By Motorola Moto G13
When you hold the Motorola Moto G13 in your hand, it’s hard to believe that it’s priced at just £150. Its design resembles that of a more expensive phone, featuring gently rounded corners and a brushed aluminium-effect rear that gives the illusion of metal (although it’s actually made of plastic). we suspect it looks equally impressive in matte charcoal or blue lavender.
Although the Motorola Moto G13 comes with a protective case in the box, its build quality is solid enough that you might not even need it. However, it’s worth being cautious with the glass front, as it doesn’t have the extra protection of Gorilla Glass 3 like the Xiaomi Poco M5. Surprisingly, though, the G13 does offer IP52 certification, providing partial protection against dust and water droplets deflected up to 15° from vertical. While it’s far from IP68, which guarantees survival in water, it’s still better than having no protection at all.
Compared to high-end phones, the 6.5-inch screen of the G13 lacks some impact in terms of color reproduction. It covers 85% of the sRGB gamut and 63% of DCI-P3, and its color accuracy is average with an average Delta E of 2.16. However, it excels in other aspects. Firstly, its peak brightness is noteworthy. Motorola claims it reaches 400cd/m², but in our testing, we measured over 500cd/m², and with adaptive brightness enabled, it even hit 630cd/m².
It’s tempting to say that this phone is incredibly easy to view even in direct sunlight, because it truly is. However, it’s when you compare the G13 side by side with other phones that are also sun-friendly that you notice the extra vibrancy in its colors and the crispness of the white backgrounds. Additionally, its high contrast ratio adds to the overall viewing experience. Don’t be deterred by its 720 x 1,600 resolution, as text remains sharp even if you choose smaller font sizes in the settings.
All the phones being tested feature 90Hz screens, but that becomes irrelevant if the processor is too slow to keep up. Fortunately, the Moto G13’s MediaTek Helio G85 chip is swift enough to smoothly navigate through Android. By referring to the graphs on page 71, it is evident that the Moto G13 consistently falls behind the Xiaomi in terms of speed, but it outperforms the Samsung and TCL devices, which is also evident in real-world usage. While it may not offer the instantaneous responsiveness of pricier phones, the Moto G13 is sufficiently fast, seldom reminding users that they are using a “budget” phone.
Moreover, the Moto G13 delivers excellent results in our gaming battery test, lasting for 16 hours and 50 minutes while running Temple Run, almost four hours longer than its closest competitor. All phones in this lineup feature a 5,000mAh battery, indicating clever optimization by Motorola. However, the G13 fares poorly in Netflix playback, achieving a time of only 13 hours and 50 minutes. Although a 10W USB-C charger is included in the box, it is worth noting that the G13 supports fast charging at 20W, and using a 20W charger would significantly reduce the charging time.
None of the phones reviewed here offer wireless charging, but they all support face unlock and come equipped with a fingerprint sensor. During our testing, we relied on face unlock and encountered no issues throughout our experience with the Moto G13. The same can be said for all the phones in the comparison.
One final aspect sets the Moto G13 apart from the competition and propels it to the top spot on our A List: its camera. On paper, the specifications are similar to its rivals, featuring a 50MP main sensor, a 2MP depth sensor, and a 2MP macro lens. However, in practice, the G13 consistently produces superior images compared to the other phones. It particularly shines in capturing nature scenes, exhibiting vibrant and natural greens that even flagship phones would be proud of. While the Samsung and TCL struggle in low-light conditions, the Moto G13 manages to capture usable, albeit less detailed, results. Although we slightly favored the macro results of the TCL and Xiaomi, the G13’s selfie camera once again proved to be the strongest performer.
When it comes to video mode, don’t expect miracles. There is no sign of any image stabilization, resulting in shaky footage when in motion, and the camera struggles to capture details in shadowed areas on sunny days. If video capabilities are essential to you, you may need to invest more, as none of the phones excel in this aspect. However, the Moto G13 excels in video playback thanks to surprisingly impressive speakers.
Motorola does not add its own overlay to Android 13, making it simpler to update to Android 14 when it becomes available. Motorola has committed to providing this significant update, along with three years of security updates starting from the release date (January 2023). One might wish for more generosity from Motorola in this regard, but with 128GB of storage and a microSD slot for expandability, we are thoroughly impressed by what the Moto G13 offers at the price of £150. It genuinely feels like a premium phone, both in terms of user experience and build quality. This leads to a straightforward question: is it truly necessary to pay more?
