In 2022, Motorola will be one of the most active smartphone brands in India. In India, the company has released several phones in its budget and mid-range G series, as well as its premium Edge series. Most Motorola smartphones priced above Rs. 15,000 today include 5G support, which makes sense given that 5G has officially launched in India as well as telcos are working on a nationwide rollout as you read this. Meanwhile, the recently launched Moto G72 is an outlier in Motorola’s portfolio of devices priced under Rs. 20,000. Although the phone has premium hardware for the price, it lacks 5G support. Other Motorola phones launched recently in India around this price point do support 5G.
Price
Motorola has released the Moto G72 in India with a single storage option. The device comes with 6GB of LPDD4X RAM and 128GB of uMCP storage. It costs Rs. 18,999 and is available on Flipkart.
Specifications Table
| Chipset | MediaTek Hello G99 |
| No of cores | 8 (octa core) |
| RAM | 8 GB |
| RAM Type | LPDDR4X |
| Height-Width | 6.32in-2.93in |
| Weight | 166 grams |
| Colours | Meteorite Gray, Polar Blue |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2460 pixels |
| Display Type | P-OLED, HDR 10+ |
| Colour Reproduction | 16M Colours |
| TouchScreen | Yes, Capacitive, Multi-Touch |
| Rear camera setup | Triple |
| Rear Camera | 108MP(Primary), 8MP(Secondary), 2MP(Tertiary) |
| Front camera | 16 MP Resolution |
| Flash | LED Rear flash |
| Video Resolution | 1920×1080 @ 30 fps |
| Camera Features | Auto FlashAuto FocusFace detectionTouch to focus |
| Battery Type and capacity | Li-Polymer, 5000 mAh |
| Fast Charging | Yes, Turbo, 33W |
| Internal memory type | 128 GB, UFS 2.1 |
| Operating System | Android v12 |
| Custom UI | No |
| SIM Configuration | Dual SIM |
| Wi-Fi | Yes |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth v5.1 |
| GPS | Yes with A-GPS, Glonass |
| Fingerprint sensor | Yes, On-Screen |
| Face Unlock | Yes |
| Other Sensor | Light SensorProximity SensorAccelerometerCompassGyroscope |
Warranty Plan
| Warranty | 1 Year Manufacturer Warranty |
| Extended Warranty | 2 years Extended Warranty from the GoWarranty for the Moto G72 phones |
Design
The Moto G72 comes in two colours: Meteorite Grey and Polar Blue, which is what we have. I prefer phones with dark colours, such as any shade of black, and a matte finish. For me, the Moto G72 is an exception because I adore the Polar Blue colour, which has a shiny texture on top of the matte finish. Although the back is still made of polycarbonate, Motorola calls it a PMMA acrylic glass-finish design, and the colour scheme alone makes the phone look a lot more premium.
The Moto G72 is also very comfortable to hold. It weighs only 166g and has a thickness of only 7.9mm. The weight distribution is also quite good, and the curved corners make holding the phone much easier. The Moto G72’s camera module design is similar to that of the more expensive Moto Edge 30 Fusion. On the back, you get a square-shaped module with three camera sensors. This module also contains the LED flash.
The USB Type-C port is sandwiched between the 3.5mm headphone jack as well as the primary speaker grille at the bottom. The dual-SIM slot is on the left, while the power and volume buttons are on the right.
Display
The Moto G72’s front panel features a flat 6.55-inch pOLED display with a full-HD+ resolution. The 120Hz screen supports up to a billion colours and is HDR10+ certified. However, some apps, such as Netflix, were unable to detect this capability and thus were unable to stream HDR content. Even when watching full-HD OTT content, the display produces good details and colours. It also has a peak brightness of 1300 nits, making it suitable for use even in bright sunlight during the day. The Moto G72 can be used outside even if there is a light drizzle because it has an IP52 rating for splash resistance.
Specifications and Software
The Moto G72 is powered by a MediaTek Helio G99 SoC, one of the few new 4G SoCs to be released in 2022. The SoC is built on a 6nm process and offers performance improvements over the Helio G96. The G72 also has a 5000mAh battery with 33W fast charging support. While battery capacity is unimportant, some phones, such as the Redmi Note 11 Pro, offer faster 67W fast charging at the same price. The Moto G72 supports Wi-Fi ac (2.4GHz and 5GHz), GPS, Bluetooth 5.1, and the standard set of sensors.
Motorola’s MyUX skin for Android 12 powers the phone. While your preference may vary, I prefer MyUX because it provides a good balance of a clean, near-stock Android experience and a plethora of customization options. The Moto app is a one-stop shop for all of the available personalization options. Not only can you change the fonts and icons, but you can also change the system UI colours based on the wallpaper.
Performance and Battery
The Moto G72’s MediaTek Helio G99 SoC is more than capable of handling basic tasks and casual gaming. We played Call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt 9 Legends, as well as lighter but popular games like Subway Surfer. With ‘Medium’ graphics and ‘High’ frame rate settings, Call of Duty: Mobile averaged around 40fps. Asphalt 9 Legends was also a lot of fun to play on the phone, and there was no lag.
The battery life is also quite good. The Moto G72 provided about nine hours of screen-on time (SoT) on average based on my use case, that included social media scrolling, playing games, filming content, and so on. The G72 lasted 14 hours and 10 minutes in our battery loop test. The box includes a 33W fast charging adapter that charges the phone from zero to 100 percent in about 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Camera
On the back of the Moto G72, there are three cameras. The primary camera is a 108-megapixel Samsung HM6, with an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera as well as a 2-megapixel macro camera. The phone has a 16-megapixel front-facing camera for selfies. The primary camera captures fine details, but the reds and blues appear slightly oversaturated. The dynamic range performance on this one is also quite good. When using Night mode, the main camera is capable of bringing out fairly good details in the shadows in low light.
Verdict
The Moto G72 has everything you could want in a smartphone under Rs. 20,000. The phone provides a good multimedia experience, good camera performance, and a processor capable of handling casual gaming. The battery life is also impressive, lasting a full day with medium to light usage. On top of that, there’s the near-stock Android 12 goodness with a touch of customization via MyUX. Design preferences are subjective, but I think the Moto G72 looks pretty good.
