The Moto G5 Plus is more expensive this time, but it also has a much improved camera. It produces impressive contrast and dynamic range and takes photos that other phones in its class cannot take. This is complemented by impressive autonomy and reliable performance. If Motorola had added waterproofing to this device, it would have been an absolute ko.
MOTO G5 PLUS DETAILED TESTING
The Motorola event at Mobile World Congress had clashed with Nokia’s feedback this year. As a result, many of us have turned our attention to Nokia phones, making one of the best phones of 2017 with less attention than it deserves. The Moto G5 Plus is the fifth iteration of the company’s successful Moto G series and marks numerous firsts.
Of course, the rear-facing 12MP camera is what makes headlines here. It has the same aperture lens as the Samsung Galaxy S7 (review), uses dual pixel technology like the S7 and has an aperture of f/1.7 to boot. To make things more attractive, it is also available at an affordable price.
Camera
Motorola sent us this device about a week ago and gave us enough time to load its camera. Its specifications are mentioned above, but Motorola, unfortunately, does not show which sensor it used. Most USSD codes also do not work on the device, so we could not determine the sensor. A brief explanation of the two-pixel technology can be found here.
However, a quick look at the camera clearly shows that this is not such a powerful sensor as the Galaxy S7. This is more than acceptable given the budget prices of the G5 Plus. The camera is underlined by an impressive dynamic range and focus to perfect the white balance and overall color reproduction.
When you take photos with it, you can feel a certain pixel attribute — that of the dynamic range. The Moto G5 Plus offers very good colors and the overall sound quality of the images is significantly better than the cameras of this range, including dual-camera phones such as the Honor 6X (review) and the Coolpad Cool 1 (review). The colors are warmer (but pleasant) under sunlight and under normal daylight conditions, with ISO values that are usually between 50 and 80.
The phone manages the ISO values very well, keeping them low if necessary and under control when they are started. As a result, the photos taken indoors and in low light also look quite decent. However, when cropping to 100% or zooming, there is always some noise visible, as well as little detail. You will see them especially in the shadow areas of the photos, resulting in a loss of detail. To be clear, this is a loss in the finest details that most users are not looking for. You only need these details when enlarging photos to print or design them, or when you inspect them closely.
For regular sharing on social networks, the Moto G5 Plus simply offers the lowest phone camera you can get right now. It allows for proper exposure and detail and, combined with its impressive dynamic range, produces photos with rich contrast and vibrant colors.
However, its weakness lies in the speed of focusing and processing. Although one can attribute a higher focus time with lower performance on the phone (compared to the Galaxy S7), the slow focus time is surprising, since that is exactly what the two-pixel technology is designed to solve. The camera is prone to blurring with trembling hands, especially when filming in low light.
