Moto G 4g 2nd gen

brillopad · 13-05-2015, 01:33

Anyone got one of these - I bought mine from Amazon

I had an HTC Desire HD for the last 5 years but it was sloooow and very frustrating to use.

I asked a chap at work for a recommendation for a new phone and he said Motorola so I got the '4g'.

For a budget phone it's amazing - has all sorts of features like face unlock, motion keep alive.

Plenty of memory, SD card, FM radio, good battery life - size is nice - tad bigger than my HTC but not the silly size of phone that my chaps at work have - they are like Nexus 7's

It's quite speedy and I can't imagine why folk spend £500+ on a phone

For half the price of my old HTC I am impressed.

lightspeed2398 · 13-05-2015, 07:33

I've got a mate with the first one , same processor as the second I think.

It runs like a dream and has mostly stock Android. It's a great phone and a great deal for the price.

d123 · 13-05-2015, 10:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by brillopad

Plenty of memory, SD card, FM radio, good battery life - size is nice - tad bigger than my HTC but not the silly size of phone that my chaps at work have - they are like Nexus 7's

It's a decent budget phone but it's a stretch to call it's miserly 8GB of memory "plenty of memory".

shaddler · 13-05-2015, 10:46

I have one. Overall a great phone for the money but I wish it had tap-to-wake, and the enforced ascending tone volume that causes me to miss most of my Messenger notifications is an unwelcome safety 'feature'.

St. Anthony · 13-05-2015, 21:02

I picked up a Moto E 2nd gen for £69 (cpw upgrade).

Amazing what you can get for the money, I find it occasionally can't quite handle things, but very rarely, and I find its battery is fantastic, 8-9 hours screen on time.

Also find it will work when other, much more expensive devices (my lg pad, Note 2) struggle, for example, I am here in Spain, and its flying on the WiFi, whereas the other devices are struggling, thanks, I think to its almost lack of skin

ash45 · 13-05-2015, 22:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by d123

It's a decent budget phone but it's a stretch to call it's miserly 8GB of memory "plenty of memory".

compared to the OPs HTC Desire HD that had 1.5 GB 8ig is plenty lol

d123 · 13-05-2015, 23:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by ash45

compared to the OPs HTC Desire HD that had 1.5 GB 8ig is plenty lol

That is true, if you've never had a phone with decent storage I suppose having 5GB of usable space seems miraculous

.

brillopad · 13-05-2015, 23:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaddler

I have one. Overall a great phone for the money but I wish it had tap-to-wake, and the enforced ascending tone volume that causes me to miss most of my Messenger notifications is an unwelcome safety 'feature'.

Put it in a flip case with a magnetic clip and it will sleep and wake with the catch.

brillopad · 13-05-2015, 23:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by d123

It's a decent budget phone but it's a stretch to call it's miserly 8GB of memory "plenty of memory".

Has an SD card slot though.

1manonthebog · 14-05-2015, 06:48

I had 2, The first Moto G then the 4G version, both had a horrible RAM management bug and Motorola support was awful so ditched and wont buy another Motorola phone

d123 · 14-05-2015, 10:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by brillopad

Has an SD card slot though.

Which for app use has been diminished in usability by Googles policies of preventing many apps from working from SD.

OK if you just want media on the phone, I suppose.

Just don't go and buy TomTom Europe to use on a phone with a small internal memory like the 4G

.

binary · 14-05-2015, 13:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1manonthebog

I had 2, The first Moto G then the 4G version, both had a horrible RAM management bug and Motorola support was awful so ditched and wont buy another Motorola phone

How does this "RAM management bug" manifest itself?

(I had a Moto G, now have a 4G.)

1manonthebog · 14-05-2015, 13:18

Ram issue is to do with sluggishness, apps force closing as not enough ram, launcher redraws and that type of thing. The Motorola forum is full of complaints. They say lollipop fixes it but they haven't rolled it out yet

JurassicMark · 14-05-2015, 14:11

I've got a 1st gen Moto G 4G and am very happy with it, although it's my first smartphone so have nothing to compare it to.

Have noticed it becoming a bit sluggish now that I have filled it with apps but for the price (cost me £115), I can't complain.

jonmorris · 15-05-2015, 15:44

I'd recommend the Honor 4X as another budget option. Only available SIM free, and also dual SIM.

It's much faster.

Here's my review, which also includes some downsides (and points out that the Moto G is still good, but needs a proper update now it's getting on for two years old). http://jmcomms.com/2015/05/13/honor-...artphone-king/

Redcoat · 15-05-2015, 19:08

The Honor 4X doesn't support LTE Band 20 (800MHz), which means that it won't at present support LTE on O2, very limited coverage on Vodafone and will also be limited on 3 with its plans to expand 800MHz coverage. It should be OK for EE at present but any LTE phone for the UK market which lacks Band 20 comes with a health warning.

d123 · 15-05-2015, 19:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redcoat

The Honor 4X doesn't support LTE Band 20 (800MHz), which means that it won't at present support LTE on O2, very limited coverage on Vodafone and will also be limited on 3 with its plans to expand 800MHz coverage. It should be OK for EE at present but any LTE phone for the UK market which lacks Band 20 comes with a health warning.

Another one? When will the Chinese own brand manufacturers realise that 800Mhz is used in virtually every European country and start using modern radio chips, or is it still a case of budget forcing them to use components from 2 years ago?

jonmorris · 15-05-2015, 19:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redcoat

The Honor 4X doesn't support LTE Band 20 (800MHz), which means that it won't at present support LTE on O2, very limited coverage on Vodafone and will also be limited on 3 with its plans to expand 800MHz coverage. It should be OK for EE at present but any LTE phone for the UK market which lacks Band 20 comes with a health warning.

Yes it does. It's the 6 Plus that doesn't.

My 4X is working fine with an O2 SIM on 4G.

Redcoat · 18-05-2015, 19:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonmorris

Yes it does. It's the 6 Plus that doesn't.

My 4X is working fine with an O2 SIM on 4G.

Only going by the specs listed on GSM Arena & Phone Arena in my defence.

Neither list the Honor 4X as having Band 20.

jonmorris · 18-05-2015, 20:49

GSM Arena has been very disappointing of late for accuracy. It says the Huawei P8 has dual hand Wi-Fi when it doesn't (again, I've got one so know the site is wrong).

It is odd how Huawei decides on what to support, especially a flagship that has no 5GHz Wi-Fi and therefore no 802.11ac support.

D_Mcd4 · 18-05-2015, 21:54

I got one as a spare phone. I'm very impressed at what you get for the money. Dual sim, unlocked, a good battery and Lollipop running smooth.

d123 · 18-05-2015, 22:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by D_Mcd4

I got one as a spare phone. I'm very impressed at what you get for the money. Dual sim, unlocked, a good battery and Lollipop running smooth.

What phone are you referring to? The Moto 4G in the OPs link appears to be single sim handset.

Or do you mean the Honor 4X?

D_Mcd4 · 18-05-2015, 22:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by d123

What phone are you referring to? The Moto 4G in the OPs link appears to be single sim handset.

Or do you mean the Honor 4X?

I just noticed the 4G bit, mine is this one....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorola-5-I...WKJ90HFP8DAEJQ

brillopad · 19-05-2015, 00:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by d123

Which for app use has been diminished in usability by Googles policies of preventing many apps from working from SD.

OK if you just want media on the phone, I suppose.

Just don't go and buy TomTom Europe to use on a phone with a small internal memory like the 4G

.

You had me worried for a bit - only having the phone for a few days I've now got on top of it.

I ran out of memory when first starting the phone and it went get all my store apps - however after moving to SD card I was able to get the rest.

As usual the Google apps won't move and some old apps won't either - I had a 500mb app which I was able to alter the path for to sdcard1 to move it.

I now have way over a hundred apps installed and still have 1.3gb free on internal storage.

As I said initially I'm quite impressed with the phone - with all the apps I've added it still runs speedily.

I run 'clean master' on it which keeps memory and junk under control.

I mentioned too that you can wake up the phone with a magnetic catch case - I felt at embarased when mine stopped waking up the phone - turns out that the magnet was a bit weak - adding a neodymium cured it.

13-05-2015, 01:33	#1
brillopad Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: St Ives, Cornwall Posts: 3,177	Moto G 4g 2nd gen Anyone got one of these - I bought mine from Amazon I had an HTC Desire HD for the last 5 years but it was sloooow and very frustrating to use. I asked a chap at work for a recommendation for a new phone and he said Motorola so I got the '4g'. For a budget phone it's amazing - has all sorts of features like face unlock, motion keep alive. Plenty of memory, SD card, FM radio, good battery life - size is nice - tad bigger than my HTC but not the silly size of phone that my chaps at work have - they are like Nexus 7's It's quite speedy and I can't imagine why folk spend £500+ on a phone For half the price of my old HTC I am impressed.

13-05-2015, 07:33	#2
lightspeed2398 Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 1,325	I've got a mate with the first one , same processor as the second I think. It runs like a dream and has mostly stock Android. It's a great phone and a great deal for the price.

13-05-2015, 10:36	#3
d123 Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 3,993	Quote: Originally Posted by brillopad Plenty of memory, SD card, FM radio, good battery life - size is nice - tad bigger than my HTC but not the silly size of phone that my chaps at work have - they are like Nexus 7's It's a decent budget phone but it's a stretch to call it's miserly 8GB of memory "plenty of memory".

13-05-2015, 10:46	#4
shaddler Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Station Eleven Posts: 3,489	I have one. Overall a great phone for the money but I wish it had tap-to-wake, and the enforced ascending tone volume that causes me to miss most of my Messenger notifications is an unwelcome safety 'feature'.

13-05-2015, 21:02	#5
St. Anthony Inactive Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 1,078	I picked up a Moto E 2nd gen for £69 (cpw upgrade). Amazing what you can get for the money, I find it occasionally can't quite handle things, but very rarely, and I find its battery is fantastic, 8-9 hours screen on time. Also find it will work when other, much more expensive devices (my lg pad, Note 2) struggle, for example, I am here in Spain, and its flying on the WiFi, whereas the other devices are struggling, thanks, I think to its almost lack of skin

13-05-2015, 22:42	#6
ash45 Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 336	Quote: Originally Posted by d123 It's a decent budget phone but it's a stretch to call it's miserly 8GB of memory "plenty of memory". compared to the OPs HTC Desire HD that had 1.5 GB 8ig is plenty lol

13-05-2015, 23:18	#7
d123 Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 3,993	Quote: Originally Posted by ash45 compared to the OPs HTC Desire HD that had 1.5 GB 8ig is plenty lol That is true, if you've never had a phone with decent storage I suppose having 5GB of usable space seems miraculous .

13-05-2015, 23:48	#8
brillopad Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: St Ives, Cornwall Posts: 3,177	Quote: Originally Posted by shaddler I have one. Overall a great phone for the money but I wish it had tap-to-wake, and the enforced ascending tone volume that causes me to miss most of my Messenger notifications is an unwelcome safety 'feature'. Put it in a flip case with a magnetic clip and it will sleep and wake with the catch.

13-05-2015, 23:49	#9
brillopad Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: St Ives, Cornwall Posts: 3,177	Quote: Originally Posted by d123 It's a decent budget phone but it's a stretch to call it's miserly 8GB of memory "plenty of memory". Has an SD card slot though.

14-05-2015, 06:48	#10
1manonthebog Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 2,332	I had 2, The first Moto G then the 4G version, both had a horrible RAM management bug and Motorola support was awful so ditched and wont buy another Motorola phone

14-05-2015, 10:51	#11
d123 Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 3,993	Quote: Originally Posted by brillopad Has an SD card slot though. Which for app use has been diminished in usability by Googles policies of preventing many apps from working from SD. OK if you just want media on the phone, I suppose. Just don't go and buy TomTom Europe to use on a phone with a small internal memory like the 4G .

14-05-2015, 13:14	#12
binary Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 636	Quote: Originally Posted by 1manonthebog I had 2, The first Moto G then the 4G version, both had a horrible RAM management bug and Motorola support was awful so ditched and wont buy another Motorola phone How does this "RAM management bug" manifest itself? (I had a Moto G, now have a 4G.)

14-05-2015, 13:18	#13
1manonthebog Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 2,332	Ram issue is to do with sluggishness, apps force closing as not enough ram, launcher redraws and that type of thing. The Motorola forum is full of complaints. They say lollipop fixes it but they haven't rolled it out yet

14-05-2015, 14:11	#14
JurassicMark Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Nottingham Posts: 5,578	I've got a 1st gen Moto G 4G and am very happy with it, although it's my first smartphone so have nothing to compare it to. Have noticed it becoming a bit sluggish now that I have filled it with apps but for the price (cost me £115), I can't complain.

15-05-2015, 15:44	#15
jonmorris Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: a land filled with trolls Posts: 12,018	I'd recommend the Honor 4X as another budget option. Only available SIM free, and also dual SIM. It's much faster. Here's my review, which also includes some downsides (and points out that the Moto G is still good, but needs a proper update now it's getting on for two years old). http://jmcomms.com/2015/05/13/honor-...artphone-king/

15-05-2015, 19:08	#16
Redcoat Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: The wilds of West Tyrone Posts: 2,122	The Honor 4X doesn't support LTE Band 20 (800MHz), which means that it won't at present support LTE on O2, very limited coverage on Vodafone and will also be limited on 3 with its plans to expand 800MHz coverage. It should be OK for EE at present but any LTE phone for the UK market which lacks Band 20 comes with a health warning.

15-05-2015, 19:29	#17
d123 Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 3,993	Quote: Originally Posted by Redcoat The Honor 4X doesn't support LTE Band 20 (800MHz), which means that it won't at present support LTE on O2, very limited coverage on Vodafone and will also be limited on 3 with its plans to expand 800MHz coverage. It should be OK for EE at present but any LTE phone for the UK market which lacks Band 20 comes with a health warning. Another one? When will the Chinese own brand manufacturers realise that 800Mhz is used in virtually every European country and start using modern radio chips, or is it still a case of budget forcing them to use components from 2 years ago?

15-05-2015, 19:56	#18
jonmorris Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: a land filled with trolls Posts: 12,018	Quote: Originally Posted by Redcoat The Honor 4X doesn't support LTE Band 20 (800MHz), which means that it won't at present support LTE on O2, very limited coverage on Vodafone and will also be limited on 3 with its plans to expand 800MHz coverage. It should be OK for EE at present but any LTE phone for the UK market which lacks Band 20 comes with a health warning. Yes it does. It's the 6 Plus that doesn't. My 4X is working fine with an O2 SIM on 4G.

18-05-2015, 19:55	#19
Redcoat Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: The wilds of West Tyrone Posts: 2,122	Quote: Originally Posted by jonmorris Yes it does. It's the 6 Plus that doesn't. My 4X is working fine with an O2 SIM on 4G. Only going by the specs listed on GSM Arena & Phone Arena in my defence. Neither list the Honor 4X as having Band 20.

18-05-2015, 20:49	#20
jonmorris Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: a land filled with trolls Posts: 12,018	GSM Arena has been very disappointing of late for accuracy. It says the Huawei P8 has dual hand Wi-Fi when it doesn't (again, I've got one so know the site is wrong). It is odd how Huawei decides on what to support, especially a flagship that has no 5GHz Wi-Fi and therefore no 802.11ac support.

18-05-2015, 21:54	#21
D_Mcd4 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 4,486	I got one as a spare phone. I'm very impressed at what you get for the money. Dual sim, unlocked, a good battery and Lollipop running smooth.

DS Forums

Moto G 4g 2nd gen

18-05-2015, 22:04	#22
d123 Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 3,993	Quote: Originally Posted by D_Mcd4 I got one as a spare phone. I'm very impressed at what you get for the money. Dual sim, unlocked, a good battery and Lollipop running smooth. What phone are you referring to? The Moto 4G in the OPs link appears to be single sim handset. Or do you mean the Honor 4X?

18-05-2015, 22:15	#23
D_Mcd4 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 4,486	Quote: Originally Posted by d123 What phone are you referring to? The Moto 4G in the OPs link appears to be single sim handset. Or do you mean the Honor 4X? I just noticed the 4G bit, mine is this one.... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Motorola-5-I...WKJ90HFP8DAEJQ

19-05-2015, 00:48	#24
brillopad Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: St Ives, Cornwall Posts: 3,177	Quote: Originally Posted by d123 Which for app use has been diminished in usability by Googles policies of preventing many apps from working from SD. OK if you just want media on the phone, I suppose. Just don't go and buy TomTom Europe to use on a phone with a small internal memory like the 4G . You had me worried for a bit - only having the phone for a few days I've now got on top of it. I ran out of memory when first starting the phone and it went get all my store apps - however after moving to SD card I was able to get the rest. As usual the Google apps won't move and some old apps won't either - I had a 500mb app which I was able to alter the path for to sdcard1 to move it. I now have way over a hundred apps installed and still have 1.3gb free on internal storage. As I said initially I'm quite impressed with the phone - with all the apps I've added it still runs speedily. I run 'clean master' on it which keeps memory and junk under control. I mentioned too that you can wake up the phone with a magnetic catch case - I felt at embarased when mine stopped waking up the phone - turns out that the magnet was a bit weak - adding a neodymium cured it.