Motorola Moto G84 5G Review: Budget Excellence (Mostly)

[@TheOfficialStal]

For me personally, I use my phone for KZbin, some social media and work. The G84 is a brilliant phone for the price. The screen is great, 120hz OLED with good looking bezels, the processer is equivalent to my old OnePlus 6 that had a Snapdragon 845, I'm getting equivalent performance with half the power draw and nearly double the battery. Realistically if you don't care about perfect photos and gaming this phone is insanely good value. Phone gaming sucks anyway..

[@rompet-hs6hy]

The Moto G84 5G has a big problem. It's a sound. The outgoing volume is quite weak. the speakers of the phone low sound. Bluetooth and 3.5 jack also have low sound. It doesn't matter how you connect any device it will play quietly. You will need to turn them on almost to the maximum. Standard melodies play loudly. However, if you turn on something from KZbin or other apps, the volume is -50%. Most likely, the problem is software, but the problem has been around for six months. There are many negative reviews about this problem on the Internet and on the Motorola support site. It seems that Motorola is not going to solve it.

[@TheOfficialStal]

@@rompet-hs6hy I have heard of this issue but my phone seems to be unaffected. Think it's only certain models that have audio issues.

[@rompet-hs6hy]

@@TheOfficialStal The Moto G84 5G has this problem

[@rompet-hs6hy]

@@TheOfficialStal The Moto G84 5G has this problem

[@jetttor]

​@@rompet-hs6hynope. Im really very happy with this phone. I use every single day of the year and never fails. 24/7/365. Good sound Dolby Atmos, Android 14, 12 GB ram, plus microsSD 1TB size. I've turn off animations and transitions for more speed and performance. Next phone maybe in 2026 or 27.

[@danielneave6748]

For me its the NFC that the g84 offers over yhe g54, the camera isnt a huge issue for me, obviousy if you were coming from an S23 to a g84 it would be very noticeable but for me its just a nice looking phone that does everything i need

[@Bjowolf2]

The g54 does have nfc, where I live ( Europe ) - and even dlna & FM radio, which are becoming rare features in "modern" smartphones these days for some mysterious reasons 🙄

[@JayVancouverful]

g54 has NFC in Australia too but it stopped working 2 months after purchase. Had to send it in to get it fixed.

[@rompet-hs6hy]

The Moto G84 5G has a big problem. It's a sound. The outgoing volume is quite weak. the speakers of the phone low sound. Bluetooth and 3.5 jack also have low sound. It doesn't matter how you connect any device it will play quietly. You will need to turn them on almost to the maximum. Standard melodies play loudly. However, if you turn on something from KZbin or other apps, the volume is -50%. Most likely, the problem is software, but the problem has been around for six months. There are many negative reviews about this problem on the Internet and on the Motorola support site. It seems that Motorola is not going to solve it.

[@joewinglovemusic]

Oops I see Thanks was about to buy one at JB-HiFi at $299 .. Do you think the G85 will be improve in this area please?!

[@summerfarmestates]

i just got one at £199.99 the g54 was only £40 cheaper so with the better screen it was for me

[@bigfella6629]

Would like to buy a Motorola phone but lack of OS updates puts me off buying one. Might have to look at a Oppo or Nokia instead.

[@AlexKidman]

If OS upgrades are important to you, Nokia/HMD Global has much better form in that department generally (though it does now vary by phone a little).

[@wausjackbauer128]

@@AlexKidman Nokia have scaled back their phone production. They're not making many new ones anymore and the ones they do make are mostly lowish budget ones

[@AlexKidman]

@@wausjackbauer128 All too true as HMD Global scales back on what it's doing with the licensed Nokia brand, which I've written about here: alexreviewstech.com/opinion-hmd-global-really-doesnt-need-nokia-branding-any-more/

[@GjordDeLad05]

As a former fan of HMD Nokia, do not bother buying their products. Everything's been rubbish since 2020. Also they might break their promise about software updates like my Nokia 5.3 which was promised 2 OS update but only got 1..and that 1 update has bugs in it. starting 2024 they'll no longer selling their smartphones under Nokia name but rather their own name HMD...Home of Mediocre Devices, selling entry level 2024 phones with 2018 specs. Went to Sony and I'm loving it.

[@10mbc]

The problem with the G54 is the Mediatek SOC. The wifi is awful!

[@markjmaxwell9819]

A fantastic phone with the extra RAM boosting the performance considerably more than expected and one of the best displays at any price point. But I agree with the reviewer the lack of one more OS upgrade is disappointing. And my only other concern would be screen burn in after my Samsung AMOLED screen issues. But overall a great phone for the money with every feature I expect with NFC and a couple of other features such as stereo speakers and a headphone jack nice inclusions for the price. You have to pay much more to get wireless charging unfortunately. Priced at $299 AU currently it's very good value for money. 😎🇦🇺👍

[@the51project]

I just picked it up for $296 in AU. Replaces a 5-year-old moto that is showing it's age and cost $200. Fantastic value for the price. Another 5 years.

[@arthurmanalo8628]

Some of the user comments moto g84 have sound problem it weak,is that true please reply..

[@lifeliked]

For me its the size. I like small phones. The Samsung galaxy s10 for example! In your personal opinion would I be okay with size and weight for the price? and if no then I would like to hear all other suggestions please.

[@fuckbigtech]

me too, but i hate samsung bloatware/OS.

[@jimron8844]

I was thinking about the g84 and the g54. $216 for the g84 and $167 for the g54. What pulls me towards the g84 is the better screen. But technically $50 bucks more than the g54. Only 8gb ram What pulls me towards the g54 is the slightly better (not by much) cpu and the $50 bucks saved. With those price points, which would you recommend?

[@hedonist2104]

they share the exact same cpu

[@jimron8844]

@@hedonist2104 they don't. one is a mediatek thing and another the snapdragon.

[@petralohrova0513]

I had a tie between these two phones too. I chose G84, because I just fell in love with the design of it and from what I heard, the 12GB ram can kinda "fix" things that the cpu can't run fast enough. Overall, I chose this one mostly because of the ram, storage, design and display. Not sure if I helped you, I am no tech master.

[@mutton_man]

​@@petralohrova0513is it comfortable to hold? The corners look a little sharp?

[@prouserprouser9646]

Don't bother with Motorola pal, the cameras are bad throughout the range! ​@@mutton_man

[@10mbc]

The vegan leather versions do not have a case included it seems.

[@KoalaBeer.]

Mine did red

[@TheN6rthern]

Does this phone offer LDAC? I can't find Bluetooth codec for this phone.

[@JayVancouverful]

Can anyone confirm if the Moto g84 5g in Australia has eSIM support? Im aware that other markets have it.

[@AlexKidman]

Motorola AU's spec sheet for it (www.motorola.com.au/smartphones-au-moto-g84-5g/p) doesn't list it, and they're usually quite on the ball about features either missing or present, so I'd say no (but to be 100% transparent, I can't recall if the model I had did or didn't, but then sometimes the review phones are international models anyway...)

[@d.j.z.j]

shoukd i buy one for 275 cash in aud? woukd it still be worth it value wise

[@joewinglovemusic]

It's $299 now at JB HiFi and Amazon .. Should I buy this for Mum or wait till G85 .. Do you know what improvement will G85 be please ?

[@AlexKidman]

G85 hasn't been announced for Aus locally just yet, but based on international models, the G85 will have a slightly bigger screen, start at Android 14 (not clear what updates it'll get) and slight style redesign. May lack proper IP-rated water resistance (not that this is high on the G84, but it's at least stated) on the G85.

[@joewinglovemusic]

@@AlexKidman I see Thanks .. Should I buy or wait 🤔 Oh What do you think of Nubia Neo 2 5g please (Bought it at AUD260) ?! Actually I just bought it on Aliexpress but prepare to return it and get the Moto G84 .. I should have checked the prices before I click checkout last night 😓😓😓

[@joewinglovemusic]

@@AlexKidman Thank You Alex .. Oh what other Good Budget Devices would you recommend in Australia please? My Sister was Lucky to get a Pixel 7 Pro at half price with Vodafone (Kind of as need to be on a monthly plans for 2 Years) but still over double of my budget around $300 .. Thanks a lot! Regards, J

[@KoalaBeer.]

@@joewinglovemusicbuy even at $299. Most are really heavy to hold loving how light yet keeps 6.5 . The whole upgrade 5yr thing well I never keep mine after 2yrs 😂 . So not fussed. Pixels I don’t like and overpriced

[@dadmot9977]

g54 is less likely to have custom ROM support though due to it having a mediatek chip which can't be said for g84

[@AlexKidman]

Interesting thought, probably quite true -- though I do wonder what percentage of the G54/G84 market is in the custom ROM scene...

[@KoalaBeer.]

Got it today $150 clearance 🎉. Why can’t Samsung make this light?

[@fonzitheman]

AUD $150? Im guessing so judging by your name here 😊. If so where did you get it at that price?

[@subwayfacemelt4325]

​@@fonzithemanYes plz tell where you got it for that price?

[@joewinglovemusic]

P.S. what the Pin Ball game were u playing pls?

[@AlexKidman]

@@joewinglovemusic Williams Pinball

[@joewinglovemusic]

@@AlexKidman Cool Thank You I will take a look ..

[@J3335]

Very good review, thanks. I'm looking for a budget phone with good battery, good sound&image for youtube/podcasts and good performance... Couldn't give a damn abt camera. I keep looking between the Samsung and Motorola but can't decide. I currently have a Huawei P10lite which is dying. Any advice?

[@AlexKidman]

At this kind of price space, Motorola tends to outgun Samsung for performance, though Samsung is a little better on updates. Here's my review of the Samsung A05s: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6nEeKdohZqAmpY

[@J3335]

@@AlexKidman thank you very much for the reply. I was leaning towards Motorola and with your advice, I think that'll be the one for me (though I'll have a look at that Samsung...) Time flies... Not had a Motorola since 2000. Now there, was battery life😂 Thanks again for the advice, much appreciated.

[@d.j.z.j]

is this better thsn a s21 refurbed?

[@KoalaBeer.]

@@d.j.z.jyes lol S21 has green line issue. Samsung not liked many since 2021 sadly. Except flagships but I wouldn’t pay that. S21 was good in its day and FE weight wise also

[@dannnsss8034]

Thanks for the review, will stick with my Samsung Galaxy S9 lol... Yes still works fine for my needs. Battery lasts a day and the camera, lightyears ahead of this, especially the night shots. Apps I use work fine, I don't game.

[@sho-kun8939]

Screen time for me is 4-5 hrs🙏😭

[@sv6k0a39]

Motorola makes great phones these days. They are owned by Lenovo.

[@cygreeneye]

G54 have IPS display but 84 have pOLED so OLED display want to more battery are you know or not 😢

[@EvillNooB]

OLEDs are generally more efficient because black pixels are fully off, with IPS you still have backlight

[@dop3hasib]

central coast?

[@davidmcc6666]

Nice review, mate. Still can't work out why the price of the g84 fluctuates so often. At the time of writing it's back to 349 at JB. Mate, I'd like your opinion on which Moto has the better camera, without breaking the bank? Thanks.

[@AlexKidman]

Very line ball kind of question, that one, because at this level the differences are pretty slim (and it often comes down to what you're shooting). Arguably the G84, if only because I'd get slightly more use out of the ultrawide compared to the macro on the G54.

[@fonzitheman]

Not in the market for a phone right now but I may after the 3G shut off so I had a look at the G84,TCL40 NXT Paper and the G85 at JB yesty. Well,I didnt have the G85 in hand,it was the Fusion one but they are same in looks and size I believe. After holding the G84 I dont think Id get that one,they seem good value for price though. The TCL,well the screen sure is a diff thing,I actually didnt mind it,and I also prefer bigger screens but the rest of the specs of the phone isnt great,seems average at best. Yeah I know its built for a price but there are better handsets for that AUD $300 price. And so I think Id get the G85,the screen size is OK,the curved edge screen is defo diff to what Im used to but I didnt mind it. So I think Id rather get that for its aud $400 price tag. I have looked at others,oppo's,samsung's,xiaomi's etc but the G85 tics more boxes for me for its price. And so anyone get the G85 yet? Hope you do a review on that one soon Alex 👍

[@AlexKidman]

Coming soon -- just waiting on a review model to actually arrive for me to test!

[@fonzitheman]

@@AlexKidman Great. Ive watched Tech Spurt"s review on it but defo wanna see what you think. Look forward to it.

[@YouKayTen]

Dual SIM?

[@TechNomadUK1]

Hi mate. Do you still have three phone? Have you received the Android 14 update? Apart from some new features have you noticed any improvements on the camera front? I wanted to also ask if the display colour calibration has improved? Can you long press a text on a photo and copy that similar to what you can do on a Samsung?

[@AlexKidman]

Unfortunately this was a review phone so I don't have it any more -- sorry!

[@Cukito4]

You forgot to say, the G54 doesn’t have ultra wide. It has macro photo instead.

[@AlexKidman]

True, though I'd stick to the primary wide lens on either camera in nearly every instance anyway.

[@KoalaBeer.]

But 1 upgrade 😢..even A25 has 5 upgrades. This or A25 ? Same price Alex …..thoughts. Only thing I like would be weight so help 😂😂😂

[@AlexKidman]

So, the closest I've gotten to the A25 was testing the A35 (Samsung can be a tad difficult to get lower-tier phones out of, though I do try to review all phones equally and on their merits, such is life): kzbin.info/www/bejne/eGWXqWaHZpJ3icU A25 does have the upgrades going for it, though based purely on specs, the added RAM in the G84 would be nice to have. The A25 started from a higher price point though, so if you're getting them at price parity that's a good discount on the A25... and a sign that the G84 should probably have dropped in price a little by now!

[@db9406]

@@AlexKidman The Samsung A35 is around 50grams heavier than the Moto 84G. A deal breaker for me.

[@KoalaBeer.]

@@db9406yes A25 to heavy went for G84 for $150 can I go wrong

[@dbs567]

As always - the hardware is pretty good. However, soon after getting this phone, it was practically FORCING me to update Android, with no option of turning these update prompts off. Tech companies blackmail you into updating your phone, by threatening you saying your phone isn't secure. However, the updates are really only there for one reason - to slow your phone down and overload its processing capability, so you buy a new one in 2.5 years time. Instead of anti-virus software, we need anti-update software to stop tech companies doing this.

[@alfonsocarvajal1225]

Eso sucedió en Iphone , en motorola no y menos en un móvil de gama media

[@lazzoboy6761]

You already commented on this in the other review videos. Get a rest, man

[@user-ey3so9be2y]

That's a myth dude, and operating your phone with an old OS can leave you open to serious security threats - hence the notifications to update.

[@dbs567]

@@user-ey3so9be2y if they care so much about your security then why aren't they offering the security updates without the other 90% of crap?

[@arthurmanalo8628]

Alex I read about moto g84 5g have a sound problem it weak..can you clarify this issue i appreciate it.

[@Phone_accessories_review]

Finally, someone reviews the black version instead of the irritating red on😢

[@gr8wc]

Nope it's actually the offensive blue one! 😆

[@realfamilyman]

"There's something about vegan leather that sets my nerves on edge... I really don't like it." Much like real vegans then.

[@Antphoneigh]

Made of Vegans!

[@Fnord23Gnosis]

What Iearned from this video. If its Vegan, dont touch it or buy it.

[@Episode_13]

NO!

[@dionilaramos-xo8gx]

What do you mean by the word Vegan?

[@Fnord23Gnosis]

@dionilaramos-xo8gx ask the reviewer. He talked about vegan leather. Something that's highly, environmentally destructive.

[@Fnord23Gnosis]

@@Episode_13 yes!

[@user-ht6rw9st4y]

Excellence..?! Something that would run down in a rain?! The phone doesn't have any IP rating..!

[@AlexKidman]

Believe it's stated for some markets at IP54, which isn't much -- but in this price bracket getting any really durable water resistance is super rare.

[@bobbyboko6317]

If you really want a great camera buy a camera 😊

[@rofalmatt]

cheers mate

[@sambojinbojin-sam6550]

Incredibly crappy memory controller. It might say 12gig RAM, but guess how much the Snapdragon 695 processor can address at any time? 8gig. Absolutely fine for most uses, but annoying as hell for running local LLMs. It's a processor/thread thing, so you still do have 12gig RAM, but it's clustered for multitasking stuff, not just a big grunt box of RAM. Otherwise, a great little workhorse phone. Way over-specced in hardware for the dollars you're paying, and works fine. A tiny bit underpowered in almost every way compared to a true flagship, but at 1/4 the price, it's got a lot of power for the $$$.

[@sambojinbojin-sam6550]

5watt TPD processor too, so you actually get a tonne of life out of that 5000mAh battery. Fairly reasonable screen too, so you can turn it down a bit, and get 1 1/2 - 2 days out of it if you're not gaming/ content-creating hard, before an hour or so recharge afterwards. Processor is a bit jank on 2 performance, 6 efficiency cores, but most programs use them well. If you're doing LLMs, just set processors to 2, so you're only running the quicker ones. Not quick, just quicker. But yeah, I honestly can't buy a better phone for the price, and every actual upgrade on hardware specs would be in the $500-800 range, which means it's an absolute bargain for $300-350Aussie. ((Also, a feature you didn't mention: It has "Bogan Radio" as standard. It has a radio, that will still work, even without headphones plugged in. It works better with a charger plugged in, it works better+better with headphones plugged in, so it has a reasonable sized antenna, but it works on loudspeaker without anything. This is a feature. Also can run in the background without taking up too many resources, so if you're just reading, and want background sound, all good))

[@vertbeke7977]

Great ..

[@prouserprouser9646]

Just sold my g73 5g and bought the g84 5g and wish I hadn't bothered. The macro and low light is a JOKE , Im never going near a Motorola ( Lenovo) product again. Cheap n nasty!

[@rederickfroders1978]

For this price I dont care about the cameras. Im into media and I definitely dont care about using my phone for anything other than casual pictures.

[@missdiva421]

Totally agree with you. The camera is appalling. I've had other budget phones and have never seen yellow images in low light. Avoid at all costs

[@wausjackbauer128]

It's a budget phone. If you want a good camera you have to spend more or get a 2nd hand high end phone from 1 or 2 years ago.

[@laura-y4c9c]

@@wausjackbauer128 Even with those it's a hit and miss at times. I have an Asus Rog 6 and I have to say that if I actually cared about the photos it makes I'd be dissapointed. My old Galaxy Note 20 5g was better at photos than my Asus (heck, even my HTC was better than both). Anyway, I'm looking for this for someone who does not care for photos either so I am not really bothered by it.

[@wausjackbauer128]

@@laura-y4c9c the Asus ROG would be a very rare exception. It's main aim is to be a gaming phone so I don't think they bothered to put in a good camera.