Despite a big screen, decent battery life and budget price tag, the Motorola Moto G53 5G struggles to stand tall amid the low to mid-range Android crowd.
It seems there’s a Motorola handset for every budget and every occasion, so many that it can be tough to determine which is the right fit for your pocket. There are 21 handsets in the Moto G series alone, which appears to be Motorola’s low to mid-range offering – a step up from the E series but not up there with the Edge series.
The new Moto G53 5G follows on from last year’s Moto G51 5G (the G52 didn’t come to Australia), although it also has a lot in common with the Moto G 62 5G. While they both sported $399 price tags, the Moto G53 5G manages to bring it down to $329. In return, you make several sacrifices which could frustrate many people.
First impressions
The stretched 20:9 aspect ratio always makes for a tall phone. I questioned whether Motorola had gone a little too tall with the Moto G51 5G’s 6.8-inch display standing 170.5 mm tall, but the 6.5-inch Moto G53 5G reigns this into a more manageable 162.7 mm.
That might not sound like much, but shaving almost 1 centimetre off the height, as well as shedding a few grams, makes a big difference to the handset’s centre of gravity and how comfortably it sits in your hands without the risk of losing your grip.
Visually, dropping the screen back to 6.5 inches isn’t likely to bother most people. It’s still a generous amount of screen real estate. The bigger concern is that the screen resolution has dropped significantly, from 2400×1080 pixels to only 1600×720 – so basically dropping from Full HD 1080p to HD 720p.
Admittedly the screens are different sizes but, using dots per inch to compare apples with apples, reveals it the Moto G53 5G has almost halved the resolution from 444 dpi down to 267 dpi.
The result is a screen that is noticeably less sharp, even if you don’t have an eye for detail. If you’re switching to the Moto G53 5G from a phone with a better screen it will likely frustrate you, but if you’re not – which is possible in this price bracket – then you’re unlikely to appreciate what you’re missing out on. Even so, you’re entitled to expect a better.
Support for a 120 Hz refresh rate is an impressive inclusion in a phone at this price, but forgoing this in favour of a higher screen resolution would offer more bang for your buck.
Looking beyond the screen, on the right-hand side of the handset you’ll find a large power button. It doubles as a fingerprint reader but, if you’re right-handed, it actually makes more sense to use your right thumb (there’s also support for Android’s Face Unlock).
The power button is higher than the halfway point of the handset, with the volume buttons above it, which reduces the likelihood of the tall phone overbalancing in your hand as you reach for the buttons.
At the bottom of the handset, you’ll find a USB-C port for charging, along with a 3.5 mm headphone jack. It also features stereo speakers.
Like most Motorola handsets, the Moto G53 5G comes with a transparent protective case that offers some scratch and impact protection but doesn’t seem overly robust. The handset has a “water-repellent” design.
Motorola Moto G53 5G specs
| Display size | 6.5-inch, 20:9 aspect ratio |
| Display resolution | HD+ (1600 x 720), 269 ppi |
| Display technology | LCD 120 Hz |
| Bands | 3G/4G/5G |
| Chipset | Snapdragon 480+ 5G |
| CPU | 2.2 GHz octa-core Kryo 460 |
| GPU | 650 MHz Adreno 619 GPU |
| Rear cameras | 50 MP sensor (f/1.8, 0.64 µm) | Quad Pixel technology for 1.28 µm | PDAF 2 MP (f/2.4, 1.75 µm) | Macro |
| Front camera | 8 MP (f/2.2, 1.12 µm) |
| RAM | 4 GB |
| Onboard storage | 128 GB |
| microSD slot | up to 1 TB |
| Ports | USB Type-C 2.0, 3.5 mm headset jack |
| Charging | 10 W |
| Battery | 5000 mAh |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac | 2.4 GHz & 5 GHz | Wi-Fi hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.1 |
| Operating system | Android 13 |
| Security | Fingerprint reader, Face unlock |
| Ruggedness | “Water-repellent” design |
| Dimensions | 162.7 x 74.66 x 8.19mm |
| Weight | 183 gm |
| Colours | Ink Blue, Pale Pink |
| Price (RRP) | $329 |
| Warranty | 1 year |
| Australian website | Motorola |
Features
The Motorola Moto G53 5G ships with Android 13, with minimal bloatware, and Motorola says it will get a few years’ worth of updates.
Under the bonnet, you find a Snapdragon 480+ 5G chipset with 4 GB of RAM – which is fine for day-to-day tasks but is going to struggle with more demanding apps. It’s frustrating that it’s scaled back from 6 GB in the Moto G51 5G.
As for storage, 128GB onboard is sufficient, if not overly generous. Thankfully, the microSDXC expansion slot handles up to 1 TB cards.
It’s a 5G chipset, as the name suggests, which ensures you can take advantage of Australia’s fastest mobile broadband networks. That said, like most, it only supports sub-6 GHz 5G networks and not faster millimetre wave. Once again, it would be worth sacrificing 5G to pick up improvements in other areas.
The fact that the Moto G53 5G isn’t a powerhouse and doesn’t feature a super-sharp screen works to your advantage when it comes to battery life. That generous 5000 mAh battery should easily be able to go more than 24 hours before recharging if you don’t push it too hard.
When you do need to top up, there’s no support for wireless charging. It only comes with a 10W charger and there’s no fast charging support, so a full recharge takes a few hours.
When it comes to photography, you only get a dual rear camera array – consisting of a 50 MP primary shooter and 2 MP macro. You’re forgoing the third 8 MP ultrawide lens you’ll find on some other models. On the front you’ll find an 8 MP selfie camera, again falling short of what you find on similar Motorola models.
Quality
The GeekBench 6 benchmarks tell an unsurprising story considering the spec sheet. The phone scores 736 on the CPU single-core test and 1809 on the multi-core. That’s about par for the course amongst its rivals, in similar territory to the Samsung Galaxy A22 5G or A52 5G.
As a result, the Motorola Moto G53 5G only has enough grunt to satisfy people with simple needs. It will cope with day-to-day tasks but struggle with much more, especially when it only has 4 GB of RAM.
When it comes to photography, that 50 MP camera figure sounds impressive but we all know by now that megapixels aren’t everything. The phone’s picture quality once again reflects its midrange price tag, due to a small sensor and small pixels. It particularly struggles in low-light conditions.
Who is Motorola Moto G53 5G for?
The Motorola Moto G53 5G smartphone really misses the mark, which is unusual for Motorola which is pretty good at delivering value in this price range. In an effort to shave a few dollars off the price tag, Motorola has delivered a handset that is a big step down from its last few handsets in this category range. Especially when it comes to the quality of the screen.
If you can find a good price on the older Moto G51 5G, it will serve you a lot better in many ways than the new Moto G53 5G.
Ultimately, this phone is for people on a tight budget who are content with some compromises.
I sometimes think tech reviewers fall into the trap of believing everyone is an “early adopter” or a technophile just like them…and everyone reading their reviews expects every phone or device to be held up against the best available… Now, I’ve ALWAYS read reviews and researched every piece of tech, whitegoods, motor vehicle etc I’ve ever thought of of purchasing…but I generally need to read between the lines or add my own perspective to most reviews because alas…unless you are buying the class leader of whatever product you’re researching you tend to find most reviews are like the above review…sad disappointment, focussing on what could have been…except on what is.
I “wanted” a Polestar…but I bought a BYD Atto 3 …and recently (after smashing my 3 month old Pixel 7) I wanted a 7 Pro… Alas I was around $650 short. So I purchased the G53 5G …yes I read this review…and a week later I read it again… In the intervening week I’ve enjoyed this phone and it’s done everything I asked if it. Yet, when I reread it today I thought to myself “Gee, I’ve bought a dud phone…”
Except I haven’t…and it has made me wonder why I spent $800 on a Pixel 7 only a few months ago…and it REALLY makes me wonder who the f**k spends $2400 on a high end Samsung…
This Hello Moto does “the job” …and if you’re like me and most average phone users “the job” is some SocMed bullshitting, online banking, and waiting for the only weekly spam email worth anything, the Domino’s discount voucher email.
The photos it takes are fine… certainly good enough for Facebook…all my regular Apps work…Spotify connects just as well to my car stereo as it did on my Pixel 7…and Top Gun Maverick played pretty nicely thanks very much.
$327 this phone set me back…and for that amount of Dollarydoos it is, imho, a bloody bargain.
The review is good. It is accurate (I agree with the “balance” criticism of the phone) …but it’s not in context. An iPhone 13, or a Samsung Galaxy it certainly is not…but it’s hundreds less …and most users would be hard pressed to quantify where that extra money went.
My verdict? Ye cannae hand a man a grander spanner (or phone) for the money. 8 thingies out of 10
Thanks for sharing your perspective and your own experiences with the G53 (and your own review ratings!). This is why we value comments from readers like yourself so much. Really appreciate your support for GadgetGuy and taking the time as well.
Just about all the reviews I have read in the last month seem to ignore the fact that some of us punters want an FM radio tuner in our phones which would have been handy for news (emergency or other) in the Optus blackout if you were unlucky enough to be with them at the time. It is at least a feature (important to some users) and should be listed as yes or no in the specs.