The Moto G200 is the logical culmination of Motorola’s recent push to offer low-cost handsets with top-of-the-line hardware, and it’s one of the company’s best phones yet. The Moto G series has always been known for providing affordable smartphones with competitive specs. But in the last 18 months, the company has made a more concerted effort to produce smartphones that are more closely comparable in terms of features and power to premium smartphones such as iPhones and Samsung Galaxy devices. In that vein, the Moto G200 is the most popular smartphone to date.
The G200 is the top of the Moto G line, with a large, attractive screen, a strong processor, and a high-resolution main camera. It’ll look and feel like many other top-end flagships to many people, except it’ll cost around half as much.
This phone, technically a successor to the Moto G100 but perhaps more similar to the Edge 20 Lite, establishes Motorola as a major participant in the mid-range phone market, ready to compete with the plethora of Chinese brands that now reign supreme.
The phone’s speed is a major selling point; with the Snapdragon 888 Plus chipset, it’s lightning-fast for gaming or any other high-end function. In that aspect, this strength works nicely with the fast refresh rate display, which makes navigating the phone a breeze.
Although the display is huge, Motorola has never chosen the best-looking displays, preferring LCD over OLED. Despite this, it’s a wonderful choice for folks who enjoy watching videos or playing games on their smartphone because of its size and refresh rate.
The Moto G200 addresses several issues that plagued the G100. Other earlier Moto phones, the most notable is the fingerprint scanner on the side. It’s innovative to use or unlock the phone breeze.
What you will see here?
Price and Availability
The Moto G200 smartphone was released in the United Kingdom in November 2021, and while it may also be released in the United States and Australia at some time, we can’t say for sure because Motorola has a pretty random and scattered distribution strategy between territories.
The phone costs £399 in the UK (approximately $540, AU$760) – there is just one memory configuration, which is 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, but you can choose between blue and green models.
At that price, this isn’t the most expensive Moto G phone; the G100 cost £449 (about $620 or AU$810), but that price included a stand and cable for the Ready For service (more on that later), which is why it was more expensive. You only receive the phone with the G200, so set aside the accessories for a moment and consider it the top-end Moto G phone.
The Moto G200’s qualities make it a strong contender for the Samsung Galaxy S21 ($799 / £769 / AU$1,249), OnePlus 9 ($729 / £629 (about AU$940), and iPhone 13 ($799 / £779 / AU$1,349), especially as it has a larger screen and a more powerful chipset than the former two.
Design of Moto G200
We can see the Moto G200’s design dividing people simply because of its size. With a weight of 202g and dimensions of 168.1 x 75.5 x 8.9mm. This requires fairly large hands to comfortably fit in the palm.
We had a hard time using this one-handed, even though we have average-sized gloves. So we only recommend getting this if you’re comfortable using a smartphone two-handed.
The primary functional issue with its large size. Aside from the fact that reaching the edges of the display can be difficult. That is reaching the side-mounted fingerprint scanner to unlock the phone can be a stretch. Thankfully, having your fingerprint detected is a lot more dependable and smooth compared to prior Moto phones. We found that unlocking the Moto G100 felt like rolling a 20-sided die to see if we were granted access, but that isn’t the case here.
The volume rocker is located above the fingerprint scanner on the right edge of the phone. While a small Google Assistant button is located on the opposite edge (pressing this brings up the AI companion). We’re not sure how many people use this feature – we certainly don’t – but Moto has included it in enough phones to suggest it has a following.
There’s a USB-C port here, but no 3.5mm headphone jack – which isn’t surprising given how many phone manufacturers are abandoning the connection, but Motorola is one of the few that still used it frequently.
The Moto G200’s back is made of plastic, which seems tough enough to take a few drops without shattering, unlike the glass found on many high-end phones, which is prone to shattering.
The phone has a limited water resistance certification of IP52 and is mainly dust-resistant, but we wouldn’t recommend swimming with it or burying it in the sand either.
Display
With a 6.8-inch display, the Moto G200 smartphone boasts the same amount of screen real estate as the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, making it ideal for streaming and gaming.
Although its resolution is ‘only’ 1080 x 2460, or FHD+, it is comparable to that phone. However, the vast majority of smartphones are also FHD+.
There’s also a 144Hz refresh rate, which is higher than the competition (most competitors use 120Hz), and ensures that motion is smooth. The refresh rate of a monitor refers to how many times it updates its image per second, and at 144Hz, everything from gaming to browsing through menus seems smoother.
Despite the high resolution and fast refresh rate, some users may be put off by the Moto G200’s display because it is LCD rather than AMOLED or OLED, which are often preferred for smartphones. As a result, colors aren’t as brilliant and contrast isn’t as sharp as on some rival phones’ displays, although this is only noticeable if you’ve used different types of screen technology.
We also found the screen’s maximum brightness to be a little dull, but given how rarely you need a phone’s display to be as bright as it can get, this didn’t impair our day-to-day use of the device.
A punch-hole cutout at the top center of the front-facing camera breaks up the display, and due to the large size of the display, its diminutive size doesn’t take up much real estate.
Moto G200 Specification
| Dimensions | 168.1 x 75.5 x 8.9 mm (6.62 x 2.97 x 0.35 in) |
| Weight | 202 g (7.13 oz) |
| Build | Glass front, plastic frame, plastic back |
| SIM | Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) Water-repellent design |
| Type | LCD, 144Hz, HDR10 |
| Size | 6.8 inches, 109.8 cm2(86.5% screen-to-body ratio) |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2460 pixels (395 PPI density) |
| OS | Android 11 |
| Chipset | Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888+ 5G (5 nm) |
| CPU | Octa-core (1×2.99 GHz Kryo 680 & 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 680 & 4×1.80 GHz Kryo 680) |
| GPU | Adreno 660 |
Camera of Moto G200
The Moto G200’s camera collection is broadly comparable to that of the Moto G100. But with one major update and one significant downgrade.
To begin, there’s a super-high-resolution main camera. This time a 108MP f/1.9 sensor is a significant resolution upgrade over the G100’s 64MP sensor. The phones both have a 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor and a 16MP f/2.2 selfie camera. But the G200 only has an 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera, compared to 16MP on the G100.
The main camera’s pictures were bright and sharp. While they occasionally appeared desaturated, that was likely due to the software rather than the hardware.
The advantage of a 108MP main camera, that Moto has already employed in its Edge 20 series, is that it can accomplish 9-in-1 ‘pixel binning,’ which involves combining pixels to make fewer, larger ones that are lighter.
That doesn’t imply the Moto G200 is better at night photography than previous Moto phones. However, in terms of grain and exposure, it outperforms previous Moto phones.
You can also shoot in high-res mode, which avoids pixel binning in favor of full-size photographs. This is excellent for users who want to edit photos in applications or on the computer. But this type of file can quickly consume storage space.
Selfie of Moto G200
We had some difficulty shooting excellent images with the ultra-wide camera, and it wasn’t because of the low-res sensor, but rather because of the lens, as we saw that snaps were a little distorted at the edges.
Now for selfies: they were generally fine. But Portrait mode seemed hit-or-miss at times. As while it did a good job of separating the subject from the background when it worked. It frequently failed to reliably identify the subject in the first place. As a result, we have a lot of bizarrely blurred selfies on our camera roll. and we quickly learned. To stick to conventional photo mode while taking images with this camera.
Surprisingly, we didn’t have this problem with the back camera’s Portrait Mode, and profile shots typically came out looking terrific.
Video recording
Video recording may be done at an unreasonably high resolution of 8K. As seen on a few other Snapdragon 888 phones, or at 60 frames per second at 4K. If you record at lower resolutions, you can get some really good video stabilization, but these don’t work at 8K.
The G200, like all Moto phones and most other Android phones, comes with several popular photography modes, including Panorama, Pro, Portrait, document scanning, and color isolation.
Performance
The Snapdragon 888 Plus chipset, was the most powerful processor used in Android phones. The Moto G200 was more powerful than the OnePlus 9, Xiaomi Mi 11, and Realme GT at the time of its release (which all used the non-Plus version).
8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage are included in the chipset. As well as a 5G modem, allowing this phone to connect to next-generation networks.
Aside from the numbers, we found the Moto G200 to be exceptionally speedy. Apps loaded in a flash, and games ran at high graphics settings without breaking a sweat. We could tinker around with complex camera modes and settings without the app crashing.
This phone could be a blessing for budget mobile gamers. As it’s terrific for gaming and undercuts most bespoke phones created for the purpose thanks to its top-end chipset, 144Hz refresh rate, and low price. Even if you don’t spend your afternoons playing Call of Duty Mobile or something similar. This phone is capable and future-proof.
Software
The Moto G200 runs stock Android 11, which means it’s the operating system. As Google intended it to be, without the design and functionality tweaks that many other firms add to it. It’ll probably be eligible for updates for a few years as well.
However, Motorola does add a few changes to Android, and they’re rather handy. Moto actions, or rapid movements like twisting the phone twice to bring up the camera app or making two karate-chop motions to turn on the flashlight, are our favorites since they speed up fundamental phone functions.
There’s also Moto’s Styles tool, which lets you modify the font, color, and app icon shapes. More to create a home theme for app icons, settings menus, and more. Although it’s comparable to the Material You feature found in default Android 12. Moto began giving this capability before Android 12 was released, and the Moto G200 was only running Android 11 at the time of launch.
The Moto G200’s navigation feels swift and fluid because of its strong processor and 144Hz screen.
Another software feature worth mentioning is Ready For; while this isn’t the first Motorola phone to support it, past compatible phones required a wired connection, which is no longer the case.
Effectively connects your phone to a second screen, allowing you to access valuable tools. You can connect your phone to your TV to stream downloaded apps. You can connect it to your PC monitor to access your apps in a side window. It’s an intriguing added feature that may appeal to folks who use their phone frequently for productivity or pleasure. But those who already possess a lot of techs may not find Ready For provides fresh chances that aren’t already available in a variety of different ways.
Battery life of Moto G200
Motorola seems to like its 5,000mAh batteries, as many of its phones have them. It’s a big battery for a smartphone. But battery life is dependent on display size and CPU efficiency as much as capacity.
The Moto G200’s battery life was perfect for the job; the phone would always survive the full day without recharging. However, unlike some other Moto devices, it didn’t always last until the next day. Therefore we recommend charging the phone every day.
Even though the Moto G200 smartphone is marketed as a premium phone, fast charging is one feature that the Moto G200 does not have, and the 33W powering isn’t exactly quick.
The Moto G200 takes approximately an hour and a half to charge to full capacity. This is OK for folks who like to charge their phones overnight or when they’re willing to leave them off the grid, but the last-minute charging crowd will be disappointed.
Conclusion
The Moto G200 smartphone boasts a high-end chipset, 144Hz display, and large screen for a lower price. Than many gaming smartphones, making it a terrific choice for folks who play a lot of games on their phone.
With a 6.8-inch display, the Moto G200 smartphone is one of the most affordable smartphones on the market. That allows you to see more of your social network feed or stream TV shows on large screens.
Some people use their smartphone cameras to capture a lot of ultra-wide photos for large gatherings or breathtaking views. But the Moto G200 isn’t the best phone for that because of its lower-res sensor and distortion-prone lens.
There are phones at half the price of the Moto G200 smartphone that charge twice as fast. There are better solutions if you don’t enjoy having your phone plugged in for long periods of time.
