Moto G 2013 vs Moto G 2014: best budget smartphone

Matt Davis

April 18, 2015

Although you are already searching for the Moto G 2015, the first generation Moto G from 2013 still comes up as one of the best smartphones launched in its time, and still a respectable example of a good budget smartphone. Produced by Motorola, it was one of the best smartphones when it comes to price-quality ratio and is still regarded as one of the best mid-rangers on the market. Last year, we witnessed the Moto G 2014 launch, which meant a new Motorola model came up to impress buyers, and successfully for that matter. Let’s see together how the Moto G 2014, the new born “brother”, stands up against its predecessor.

At a first look, the Moto G 2013 and Moto G 2014 are very similar in design, as buttons are the same, and the exterior design touts a very representative design language. One of the superficial differences that we notice between the older Moto G and the second generation Moto G is the speaker placement, as the newer model comes with matching grills on the top and bottom of the phone, providing stereo sound. The Moto G 2014 is 11.6 mm in height, 4.8 mm in width and it is 6 grams heavier than the first generation Moto G. The 2014 generation is also thinner by 0.6 mm, which is a rather negligible aesthetic difference.

Let’s have a look at hardware, as that’s one of the most important parts when it comes to comparing mid-range smartphones. They both come with 1GB RAM.  Snapdragon 400 CPU and 2070 mAh battery, but the Moto G 2013 only gets 8 GB internal storage while the Moto G 2014 has either 8 or 16 GB available. The Moto G 2014 camera on the rear is an 8 MP sensor not a 5 MP as on the 2013 first generation Moto G. The front camera on the phone has also been bumped up to 2 MP compared to the Moto G 2013 camera which is only a 1.3 MP sensor. The new Moto G also has a microSD, which was amiss on the first generation Moto G. At the same time, Motorola slapped a bigger display on the newer model, but left resolution at the same numbers, namely 720*1280. If you considered the old Moto G as being  too small when it comes the display, the new Moto G is the smartphone you really need. The OS is Android 4.4.4 for both Moto G version and it can be upgraded to Android 5.1 Lollipop. Still, it is a budget smartphone, one that can push its limits quickly, which is why both of these phones are regarded as top-notch in their category.

Do not expect not to experience a memory leak bug with this mid-range smartphone. Even though you can install stock Android firmware on Moto G 2014, you can still encounter Android 5.0.2 bugs. According to Google, Android 5.1.1 will resolve these issues permanently, but we don’t have any information on when that update will be sent out to the Moto G 2014 and whether it will be sent out to the first generation Moto G, too. The Moto G price for the newer version starts from almost $180 and still remains a budget smart tool, but one that promises to satisfy the most common expectations, and maybe even surprise a bit. Although there’s not a huge upgrade from the Moto G 2013 to the Moto G 2014, the improvements the company made are certainly worthwhile. When it comes to pricing, though, you can get great Moto G 2013 deals on the internet right now, as the smartphone is older than a year.