Moto G64 First Impressions: No Big Improvements

Motorola now has a new big G series phone. The Moto G64 5G, the latest budget smartphone from the company offers some big features at a small price. The Moto G lineup has been around for several years now and is one of the most profitable for the manufacturer. With the new Moto G64, you get some world-first features as well, which is something Motorola also did with the recently launched Moto Edge 50 Pro.

The Moto G64 5G will succeed the Moto G54 from last year and comes with some new hardware. Here are my first impressions of the new G series phone after using it for a couple of days.

At first glance, the phone looks similar in design to the Moto G54 5G. You get a familiar rectangular rear camera module with dual sensors and an LED flash, a glossy acrylic glass rear panel, and thick plastic frame. The phone is also similar in thickness to last year's model thanks to the large battery inside. From the outside, you would think that nothing much is new, and that appears to be the case.

The phone features Gorilla Glass protection on the display

On the front, you get a 6.5-inch IPS LCD display that offers full-HD+ resolution and 30-120Hz refresh rate, same as the Moto G54. What's new, thanks to Motorola's partnership with Corning, is a Gorilla Glass protection for the display. However, Motorola did not specify the version used. The display has a hole-punch cutout for the front camera, and thick bezels with a thicker chin just like its predecessor. The button placements are also the same. Like I said, on the outside, there's nothing really new apart from the Gorilla Glass protection.

The phone is available in three colour options, and we're testing out the Mint Green variant. The Moto G64 5G is also available in Pearl Blue and Ice Lilac colours. This time around, there's no Black colour variant of the phone. The Moto G54 5G is also available in Pearl Blue and Mint Green colours, and they look exactly the same as the new phone.

The Moto G64 isn't available in Black colour options

Coming to the cameras, the Moto G64 5G offers a 50-megapixel primary rear sensor with optical image stabilisation support. There's also an 8-megapixel ultrawide sensor at the back that also offers Macro support. In the short time I had with the phone, I found the main rear camera to take good photos in daylight conditions. You also get a 16-megapixel selfie camera up front. It's nice that Motorola is providing two usable cameras on the phone instead of adding a third macro/depth sensor. Once again, the camera specifications are also similar to the predecessor.

On the connectivity front, Motorola has offered support for 14 5G bands, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, and an FM radio. The phone also comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack at the bottom. You get a dual speaker setup with Dolby Atmos support and a side mounted fingerprint scanner. The Moto G64 5G also gets a USB Type-C port, a hybrid SIM card tray with support for microSD card storage expansion, and dual microphones. It comes with an IP52 water-repellent rating as well.

The phone has a 16-megapixel camera

Now, so far, everything on the new G series phone appears to be the same as the older model, but there are some changes internally. The Moto G64 5G is the first phone to come equipped with the new MediaTek Dimensity 7025 SoC. The chipset is said to be faster than the older 7020 variant, but I'll be checking that out in the full review. You also get up to 12GB RAM and 256GB of internal storage. In the few days with the phone, I did not face any lag or stutter in the UI or animations as such, but I'll have to test it further to find out how much better the new chipset is.

In terms of software, the Moto G64 5G runs Android 14-based My UX software. Unfortunately, the phone will receive only 1 major Android OS update. Motorola will provide 3 years of security updates. The software is mostly clean with some Motorola features and bloatware.

You get some bloatware on the phone

The Moto G64 5G comes with a large 6,000mAh battery that supports 33W fast charging. The TurboPower charger is provided in the box. During my time using the phone I found the battery to be long lasting, but we'll run more tests in the coming days to see how it holds up.

Motorola's G series phones have always been good value for money, and the new Moto G64 5G appears to be doing the same. There's not a lot of new features compared to the Moto G54 5G, but you do get better display protection and a slightly more powerful chipset. The phone starts at Rs. 14,999 for the base variant, which I think is a great deal. Should you purchase this phone? Stay tuned for the full review to find out.