The Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus smartphones are being launched in the Indian market as ‘Special Edition’ with some upgrades (especially in the camera department). The Moto G5S Plus has two 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 at 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 these phones be able to compete with their existing rivals? The answer to this question will be known only after the review. But let us tell you the first glimpse of the new Moto device.
Moto G5S Plus and Moto G5S design
Both the new phones in the Moto G5 series have a design similar to the previous Moto G5 Plus (Review). Both devices have a metal unibody design and feel sturdy in the hand. However, we did not like the antenna bands on the rear panel of the Moto G5S Plus and Moto G5S as many phones already have a similar design in the market. The front is also similar to the Moto G5 Plus. There is a fingerprint scanner at the bottom of the display which can be used as a one-button navigation button for gesture-based access to home, back or recent apps.
The curved edges help the phone fit comfortably in the hand. The Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus also feature front LED flashes along with the camera sensors. The rear has Moto branding on the front and the signature Batwing icon etched on it. Like the Moto G5 Plus, the primary sensor is raised on the rear, which means you need to be careful when placing the phone on a flat surface or else the lens might get damaged. We recommend using a rear cover. Thankfully, the metal design makes the handset feel good to use.
Considering that the Moto G5 wasn’t an all-metal phone, the Moto G5S is a big upgrade. However, the metallic rear does mean the phone is a bit slippery.
Moto G5S Plus and Moto G5S Specifications
Starting with the bigger variant, the Moto G5S Plus features a 5.5-inch Full HD (1080×1920 pixels) display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top. The Moto G5 Plus features a 5.2-inch Full HD display. Much like the original variant, the Moto G5S Plus features an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor clocked at 2.0GHz and 4GB of RAM. The phone will come with 64GB of storage while support for microSD cards up to 128GB will be available. The phone packs a 3000mAh non-removable battery and comes with a TurboPower charger in the box. The Moto G5S Plus will be available in Lunar Gray and Blush Gold colours.
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 that runs at 1.4 GHz. It has 3 GB of RAM. This phone has 32 GB inbuilt storage and the storage can be increased up to 128 GB via microSD card. The Moto G5S has a 3000 mAh battery and it also comes with a TurboPower charger in the box.
Both phones run Android 7.1.1 Nougat out-of-the-box with features like Moto Actions and Moto Display, which are Motorola’s 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 have 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 4K ultra HD video recording. 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. There is a 5-megapixel front camera for selfies 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 for the camera performance of Moto G5S Plus in low light.
Our initial thoughts on 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 phone has a good touch response and multitasking is also good. Compared to the Moto G5 Plus, the camera of the 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 judgement on the performance and camera of the Moto G5S Plus and Moto G5S until we complete our detailed review process.
The Moto G5S Plus comes with a bigger screen and dual rear cameras and is priced just Rs 1,000 more than the Moto G5 Plus. While the Moto G5S features a metal body and minor hardware changes, the Moto G5S Plus and Moto G5S have been launched in India at Rs 15,999 and Rs 13,999 respectively. With these prices, the new Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus smartphones will compete against the Samsung Galaxy J7 Max, Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and upcoming Xiaomi and Coolpad phones.