming to the smaller variant, the Moto G5S
features a 5.2-inch full-HD IPS LCD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3
protection. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 octa-core SoC clocked up
to 1.4GHz, coupled with 3GB of RAM. It bears 32GB of inbuilt storage and
supports expandable storage via microSD card (up to 128GB). The Moto G5S is
backed by a 3000mAh battery and also supports TurboPower charger which comes in
the box.
Both the phones run Android 7.1.1 Nougat
out-of-the-box with Moto Actions and Moto Display features which are Motorola
exclusive software enhancements.
One of the highlight features of the Moto G5S Plus
is its dual 13-megapixel sensors at the back with an f/2.0 aperture, depth
editing software, and dual-LED flash. On the front, it bears an 8-megapixel
sensor with an f/2.0 aperture, wide-angle lens, and an LED flash. The Moto G5S,
on the other hand, sports a 16-megapixel sensor with PDAF, an f/2.0 aperture,
and LED flash. On the front, it bears a 5-megapixel sensor. with an f/2.0
aperture, and an LED flash.
Moto G5S Plus and Moto G5S initial thoughts
The Moto G5S Plus and Moto G5S impressed me with
their snappy performance in the limited time. Touch inputs and multitasking
work well. Cameras on the Moto G5S Plus do seem an upgrade compared to the Moto
G5 Plus, in some departments. The depth effect worked smoothly in some samples
i clicked.
The Moto G5S Plus brings a bigger screen and dual
camera experience at minor increase of just Rs. 1,000 compared to the Moto G5
Plus, while Moto G5S brings metal body and minor upgrades in hardware. The Moto
G5S Plus and Moto G5S have been launched in India at Rs. 15,999 and Rs. 13,999
respectively. At these prices, the new Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus phones can
expect to take on the Samsung Galaxy J7 Max, Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, and few
upcoming phones from Xiaomi and Coolpad.
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