Quick Verdict
The Motorola Moto G Pro is a great choice for those whose primary consideration in a smartphone is the camera capability. The Moto G Pro offers front and back full-manual modes, which is rare. It also offers RAW capture capability in manual mode.
It's a really nice looking handset with a beautiful rear colour that handles very well. Anyone looking for a decent smartphone for photography for a reasonable price would be hard-pressed to find a better option.
+ Pros
- Excellent camera
- Manual mode front and rear
- Realistic skin tones and greens
- Snappy, responsive photo taking
- Lovely rear design
- Great value
- Cons
- Back panel liable to scratching
- Screen could be brighter in sunlight
The Motorola Moto G Pro is a modestly priced handset offering a 48-megapixel AI-powered triple camera system. There's also a built-in stylus and 128GB of memory. Motorola say that the phone has up to 2 days' battery life, and it features a 6.4-inch full HD+ display with stereo speakers. The phone is available in the lovely shade of mystic indigo, for £289.99.
The phone promises a lot for the money, but how does it perform in real life? Find out here.
Motorola Moto G Pro Features
The Motorola Moto G Pro boasts laser auto-focus, as well as a night vision mode, in order to allow you to capture clearer, crisper images no matter what the scenario.
The MotoG range of smartphones has been going since 2013, and is Motorola's mid-range offering. The Moto G Pro is the 25th offering in the range. The last Motorola smartphone ePHOTOzone reviewed was the Motorola One, another mid-range smartphone, back in 2018. This is also a mid-range offering.
Let's take a look at what The Moto G Pro offers in terms of cameras. On the back there's a triple camera setup using Quad Pixel technology:
- 48 MP Sensor (f/1.7, 1.6 µm)
- Quad Pixel technology Macro Vision (2 mp, f/2.2)
- Minimum 2 cm focus distance Action Cam (16 mp, f/2.2, 2.0 µm)
- 117° ultra-wide angle video with Laser autofocus (TOF)
A note on TOF - ToF, or time of flight technology, uses image sensor chip technology to capture infrared light as it is bounced off the subject, giving a faster and more effective result in ambient light and lessening the load on the processor compared to other methods.
The front camera is a 16-megapixel f/2.0 offering, and this is housed hole punch style to the top left of the screen. There's EVS (Electronic Video Stabilisation) built-in to the front camera as well.
The screen is a 6.4-inch full HD+ offering using IPS technology (2300x1080 pixels. The phone is water repellant. It's quite a rounded phone with a bezel of a couple of millimetres on the sides and 3mm or so at the top and bottom.
On the left-hand side there's the SIM card and MicroSD card access point. On the right-hand side, there's a power button which sits below the volume buttons. On the bottom, there's the USB-C charging port, speaker and audio jack. on the bottom right-hand corner is the stylus which you need to get a finger underneath to pull out. When it's pulled out from locked the phone automatically brings up a notepad screen so that you can easily jot down your thoughts.
On the rear, you'll find a round fingerprint sensor in the middle of the back and the camera unit on the left-hand side.
The phone has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capability as well as NFC and GPS.
Key Features
- Main cameras - 48 MP Sensor (f/1.7, 1.6 µm) Macro Vision (2 mp, f/2.2) Action Cam (16 mp, f/2.2, 2.0 µm), 117° ultra-wide angle video with Laser autofocus (TOF)
- Laser Autofocus
- Front / selfie camera - 16-megapixel f/2
- 6.4-inch Full HD+ screen with IPS
- LED flash
- 4K video, (rear) with slow-motion mode
- ISO 100-3200 selectable
- Dedicated macro camera
- RAW shooting option in manual mode
- Water-resistant body
- Fingerprint reader on rear
- 128GB storage, 4GB RAM
- 4000mAh battery, lasting up to 2 days
- Mystic Indigo
- Buy now on Amazon UK, Amazon USA
Motorola Moto G Pro Handling
The Moto G Pro is a wider phone, which feels good in the hand. Controls are very ergonomic and the addition of the stylus gives a high-end feel to the phone. The fingerprint sensor is well placed.
The phone feels relatively sturdy and well made. It also looks great, with the hombre indigo colouring to the rear. A phone case is recommended to protect the rear which looks quite easily scratchable. Clear ones are available so that you can still see the lovely colours.
The selfie camera with a 16-megapixel quad pixel sensor offers face beauty, flash, self-timer, active photo (captures a short video with each image) and unusually, a manual mode allowing you to alter white balance, shutter speed, ISO and exposure compensation. It can also record Full HD video as well as HD slow-motion video.
The rear camera offers you a few more modes. There's HDR capability which can be set to auto on or off, as well as flash, self-timer, active photos and auto or manual options. In manual mode a little histogram appears at the bottom of the screen. You can select the focus point - macro to infinity, and alter white balance, shutter speed, ISO and exposure compensation. There is also the option to shoot RAW (DNG) or RAW + JPEG captures.
Video can be shot in up to 4K UHD on the rear. Slow-motion video can be captured in FHD. Under the modes section, accessed by swiping left or tapping the grid icon at the bottom of the screen, you'll find the following photo modes:
- Portrait - Add varying levels of bokeh blur and lighting effects to create portrait images.
- Cutout - A face must be present for this mode to work and it allows you to change the background of your photo.
- Macro - A dedicated macro mode with full manual capability
- Spot colour - Tap the screen to select a colour in the photo you want to keep. The rest will be turned black and white.
- Night vision - Optimises the camera for shooting in low light.
- Cinemagraph - Create a GIF or MP4 image with a little motion.
- Panorama - Dedicated panorama mode, tap and hold the shutter button while panning
- Live filter - Add a live colour filter to your photo
and the following video modes:
- Macro
- Slow Motion
- Timelapse
- AR stickers
The screen is crystal clear and offers vibrant colours - even in bright sunlight you can see everything really well.
The camera app is very responsive with photo capture almost instantaneous. focus is equally as snappy, as is switching between modes.
Battery life - The battery is rated at 4000mAh - Motorola say that this should last you two days with average use.
However, if you're going to be away from a power source, we'd recommend getting yourself a portable power bank just in case.
Motorola Moto G Pro Performance
The performance section is where we look at the image quality performance of the camera. Additional sample photos and product shots are available in the Equipment Database, where you can add your own review, photos and product ratings.
Motorola Moto G Pro Sample Photos
Sample Photos - The Moto G Pro offers very natural colour reproduction and we were impressed by the depths of the greens on offer. Colours are bright and punchy. Skin colours are good and the portrait mode offers lots of different levels of bokeh and lighting effects. The camera seems very good at coping in bright light and does well to balance most exposures.
Motorola Moto G Pro Lens test images
Lens Performance - We could see very little distortion in images, which is great. The macro lens did a great job of letting us get up close to flowers, preserving lots of detail and keeping a surprising amount of the image sharp. There is a little bit of purple fringing and flare visible when shooting into the sun - HDR mode helped to counteract this. Sometimes the camera forms unsightly artefact when shooting into the sun at the bottom of the frame. Focus performed very well and the phone was responsive to tapping to achieve a focus point.
Motorola Moto G Pro ISO test images
ISO Noise Performance - ISO Range 100-3200
For the lowest noise and best detail possible we would recommend using ISO100 to ISO400, as images have low levels of noise and good levels of detail. For lower light situations ISO800 still provides good results, although noise increases and detail is reduced. At ISO1600 noise levels become strong and we would recommend avoiding this setting if possible, although results may still be useful if resized and used on the web. ISO3200 is best avoided as noise is extremely high.
Motorola Moto G Pro Digital filters
Digital Filters - There are a variety of digital filters which can be applied, as demonstrated above.
Motorola Moto G Pro Panoramic images
Panorama mode - The camera features an automatic panoramic mode, where you simply press the shutter release button and pan the camera from one side to the other. Results are very good, with the panorama well stitched together and offering good colour reproduction.
Video - The rear camera on the Moto G Pro can record at 4K UHD. Footage is a little shaky, and the video mode seemed to struggle with the high contrast between the sky and the land to begin with. Overall though, colours are very good.
Value For Money
The Motorola Moto G Pro is available for £289.99, making it outstanding value for money considering the quality of the cameras and fast, snappy interface. The phone offers lots of premium features including a stylus for a reasonable price. It's also well-built and features a nice hombre indigo colouring to the rear.
The Moto G Pro is a little in-between price brackets - it's definitely in the mid-range for its features yet is priced just above what we'd class as a budget phone.
Similar priced phones to consider include the Samsung Galaxy A50, available for £293, which also offers 128GB internal storage and a 4000 mAh battery, but without the stylus functionality. You could also consider the Huawei Nova 5T, now available for £249.99, and featuring a very similar camera setup to the Moto G Pro.
Have a look at more smartphones in our Top 10 Best Smartphones for Photography or have a look at the Best mid-range smartphones article for more in a similar price bracket.
You'll also need to buy a MicroSD memory card if you want to increase the storage capacity of the phone and a case for it.
Motorola Moto G Pro Verdict
The Motorola Moto G Pro is a well-built, well-equipped phone offering an excellent camera set that all perform exceptionally. The handset looks great, and is available at a fantastic price considering what it offers.
Colours are very natural and the handset is extremely responsive - we were especially impressed by the features available on the front camera, including full manual settings and the ability to give portraits different lighting scenarios and bokeh blur according to the situation.
The manual mode and ability to shoot in RAW as well as RAW + JPEG make this phone a really strong contender for photographers. As such we are happy to highly recommend it.