The Motorola Moto G82 doesn’t stand out in terms of design: it has a plastic structure, perfectly rounded corners, and a modest rear camera bump, like the rest of the G series range. It is not too heavy, but the 6.6 display makes it a bit huge.
The fingerprint sensor, which has been neglected on the back of the phone, has been placed above the power button on the side. It’s not very fast at recognizing your digits, but it is accurate once it does. IP52 certification means you are more protected from dust than water, but it should not suffer if it gets caught in a light rain shower.
The perforated design on the back of the metal effect reminds us of a high-end speaker grill. It looks the part, with little branding to help hide its low price, but it is sensitive to fingerprint smudges. An included silicone case keeps it clean and guarded from dents and scratches.
Display and Sound Motorola Moto G82
It’s one thing to have an OLED screen at this low price, but Motorola went above and beyond by including a fast refresh rate panel on the G82. So, while competitors run on 60Hz or switch up to 90Hz, you get a silky smooth 120Hz display here.
Consequently, everything feels more responsive, particularly when navigating applications and web pages.
The only area that falls short is brightness, which means you may struggle to see the screen well in direct sunlight. However, once inside, there isn’t any difficulty, and no similarly priced competitor performs significantly better.
The G82 also works admirably in terms of music, having dual speakers certified by Dolby Atmos. They get loud enough, even though the ear tweeter is not quite as loud as the down-firing speaker. Unsurprisingly, there isn’t any accurate bass, but it will not make you reach for a set of headphones.
Battery life
The Motorola Moto G82 5G includes a 5,000 mAh battery, which is found in a significant and growing number of Moto series phones.
The Moto G82 also boasts excellent, if not class-leading, fast charging. It supports 30W fast charging and comes with a 30W charger. Unfortunately, wireless charging is not supported, as is typical at this level.
Price and availability
The Motorola Moto G82 5G was introduced in June 2022 with the Moto G62, a low-end counterpart with a slower processor, a bulkier frame, and an LCD screen rather than an OLED display.
The G82 costs $499AU, and while it was not widely available in the US at the time of review, it’s projected to cost around $365.
Performance
The Motorola Moto G82 is powered by Android 12 and has the traditional Moto UI. This only makes small modifications to Google’s blueprint, which means that improvements to Android’s Material Design style will appear in version 12.
In the Moto G82, Android 12 looks primarily clean and smooth, while app loading and multitasking seem barely slower than on top Android devices. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 CPU is used in this phone, which is also found in the Sony Xperia 10 IV and Realme 9 Pro.
While the CPU speed is intense, the GPU – the graphics side – is not as powerful as, say, the Snapdragon 870. This implies that in some high-end games, some settings of the graphics may not be available, and those without rock-solid performance optimization can sometimes see uneven frame rates.
Verdict
The Moto G82 is the new sweet spot in the Moto G series, and it is a friendly reminder that Motorola knows a thing or two about building well-specced phones that are not too expensive.
The stabilized primary camera, 120Hz OLED screen, and huge battery are all significant advantages for a phone that costs less than £300. Moto’s gentle approach to Android works extremely well on low-end hardware, and overall performance is not bad.
