Smart Android And Trik-Commenting on Andorid indeed never endless, because smart devices this one is often updated every certain amount of time. So that the market can always be garapnya menerinya with pleasure. And it is not denied if this device has become the lifestyle of each society. To not wonder if the 6th business information and many are turning to mobail smartphone. With Android which thoroughly dominated the mobile industry, choosing the best Android smartphone is almost identical to choose the best smartphone, period. But while Android phones have few real opponents on other platforms, internal competition is intense.
Introduction
The Moto G5S Plus is one of the most balanced phones Motorola has on offer and it's selling at a really attractive price. And we finally got round to reviewing it, that is. Oh well, our timing isn't spot on but the package and the price are.
Let's get to it then. The G5S Plus is in the same family as the original Moto G, which offered amazing value for money when it came out in 2013. This one's set to bring more of the same. It's the 5th generation, with the S there for Special edition (it's even printed on the box). Generation 5.5 if you will. There's a smaller Moto G5S too, so the Plus moniker is supposed to distinguish the 5.5-inch model we have here from the regular 5.2" handset.
On the other hand, compared to the prior Moto G5 Plus of six or so months back, the G5S Plus brings a larger screen and a whole lot of cameras. It's now a dual 13MP setup at the back, though the Special edition has lost the dual pixel AF of the older, single 12MP shooter. There's a new 8MP selfie cam in place of the old model's 5MP unit.
The rest of it isn't all that Special. Snapdragon 625 is pulling the strings, and the Moto G5S Plus comes in 3/32GB and 4/64GB trim levels with a microSD slot to expand the built-in storage (a hybrid solution on the dual SIM models).
Motorola Moto G5S Plus key features
- Body: Aluminum unibody, Gorilla Glass 3 front.
- Display: 5.5" IPS LCD, 1,920x1,080px resolution, 401ppi.
- Rear cameras: Dual 13MP, f/2.0 aperture; autofocus; dual LED flash; 2160p video recording.
- Front camera: 8MP, f/2.0 aperture; fixed focus; LED flash; 1080p video recording.
- OS/Software: Android 7.1 Nougat, scheduled to get Oreo.
- Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 625: octa-core 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU, Adreno 506 GPU.
- Memory: 3/4GB of RAM; 32/64GB of storage; hybrid microSD slot.
- Battery: 3,000mAh Li-Ion (sealed).
- Connectivity: Single SIM and dual SIM versions, market dependent; Cat. 7 LTE (300Mbps/150Mbps); microUSB 2.0; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n; GPS, GLONASS; NFC (market dependent); Bluetooth 4.2.
- Misc:FM radio, 3.5mm jack, bottom-firing single speaker, front-mounted fingerprint reader.
Motorola is sticking with a microUSB port for the G5S Plus when Type C would've been our preference. On the other hand, the FM radio and 3.5mm jack are most appreciated. It's all about trade-offs.
We like the presentation too - the Moto Zs come in striking red boxes, while for the G5S Motorola went with green.
Moto G5S Plus unboxing
The Moto G5S Plus comes wrapped in a cardboard box that is so green you can't miss it. Inside, you won't find a headset (boo!), but there is a TurboPower charger (yay!). The unit maxes out at 15W and is capable of outputting any of the following combinations - 5V/3A, 9V/1.6A, and 12V/1.2A. There's also a USB cable.
Design
The Moto G5S Plus is a moto through and through - minus the MotoMods, that's Z-series only. That aside, you're getting the same huge circular camera bump - whether it's a smiling face, or an unimpressed face is irrelevant - once someone points out the pareidolia, it can't be unseen.
Unlike the older G5 Plus, there are two cameras here to make use of the large bump, so it's not entirely form over function. The signature 'M' in its subtly carved circle completes the Moto look.
The back has antenna lines all over - there are the usual side-to-side inlays top and bottom, which we've already grown accustomed to, but the extra notches at the bottom are a bit too much.
Otherwise, we're pretty pleased with the aluminum unibody. It feels both solid and expensive and the polished chamfer is a nice accent. Now, the satin finish is about as slippery as they come so either be careful, or take precautions in the shape of a case. And it could just be us, but the card slot does seem to have a sharp edge that lightly scratches our gentle finger pads.
The buttons on the right have no such inclination and are well spaced - we're usually quick to voice discontent with power button and volume rocker being on the same side, but here they are generously sized, conveniently placed and spaced wide enough. The power button has a texture, which the volume rocker doesn't - it's practically as good as a same-side arrangement can get.
The bottom of the phone has the usual bottom-of-a-phone stuff: the microUSB port is here, and yes, it's microUSB and not USB-C, boo! On a positive note, Motorola has fitted the microphone on here, instead of having a pinhole next to the fingerprint reader like the Moto X4 and Moto Z2s. The loudspeaker is thereabouts as well. Meanwhile, the 3.5mm jack is at the top of the phone.
microUSB, mic and loudspeaker on the bottom • 3.5mm jack on top • Hybrid slot
The face of the G5S Plus is classic Moto too - yes, that includes the ample bezels, though the G5S Plus wears them well. For example, the fingerprint sensor is nice and large, which helps it serve more purposes than just unlocking - more on that in the software chapter.
In the hand • Fingerprint sensor/gesture hub • Top bezel stuff
Above the 5.5-inch display, a Moto logo tries to distract you from all the bits that actually serve a purpose. Those would be the earpiece in the center, the ambient light/proximity sensors and the selfie camera to the left and the front-facing flash to the right - the non-special G5 Plus didn't have that last one.
Around here there's an LED notification light that only lights up when battery level is critically low, because everyone loves having the hardware for features that are disabled in software. Sarcasm too much? Sorry.
The Moto G5S Plus measures 153.5 x 76.2 x 8mm so it's about what you'd expect a 5.5-inch phone to be. For example, the Xiaomi Mi A1 is a couple of millimeters taller, but half a mil narrower. Meanwhile the 5.93" 18:9 Honor 7X is 3mm taller than the Moto, and about 1mm narrower. At 168g, the Moto is a negligible 3g heavier than either of those.
The 5.5-inch FullHD display scores high marks
The Moto G5S Plus comes with a 5.5-inch display - that's the 'Plus' speaking. It's a FullHD panel, an IPS one, and has a conventional RGB arrangement. It also has a pixel density of 401ppi.
In our testing, the Moto G5S Plus did well to post a solid 616nits of maximum brightness - that's more than pretty much any of its competition. That's in auto mode, and if you toggle it off you'd be able to get up to 480-ish nits - not bad either. Add to that the reasonably dark blacks, and you're looking at contrast of above 1300:1 - a sign of a good LCD. Minimum brightness is around 6nits, so night-time viewing in complete darkness shouldn't be an issue either.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | ||
| 0.352 | 483 | 1372 | |
| 0.455 | 616 | 1354 | |
| 0.266 | 415 | 1560 | |
| 0.415 | 582 | 1402 | |
| 0.33 | 478 | 1448 | |
| 0.43 | 587 | 1365 | |
| 0.297 | 431 | 1451 | |
| 0.351 | 551 | 1570 | |
| 0.364 | 484 | 1330 | |
| 0.236 | 458 | 1941 | |
| 0 | 350 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 539 | ∞ | |
| 0.322 | 484 | 1503 | |
| 0.192 | 422 | 2198 | |
| 0.214 | 462 | 2159 | |
| 0.257 | 476 | 1852 | |
| 0.288 | 510 | 1771 | |
Our sunlight legibility test puts the G5S Plus in the 'average' bowl - the main competitors are in the same ballpark with both the Mi A1 and the Honor 7X marginally behind the Moto. The Nokia 6 (the old one) is a bit better, though we can't blindly attribute the same result to the 2018 model without testing it.
Sunlight contrast ratio
- Apple iPhone X
5.013 - OnePlus 5T
4.789 - Samsung Galaxy S8
4.768 - Samsung Galaxy S8+
4.658 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+
4.615 - Motorola Moto Z2 Play
4.459 - Oppo R11
4.454 - Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
4.439 - OnePlus 3
4.424 - Samsung Galaxy S7
4.376 - HTC One A9
4.274 - Samsung Galaxy Note7
4.247 - Samsung Galaxy A3
4.241 - Nokia 8
4.239 - Google Pixel 2 XL (pre-update)
4.234 - OnePlus 3T
4.232 - Google Pixel XL
4.164 - ZTE Axon 7
4.154 - Samsung Galaxy Note8
4.148 - Meizu Pro 7 Plus
4.147 - Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
4.124 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
4.124 - Huawei Mate 10 Pro (normal)
4.096 - Samsung Galaxy Note5
4.09 - Google Pixel 2 (pre-update)
4.023 - LG V30
4.022 - Huawei Nexus 6P
4.019 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
3.998 - OnePlus X
3.983 - Vivo Xplay5 Elite
3.983 - Apple iPhone 7
3.964 - Oppo R7s
3.964 - Apple iPhone 8 (True Tone)
3.957 - Huawei P9 Plus
3.956 - Meizu Pro 6 Plus
3.935 - Lenovo Moto Z
3.931 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016)
3.918 - OnePlus 5
3.914 - Samsung Galaxy C5
3.911 - Samsung Galaxy C7
3.896 - Samsung Galaxy A5
3.895 - Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor
3.879 - Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor
3.873 - Samsung Galaxy A8
3.859 - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
3.842 - Sony Xperia XZs
3.818 - Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016)
3.817 - Motorola Moto X (2014)
3.816 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
3.812 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
3.804 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode
3.802 - Xiaomi Redmi Pro
3.798 - LG V20 Max auto
3.798 - Sony Xperia XZ
3.795 - Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016)
3.789 - Apple iPhone 6s
3.783 - Meizu Pro 5
3.781 - Microsoft Lumia 650
3.772 - Xiaomi Mi 6
3.767 - Sony Xperia XZ1
3.765 - Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016)
3.756 - Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact
3.729 - Apple iPhone 8 Plus (True Tone)
3.725 - Oppo F1 Plus
3.709 - Vivo X5Pro
3.706 - Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017)
3.688 - Apple iPhone SE
3.681 - Huawei Mate 9
3.68 - Samsung Galaxy A7
3.679 - Meizu PRO 6
3.659 - BlackBerry Priv
3.645 - Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
3.597 - Apple iPhone 7 Plus
3.588 - LG G6
3.556 - Apple iPhone 6s Plus
3.53 - Motorola Moto Z Play
3.526 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016)
3.523 - Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode
3.523 - Acer Jade Primo
3.521 - Microsoft Lumia 950
3.512 - Oppo R7 Plus
3.499 - nubia Z11
3.466 - Huawei P10 Plus
3.456 - HTC U Ultra
3.453 - Samsung Galaxy J7
3.422 - Meizu MX5
3.416 - LG V20
3.402 - Huawei P10
3.379 - Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016)
3.378 - Oppo R9s
3.352 - Honor 8 Pro
3.341 - Oppo R7
3.32 - Lenovo P2
3.316 - Archos Diamond Omega
3.305 - Honor 9
3.289 - Xiaomi Mi 5s
3.276 - Nokia 5
3.261 - Nokia 6 (Chinese version)
3.244 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
3.238 - Samsung Galaxy J2
3.235 - Sony Xperia X Performance
3.234 - Xiaomi Mi Note 2
3.228 - Motorola Moto X Play
3.222 - Oppo F3 Plus
3.218 - Huawei Mate 9 Pro
3.206 - Huawei P9
3.195 - Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
3.19 - ZTE Nubia Z17
3.159 - Oppo R11s
3.153 - Lenovo Vibe Shot
3.113 - HTC U11 Life
3.108 - Motorola Moto X Force
3.105 - LG Nexus 5X
3.092 - HTC U11
3.089 - Huawei Mate S
3.073 - Microsoft Lumia 640 XL
3.065 - Sony Xperia XA1
3.012 - Sony Xperia L1
2.994 - Sony Xperia X
2.989 - LG Q6
2.987 - Huawei P10 Lite
2.974 - Samsung Galaxy Note
2.97 - Sony Xperia Z1
2.95 - Huawei Mate 8
2.949 - Xiaomi Redmi 4
2.92 - Xiaomi Redmi 3S
2.913 - Sony Xperia XA Ultra
2.906 - LG G5
2.905 - HTC One S
2.901 - Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime
2.893 - Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus
2.884 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium
2.877 - Sony Xperia XZ Premium (sRGB)
2.877 - Sony Xperia Z5
2.876 - Nokia 3
2.871 - Microsoft Lumia 550
2.851 - Lenovo Moto M
2.813 - Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro
2.803 - Sony Xperia Z5 compact
2.784 - Nokia 2
2.752 - Meizu MX6
2.751 - LG V10
2.744 - Huawei Mate 10 (normal)
2.742 - Motorola Moto G5S Plus
2.736 - Xiaomi Redmi 3
2.735 - Huawei Honor 7X
2.734 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
2.714 - Meizu M5
2.71 - Sony Xperia M5
2.69 - Xiaomi Mi A1
2.689 - Huawei P9 Lite
2.679 - Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
2.679 - vivo V7+
2.671 - Vivo V3Max
2.659 - Xiaomi Mi Mix
2.658 - Huawei Mate 10 Lite
2.654 - Oppo F5
2.653 - Doogee Mix
2.642 - Xiaomi Mi 4i
2.641 - Xiaomi Redmi 4a
2.635 - Xiaomi Mi 5X (Standard)
2.616 - Sony Xperia XA
2.609 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus
2.582 - Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
2.582 - Meizu M5s
2.58 - Xiaomi Mi 4c
2.574 - LeEco Le Max 2
2.567 - Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL
2.563 - Microsoft Lumia 640
2.563 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
2.561 - HTC U11+
2.556 - Lenovo Moto G4
2.544 - Lenovo K6 Note
2.544 - Oppo F1
2.528 - Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
2.525 - Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c
2.506 - Sony Xperia M4 Aqua
2.503 - Oppo F1s
2.481 - Motorola Moto G
2.477 - Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus
2.473 - Huawei G8
2.471 - Huawei nova
2.467 - Sony Xperia Z
2.462 - Lenovo Vibe K5
2.459 - Meizu m3 max
2.447 - Xiaomi Mi 5X (Auto)
2.417 - HTC 10 evo
2.407 - Huawei Honor 7
2.406 - Vivo V7
2.404 - Sony Xperia E5
2.386 - ZUK Z1 by Lenovo
2.382 - HTC 10
2.378 - Oppo F3
2.376 - vivo V5 Plus
2.371 - Meizu m1 note
2.362 - Huawei nova plus
2.329 - Razer Phone
2.328 - HTC One E9+
2.305 - Alcatel One Touch Hero
2.272 - Apple iPhone 4S
2.269 - Lenovo Vibe K4 Note
2.254 - Sony Xperia C5 Ultra
2.253 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek)
2.249 - Sony Xperia C4 Dual
2.235 - Xiaomi Mi Note
2.234 - Motorola Moto G (2014)
2.233 - Huawei P8
2.196 - Meizu M5 Note
2.189 - Huawei Honor 6
2.169 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 2
2.166 - OnePlus Two
2.165 - HTC One X
2.158 - LG Aka
2.145 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (X20)
2.145 - Archos 50 Diamond
2.134 - Xiaomi Redmi Note
2.119 - Xiaomi Mi 4S
2.095 - Acer Liquid X2
2.084 - Huawei P8lite
2.078 - vivo V5
2.059 - Moto G 3rd gen max manual
2.026 - Xiaomi Mi 3
2.001 - Xiaomi Mi Max
1.996 - Sony Xperia E4g
1.972 - OnePlus One
1.961 - Meizu m3 note
1.923 - BlackBerry Leap
1.892 - Meizu m2 note
1.892 - HTC Butterfly
1.873 - Sony Xperia Z1 Compact
1.772 - ZTE Nubia Z9 mini
1.759 - Sony Xperia U
1.758 - Asus Zenfone Selfie
1.68 - Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen)
1.675 - ZTE Nubia Z9
1.659 - Jolla Jolla
1.605 - Motorola Moto E
1.545 - Sony Xperia M
1.473 - Sony Xperia L
1.351 - HTC Desire C
1.3 - Meizu MX
1.221 - Sony Xperia E
1.215
Color accuracy isn't spectacular and even if we're not ones to fret over it, the bluish whites/grays remain visible. We measured an average DeltaE of 4.8 (not bad, actually) in the Standard display mode, with whites off by about 9 units. Vibrant mode redistributed the individual deltas somewhat differently, but kept the average mostly the same and whites didn't lose their blue tint.
Motorola Moto G5S Plus battery life
The Moto G5S Plus has a Snapdragon 625 under the hood. Motorola figured that since the chip is mightily efficient, going overboard with battery capacity is unnecessary and fitted a reasonably-sized 3,000mAh cell.
This proved more than adequate in our testing where the Moto G5S Plus just missed the 10-hour mark in video playback by a minute and checked in an almost full 12 hours of web browsing before calling it quits. The phone excelled in 3G voice call endurance (close to 27 hours) and standby times were good too. That adds up to an overall endurance rating of 81 hours.
Our endurance rating denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Motorola Moto G5S Plus for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
The provided TurboPower charger will get you from flat to full in a quick 1:45h though the initial rate isn't all that great with the first 30 minutes only giving you about 25% of charge.
Audio output starts on the wrong foot, but quickly improves
The Motorola Moto G5S Plus had surprisingly poor output with an active external amplifier. Its signal to noise ratio and intermodulation distortion were so bad we would have suspected an issue with our test unit, but its smaller brother had the exact same behaviour so it appears Motorola did something wrong here. Loudness was impressively high, but that's not quite enough to make up for the sub-par quality of the output.
The good news is that the phone performed impressively well with headphones, which is probably the test most people care about. Loudness remained as impressive, while the clarity was among the best we've seen. Normally headphones tend to degrade the output, but with the Moto G5S Plus they improved it from mediocre to one of the best in the market.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| +0.06, -0.40 | -34.8 | 78.6 | 0.0012 | 5.895 | -93.4 | |
| +0.06, -0.02 | -93.3 | 93.3 | 0.015 | 0.044 | -82.6 | |
| +0.03, -0.03 | -89.5 | 89.4 | 0.0028 | 0.014 | -86.6 | |
| +0.14, |
Motorola Moto G5S Plus frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
Loudspeaker volume reaches new heights
The Moto G5S Plus has a single loudspeaker, a bottom-firing one, but boy, is it loud. It's the second loudest unit we've tested actually - a few decibels short of the HTC U11+, which claimed the crown recently. It's not amazing in the low end of the frequency range, but then few phones are.
| Speakerphone test | Voice, dB | Ringing |
Overall score | |
| 64.1 | 65.3 | 68.5 | Below Average | |
| 62.0 | 67.5 | 69.4 | Below Average | |
| 66.4 | 71.5 | 65.0 | Average | |
| 63.5 | 70.8 | 71.5 | Average | |
| 64.7 | 70.4 | 72.3 | Average | |
| 67.0 | 69.3 | 76.1 | Good | |
| 63.1 | 70.9 | 82.5 | Good | |
| 67.2 | 71.1 | 80.7 | Good | |
| 67.3 | 70.3 | 81.5 | Very Good | |
| 68.0 | 69.9 | 82.3 | Very Good | |
| 66.4 | 71.1 | 85.1 | Very Good | |
| 67.8 | 71.0 | 84.5 | Very Good | |
| 67.8 | 71.0 | 84.5 | Very Good | |
| 76.1 | 72.7 | 81.0 | Excellent | |
| 74.0 | 73.9 | 90.4 | Excellent | |
| 91.5 | 74.9 | 86.9 | Excellent |
Software
The Moto G5S Plus runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat, and we can't really fault it for not having Oreo as it did, after all, come out all the way back in August. Oreo is coming, though, so no worries. The look and feel of the Moto G5S Plus' software is for the most part that of stock Android.
Lockscreen • Homescreen • App drawer • Quick toggles/notifications • Task switcher
The Moto G5S Plus' fingerprint scanner can be used in a number of ways. The obvious one is to wake/unlock the phone - it is always-on, very fast and quite reliable.
For navigation purposes, as part of Moto Actions, it can fully replace the on-screen nav bar - tap to go Home, swipe left to go Back or swipe right to switch between recent apps. Gestures get detected pretty accurately, though you may find the left-right mechanics a little counterintuitive if you switch hands often.
Pressing-and-holding the sensor for a short time will lock the screen, while a longer press will summon the Google Assistant. These two overlap and mastering them does take some time, but it's ultimately a great way to do away with the on-screen navigation bar in case it's not your thing.
Registering a fingerprint • One button navigation
Moto Display is another long-standing proprietary feature - it now comes with an updated clock design with an integrated battery ring, a blue-colored theme and direct-replies from the locked Active Display. There's no way to change the color, but you can select which apps to block, choose how much detail to show, and toggle the quick reply feature. Also part of Moto Display is a new feature called Night Display - the phone will display warmer colors to filter out the blue light that's known to mess up your sleep according to research.
Moto display
In the Moto actions category, you'll find gestures like 'pick up to stop ringing', which most phones have, but a couple that are unique to Moto are "chop twice for flashlight", and "twist for quick capture".
Moto actions
As for multimedia, it's all in the hands of Google and its default apps. Google Photos is in charge of gallery-related tasks and video playback, while Google Play Music is the audio player. There's an FM radio too, with RDS and recording capability.
Performance
The Moto G5S Plus is powered by the Snapdragon 625 chipset, a super-popular midrange SoC, and rightfully so - the 14nm chip blends excellent power efficiency with adequate performance. The former we already established to be the case once again, let's have a quick look at the latter.
The numbers are hardly surprising - after all we've tested a whole lot of Snapdragon 625 phones, and the Moto G5S Plus isn't much different. In single-core CPU tasks it's on par with its predecessor and the Moto X4 (S630 and a slightly higher clocked processor), while the HTC U11 Life (S630, again), the Xiaomi Mi A1 (S625), and the Honor 7X (Kirin 659) marginally outperform it.
The Snapdragon 625 uses eight Cortex-A53 cores. A Cortex-A72 core is inevitably vastly more powerful as represented by the Galaxy A8 (2018)'s Exynos 7885 Octa chipset in the chart below. We've included the Samsung mostly for reference as it's about twice as expensive and not really a direct competitor. Same with the Oppo R11s and its Snapdragon 660 with them Kryo cores.
GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Oppo R11s
1614 - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
1532 - Huawei Honor 7X
904 - Xiaomi Mi A1
877 - Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
874 - HTC U11 Life
873 - Motorola Moto X4
866 - Motorola Moto G5S Plus
848 - Moto G5 Plus
847 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
824 - vivo V7
775 - vivo V7+
767 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
735 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
665 - Motorola Moto G5S
635
In the multi-core part of GeekBench, the Honor 7X lags behind the Moto G5S Plus, but the Mi A1 is mostly keeping up with Moto's pace. The U11 Life is thereabouts as well.
GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- Oppo R11s
5907 - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
4418 - Motorola Moto G5S Plus
4331 - Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
4309 - Xiaomi Mi A1
4292 - Moto G5 Plus
4255 - HTC U11 Life
4140 - Motorola Moto X4
4136 - vivo V7
3935 - vivo V7+
3912 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
3768 - Huawei Honor 7X
3535 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
2841 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
2445 - Motorola Moto G5S
2277
The Snapdragon 625 never had much ambition in the graphics department and GFXBench only proves that Motorola didn't mess anything up and utilized the whole potential of the Adreno 506. The Moto G5S Plus is thus on par with the old model and the Mi A1, while the U11 Life and Moto X4 are ahead thanks to a more powerful Adreno 508. The Honor 7X, on the other hand, can't match the G5S Plus' framerates.
GFX 3.1 Car scene (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
- Oppo R11s
8.7 - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
6 - HTC U11 Life
5.4 - Motorola Moto X4
5.3 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
5.2 - Oppo F5
4.2 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
3.5 - Moto G5 Plus
3.5 - Xiaomi Mi A1
3.5 - Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
3.5 - Motorola Moto G5S Plus
3.5 - vivo V7
3.4 - vivo V7+
3.3 - Huawei Honor 7X
2.8 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
2.5 - Motorola Moto G5S
2.5 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
1.9
GFX 3.1 Car scene (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Oppo R11s
8.7 - vivo V7
6.6 - vivo V7+
6.6 - Motorola Moto X4
5.8 - HTC U11 Life
5.3 - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
5.2 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
5.2 - Oppo F5
4 - Motorola Moto G5S Plus
3.8 - Xiaomi Mi A1
3.5 - Moto G5 Plus
3.5 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
3.5 - Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
3.4 - Huawei Honor 7X
2.8 - Motorola Moto G5S
2.7 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
2.5 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
1.9
Bring CPU, GPU, storage and RAM performance together and you have an Antutu score. It's mostly a lot of the same thing here between the Snapdragon 625 devices while the Kirin 659-powered Honor 7X and the Exynos 7880 Galaxy A7 (2017) are in the same pack. The S630-powered Moto X4 and U11 Life are a notch above, while the Galaxy A8 for this year surges ahead, though it can only dream of catching up with the S660 Oppo R11s.
AnTuTu 6
Higher is better
- Oppo R11s
121638 - Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018)
85389 - HTC U11 Life
72854 - Motorola Moto X4
71224 - Motorola Moto G5S Plus
64360 - Oppo F5
63889 - Moto G5 Plus
63390 - Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
63019 - Huawei Honor 7X
62177 - Xiaomi Mi A1
61762 - Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
60767 - Xiaomi Mi Max 2
57902 - vivo V7+
57791 - vivo V7
54970 - Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
47920 - Nokia 6 (Global version)
47495 - Motorola Moto G5S
47283
Predictable performance is what we got out of the Moto G5S Plus. It's no powerhouse, but it's more than adequate for the usual stuff. Snapdragon 630 phones will give you a slight improvement in 3D tasks for not a substantial premium, while the Honor 7X and its Kirin 659 is more or less evenly matched.
Camera
The Moto G5S Plus has a rather unique camera setup in the Moto lineup. A dual 13MP configuration, it's neither the Moto X4's normal/ultra-wide pairing, nor the Moto Z2 Force's dual 12MP setup. Motorola says the dual camera is used for blurring backgrounds and improving image quality - so the secondary shooter has no particular purpose of its own. It's only assisting the main camera in its work.
Anyways, the 13MP sensor, or presumably both of them, come with an f/2.0 aperture lens attached. There's no optical stabilization. While it isn't specifically mentioned in the product docs, the G5S Plus appears to have laser assisted autofocus - there's a window above the lenses for the beam to shoot out of, plus focusing on close up objects is very quick and precise.
The in-house camera app is one of the few areas where Motorola's opted out of the default Google solutions, and it's packed with features. It's got the double-twist gesture for launching and then switching between rear and front camera, there's a built-in QR code reader and business card scanner, depth-enabled mode (read blurred backgrounds), plus the usual Panorama and Pro mode. The last three are to be found in the three-dot menu, while the QR reader just engages when you point the camera at a code.
The settings screen is evoked with an inward swipe from the left giving you access to resolution settings, and a few toggles - geotagging, frame-assist gridlines and quick launch. An inward swipe from the right takes you to the gallery. Both actions make a lot of sense once you know they're there, but some visual tips would've been nice.
Camera interface
Professional mode lets you dial in your own ISO, shutter speed, or exposure compensation, as well as pick a white balance preset and manually adjust focus.
Professional mode
Image quality
The Moto G5S Plus captures adequate though not spectacular images. Detail is good, but foliage can get a little mushy. Noise reduction is handled well, though you can still see some speckles if you're looking for them.
Colors are lively without being over the top, but there's a tendency towards a certain warmth. It's not just the gloomy weather messing up the white balance, the studio shots have a noticeable color shift as well.
Camera samples
HDR
The Moto's HDR mode can produce some quite outlandish results. But in a good way, really - it just boosts the low mid-tones with more strength than what we've gotten used to recently.
HDR: Off • Auto • On • Off • Auto • On
Portraits
One of the key selling points of the Moto G5S Plus is its dual camera, and since the secondary shooter can't really be used on its own, the portraits better be amazing. Well, they aren't. Expect wrinkly edges on the subject/background borders, and not just in areas where algorithms usually fail like stray hair.
Portraits
It's not just human subjects either. The G5S Plus fails to properly separate simple objects that can mostly be defined with straight lines. Okay, the aloe vera plant is a proper torture test.
Non-portraits
The phone's Depth editor app lets you select the area of focus post-shot and vary the blur effect too. You can also replace the background or decolorize either the foreground or the background. There's no spot color option like on the Moto X4, though. In any case we find these effects mostly gimmicky rather than truly useful.
A quick trip to our Photo compare tool will also show you how the Motorola Moto G5S Plus renders the posters in our studio. We've pre-selected the Xiaomi Mi A1 and the Honor 7X to pit against the Nokia, but you can pick any of the phones we've tested.
Motorola Moto G5S Plus against the Xiaomi Mi A1 and Honor 7X in our Photo compare tool
Basic panoramas are all you can expect out of the Moto G5S Plus. The images are just short of 1,800px tall and there's not much detail in them. Stitching and exposure and handled well, so there's that.
Panorama sample
Selfies
The selfie camera is one of the improvements the Special edition brings compared to the G5 Plus. It's an 8MP f/2.0 unit now, as opposed to the 5MP f/2.2 shooter of the old model, and the G5S Plus has a front facing flash. Still no autofocus, though.
Selfies are okay, though we know for a fact this guy has more pores and wrinkles than are captured in the photos - the camera does tend to smear fine detail, and that's not a beautification feature at work either. On a positive note, skin tones are quite alright.
Selfie samples
The flash can't work miracles, but still allows you to capture your mug in the dark. Whether you want that is not a call we're qualified to make.
Selfie samples at 28lux: Flash off • Flash on
Video
The Moto G5S Plus can record video all the way up to 2160p courtesy of the Snapdragon 625 chip. 1080p is obviously supported too, on both 30fps and 60fps frame rates. There's electronic stabilization available, in 1080p/30fps only.
2160p videos have a bitrate of about 50.7Mbps, while 1080p gets 17Mbps, 30fps and 60fps alike (red flag). Audio is recorded in stereo at 128kbps.
4K videos are sharp and detailed, though pixel peeping reveals some of the fine detail is lost. Now, brown does dominate our real-world samples, but the posters show a pleasing, if a little warm, color rendition. Audio quality is very good.
1080p/30fps has a slightly overprocessed look and about average detail - it's not awesome, but it's not bad either. 60fps footage tends to lose all the intricate detail, that's the toll you pay for the added smoothness in the same file size.
We've also uploaded short samples on our server, which you can download and examine for yourselves. Those include a 2160p clip (11s, 70MB), one shot at 1080p/30fps (10s, 21MB), and another at 1080p/60fps (10s, 22MB).
If you'd like to compare the Moto G5S Plus' video camera to some other phones, head over to our Video Compare Tool below.
Motorola Moto G5S Plus against the Xiaomi Mi A1 and Honor 7X in our Video compare tool
Competition
The Moto G5S Plus is in a very saturated segment of the market - it's a tough race even within Motorola's own lineup with the X4, G5S, and G5 Plus offering compelling alternatives. Let's say that you've settled on this one already, and if it's going to be a Moto, it's going to be the G5S Plus so below we'll have a quick look at a few alternatives by other brands.
The Xiaomi Mi A1 is around the top of the list of competitors. It'll give you a tele camera for extra zoom, Android One for the speediest OS updates, and a USB-C port for future proofing. All for a slightly lower price too.
The Honor 7X brings an 18:9 screen - a different kind of future proofing. The heavily customized Android build may not be to everyone's liking, and that alone could sway you into the Moto's direction or just on the contrary. The G5S Plus also has better battery life, fast charging, and Oreo incoming so there's that too.
The HTC U11 Life is a surprisingly capable midranger with an IP67 rating, the only water-resistant phone around. Its S630 chip's GPU is more powerful than the Moto's but the Life's display is smaller at 5.2 inches, and the HTC phone can't match the G5S Plus' battery life.
Or you could wait it out for the Nokia 6 (2018) to become available. It comes with Oreo out of the box (or be upgradeable to it in a short matter of time) and it's got the newer S630 chipset. The Moto records 4K video, which the new 6 oddly doesn't, and portraits are an option on the Moto, but not on the Nokia. But if it's anything like the original Nokia 6, it must be built like a tank.
Xiaomi Mi A1 • Huawei Honor 7X • HTC U11 Life • Nokia 6 (2018)
Verdict
But back to our reviewee - the Moto G5S Plus. We would have liked to get a bit more out of the camera - for example, the Moto X4 takes similarly underwhelming portraits as this Moto G5S Plus, but the X4 at least has the ultra-wide camera to make up for it.
That said, the phone has its strengths, and they're in areas that matter - build, battery life and display. Plus, the loudspeaker volume.
Pros
- High quality aluminum unibody, premium look and feel
- Solid battery life
- Good display all around
- Vanilla Android experience with useful Moto touches; Oreo on the way
- Superbly loud speaker
- Loud and clear output through headphones
Cons
- Cameras could've been better, second one on the back doesn't make a strong case for itself
- Poor audio quality with external amp
Okay imaging aside, there's not much wrong with the Moto G5S Plus. Having spent some time with it, we can't say we're thrilled but we're by no means disappointed either. That's the thing - the Moto G5S Plus is a midrange phone and it doesn't need to excite, it just needs to be good enough for the price. That it easily is and it deserves a recommendation.
Related Posts :
The best prepaid and no contract plans in the US (September 2018)
National Scholarships (NSP) Kannada Official Mobile app- National Scholarships (NSP) Gujarati Official Mobile app
0 Response to "Moto G5S Plus review"
Post a Comment