Motorola sure likes product diversity, releasing more mid-range smartphone models in the last few months than this writer can count on his fingers and toes while also raising the foldable bar and making its long-awaited mainstream high-end comeback.
The company's newest reasonably priced handset joins the already extensive Moto G family, vastly improving the specifications of the recently unveiled G9. Just like its little brother, which quietly broke cover in India before expanding to the old continent under a different name, the G9 Plus is seeing daylight in a single market with minimal fanfare ahead of an undoubtedly wider release.
Motorola has been switching back and forth between notches and hole punch designs for Moto G-series devices over the last year or so, settling on the latter route as far as the 6.8-inch G9 Plus is concerned. That makes this more similar to the likes of the G Power, G Stylus, and "standard" G8 than the G8 Plus or G9, with reasonably thin overall screen borders and a small hole positioned in the top left corner to house a single 16MP selfie shooter equipped with f/2.0 aperture.
On the back, the Moto G9 Plus features a surprisingly elaborate camera setup for a budget-friendly mid-ranger, composed of a 64MP primary snapper with f/1.8 aperture, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens, 2MP macro shooter, and 2MP depth sensor, as well as a large pill-shaped LED flash.
It goes without saying this camera system is more complex and versatile (at least on paper) than what the Moto G8 Plus and G9 have going for them, although the former of these two models actually comes with a more impressive-sounding 16MP ultra-wide-angle lens.
Meanwhile, the aforementioned 6.8-inch display is unsurprisingly equipped with FHD+ resolution, yielding a lower pixel density than 2019's 6.3-inch G8 Plus. The Moto G9 Plus is obviously much taller and wider than its predecessor, at 170 and 78.1mm respectively, as well as thicker and heavier for a reason that will become obvious in the next section.
Available in eye-catching rose gold and indigo blue paint jobs, the G9 Plus is presumably made entirely from plastic, just like the G8 Plus and G9.
Huge battery, blazing fast charging, respectable processing power
As you can easily guess by its 9.7mm profile and 223-gram weight, this bad boy packs a gargantuan battery. Namely, the same exact 5,000mAh cell as the G9 and last year's G Power. The difference is the Moto G9 Plus supports 30W TurboPower charging technology, up from 20 and 10W on the two aforementioned devices respectively. Believe it or not, that even beats the 25W fast charging capabilities of Samsung's state-of-the-art Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G, which just so happens to feature a smaller 4,500mAh battery as well.
Recommended Stories
Of course, there's no comparing the two when it comes to raw power, as the Moto G9 Plus packs a Snapdragon 730 chipset with no 5G support. Still, this should provide a nice upgrade from the Snapdragon 665 SoC inside the G8 Plus.
The 730 silicon is paired with a 4GB RAM count and 128 gigs of internal storage space in the single configuration currently available in Brazil, but if that $420 price point feels steep, you should keep in mind that's not how conversion rates usually work in the mobile industry. The Moto G8 Power, for instance, is normally priced at the equivalent of $340 or so in Brazil while fetching just $250 stateside under the simplified G Power name.
Otherwise put, the G9 Plus is bound to cost a lot less than 400 bucks in the US... if it ever lands around these parts. At $300 or so, this thing could definitely catch on, featuring a headphone jack and side-mounted fingerprint scanner to complete its very solid spec sheet.
Create a free account and join our vibrant community
Register to enjoy the full PhoneArena experience. Here’s what you get with your PhoneArena account:
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
Recommended Stories
Loading Comments...
COMMENT
All comments need to comply with our
Community Guidelines
Phonearena comments rules
A discussion is a place, where people can voice their opinion, no matter if it
is positive, neutral or negative. However, when posting, one must stay true to the topic, and not just share some
random thoughts, which are not directly related to the matter.
Things that are NOT allowed:
Off-topic talk - you must stick to the subject of discussion
Offensive, hate speech - if you want to say something, say it politely
Spam/Advertisements - these posts are deleted
Multiple accounts - one person can have only one account
Impersonations and offensive nicknames - these accounts get banned
Moderation is done by humans. We try to be as objective as possible and moderate with zero bias. If you think a
post should be moderated - please, report it.
Have a question about the rules or why you have been moderated/limited/banned? Please,
contact us.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: