Moto G Max Review: Familiar Design, Genuinely Good Cameras

Motorola has had one of the most interesting runs in its history. From being the pioneers of personal cellphones, virtually being responsible for putting one in everyone's pockets, to being tossed around by different parent companies, mostly due to financial reasons. Motorola carries a long legacy and has weathered most storms, a true representation of a relentless survivor. One of my first smartphones was the first-generation Moto X in 2014, a well-built, uniquely designed handset with its iconic carbon fibre-like back. The Moto X was shortly followed by the Moto G series, which truly gave the company a strong foundation, at least in India.

From the Moto X in 2014 to the new Moto G and Edge series, Motorola has come a long way. The company recently launched the Moto G Max in India, a phone that was already available in select global markets. However, the tech firm tweaked it a bit to better serve the needs of the value-conscious Indian buyer. The handset relies on Motorola's tried-and-tested signature design and a larger battery. But it packs a few surprises beyond the spec sheet.

Moto G Max Design: Same Old Formula

• Dimensions - 166.23 x 76.50 x 8.60mm
• Weight - 213g
• Ingress protection - IP64 rating for dust and splash resistance
• Colours - Pantone Alaskan Blue, Pantone Malaga, and Pantone Stargazer

There is not much to say about the design of the Moto G Max, especially because Motorola has decided to stick with its “do not fix it if it is not broken” philosophy. From afar, nobody can tell which smartphone you are holding. However, you can still spot the same square-shaped camera island flowing into the flat rear panel, with four cutouts. As soon as you see it, you will know that this is a Motorola phone.

Moto G Max gets a familiar design

Yet you will be left with the question: which one? The Moto G Max does not have its own design identity. Nothing sets it apart from other Motorola phones. Unless you hold it in your hand. Even from the front, the Moto G Max looks nearly identical to its much more affordable sibling, the Moto G37 Power, sporting the same thick chin and a hole-punch display cutout.

However, if you hold it in your hand, the Moto G Max's story changes slightly. The handset feels much better in hand than its boring, old looks suggest. Its satin-inspired textured back is similar to the one on the Motorola Edge 70 Pro+, but it feels much less premium than on a flagship Edge 70 series handset. The centred Motorola branding is finished in glossy plastic, which gives a visual break.

Moto G Max is offered in three unique colourways

The button placement is also quite ergonomic. My thumb rests perfectly on the power button, which houses the integrated fingerprint scanner. However, this did lead to me accidentally unlocking the phone on several occasions. The volume controls sit slightly higher, and the keys are a little shorter than I'd like. Yet, the button quality seemed decent.

Measuring 8.6mm thick, the Moto G Max can feel a bit too thick for some, especially if you have used a Motorola phone with a curved display in the past. It is also quite top-heavy, which makes it hard to use one-handed for long periods. When laid flat on a table, the Moto G Max wobbles a lot because of the large camera sensor protruding from its back.

Moto G Max gets ergonomic button placement

The phone ships with an IP64 rating for dust and splash resistance, which feels a bit low for this price point. Moving on, the Moto G Max is offered in three Pantone-curated colour options. I got to test the Alaskan Blue shade, which is a bit too flashy for my liking. The more subtle shade of the Stargazer option looks better, at least in the marketing materials.

Moto G Max Display: Okay-ish

• Screen size - 6.72-inch Full-HD+ (1,080 × 2,400 pixels) LCD
• Refresh rate - Up to 120Hz

The Moto G Max sports a large 6.72-inch LCD touchscreen. In this particular price range, OEMs do start offering AMOLED displays. So, an LCD panel is a huge letdown. Even a few Motorola phones in this segment offer AMOLED displays with a higher resolution and the same refresh rate. That being said, the Full-HD+ resolution standard of the Moto G Max is not as disappointing as it might seem on paper.

Moto G Max sports a Full-HD+ LCD touchscreen

Despite its LCD screen, the Moto G Max gets a high-quality panel, reflected in impressive colour reproduction. The visuals seem decent, whether you are gaming, watching Reels, movies, or shows. This makes the overall experience quite good and well-rounded. Apart from the vivid colours, the background behind subjects can sometimes look a bit grainy, which I didn't expect from an otherwise decent panel.

Moto G Max is decent for watching Reels and movies

I started rewatching the first season of the Saif Ali Khan-starrer Sacred Games on Netflix, along with a few random episodes of The Big Bang Theory and Brooklyn 99. The overall content-watching experience was fine. There was no discomfort to the eyes, even under dimly lit conditions. The auto screen brightness is quite responsive and quick to adapt to the environment. But the lack of deeper blacks and the extra punch of an AMOLED panel was indeed missing.

Moto G Max Performance, Software: Lacklustre

• Chipset - Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 (4nm)
• RAM - 6GB of LPDDR5x
• Storage - 128GB of UFS 3.1
• Software - Hello UI
• Version - Android 16

The only disappointing thing about the Moto G Max is its performance. The phone runs on an octa-core Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 chipset, which is generally found in more affordable handsets. The Moto G Max can show a few jitters here and there, and it can also take a long time to open apps like Google Chrome and YouTube, or load specific pages and websites. Its performance limitations are mostly witnessed when you try to multitask, having 10s of active Chrome tabs open, along with more than 15 apps running in the background.

Moto G Max gets an underpowered chipset

That said, this isn't how most users use their smartphone. So, for most casual users, its performance is more than enough. Yet people who like to push their handsets to the limit may be left slightly disappointed. Its performance also shows up in the usual synthetic benchmark tests we run. Here are the results.

The Moto G Max can also run most arcade games with ease, as you would expect. Yet, you can also play a few competitive matches of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) at default graphics settings. If you want better resolution for a better experience, the phone will immediately start dropping frames.

For calls, the earpiece quality seemed fine for the most part, and I never witnessed any call drops. The Moto G Max also performs fine with Google Maps navigation. Throughout my usage, I noticed minimal thermal issues, whether during gaming or other daily tasks.

Moto G Max ships with Android 16-based HelloUI

On the software side, the Moto G Max offers the same near-vanilla Android 16 experience as other Moto G series phones. The overall UI still feels smooth and intuitive. However, like other mid-range Motorola phones, it also ships with bloatware.

Moto G Max Cameras: Truly Impressive

• Rear camera - 50-megapixel (f/1.8) main + 8-megapixel (f/2.2) ultrawide
• Selfie camera - 32-megapixel (f/2.2)

The most impressive, hands down, aspect of the Moto G Max is its camera performance. The phone captures beautiful images with its 50-megapixel primary rear camera. The shots seem really detailed, with minimal noise. The standout feature is how accurately it captures colours in different scenarios throughout the day, thanks to its Sony LYT-600 sensor.

Moto G Max camera performance

Most mid-range smartphones start to produce noisy images when pointed at a scene with different shades of the same primary colour. However, the Moto G Max outperforms its peers in this particular department. Taken from a distance, different shades of green trees are almost perfectly defined and separated.

Moto G Max performance in portrait mode

Even in portrait mode, the Moto G Max delivers strong image quality. However, in several instances, it couldn't identify parts of the subject, blurring them along with the background. Hence, in portrait mode, it performs well when the subject is ideally facing the camera.

Moto G Max low-light camera performance

The autofocus also works decently well. During the day, it focuses and captures quickly. Even in low-light conditions, it isn't as slow as you might expect. Talking about night photography, the Moto G Max performs quite well here, too. It gets the shadows right, and the overall images seem good. However, the shots lose a lot of detail in low-light conditions.

Moto G Max selfie camera performance

Apart from that, the 8-megapixel ultrawide camera on the back is also quite underwhelming. The 32-megapixel selfie camera and the rear ultrawide shooter suffer from a similar problem. Both sensors produce blunt, undersaturated images. Both take passable photos at best. The selfie camera still performs better. But it artificially brightens skin tones.

Moto G Max Battery: No Compromises

• Capacity - 7,000mAh
• Fast charging - 30W (wired)
• Charging Adapter - Included

Another thing the Moto G Max gets right is the battery life. With slightly heavy usage involving watching videos on YouTube, listening to music on Spotify, taking photos and videos, and using GPS, I managed to get nearly two workdays of battery life. Even in the PC Mark 3.0 battery life test, the smartphone lasted for about 25 hours and 31 minutes, which is quite impressive.

Moto G Max supports 30W wired fast charging

However, Motorola could have offered faster charging support. It gets the same 30W charging support as the Moto G37 Power, which is slightly disappointing. In my testing, the phone charged from 0 to 32 percent in 30 minutes and 65 percent in an hour, while taking about 1 hour and 45 minutes to charge fully.

Moto G Max Verdict

Currently on sale in India starting at Rs. 27,999, the Moto G Max is a unique smartphone in its own right. The signature Motorola design might not set it apart, but it might appeal to a true Motorola fan. If you can get past the mediocre performance, the impressive camera performance and battery life do make the Moto G Max a formidable contender in the under Rs. 28,000 range.

However, the Motorola Edge 70 Fusion (review) is a much better package at a slightly higher price. The Edge 70 series phone has a better chipset and an AMOLED display, which could be dealbreakers for some people. Moreover, the Poco M8 Power is also one of the strongest performers in this price range, and you should definitely consider it.