Moto G13 review: The budget stock-Android phone we all wanted

Pros: Fluid UI, Good performance for the price, IP52 rating, Dolby Atmos audio.

Cons: Outdoor visibility of screen, Glance and some bloatware, Slower eMMC storage type.

When we talk about entry-level smartphones there are hardly any brands that offer a stock Android UI. Motorola for a long time has been offering phones with a clean Android experience. And with its latest release, the Moto G13, it continues to do so but there are a few caveats.

I took the Motorola Moto G13 for a spin and have tried to figure out if it’s a good device for the price of Rs 9,999. Before we delve deeper into the details, let’s see its specifications.

Moto G13 specifications

Moto G13 Review: Design and Display

Design-wise, Motorola has used its standard design layout that’s similar to most of its phones. However, it has given a Matte finish to the back of the phone that looks premium and attracts fewer fingerprints. To offer some contrast, it has offered a glossy camera island that holds two cameras.

The rear panel is made out of Acrylic glass, which is nothing but good plastic. It’s called PMMA in technical terms, the same material that we saw in the more premium Moto G73 5G.

It’s worth noting that the device has a boxy design and may slip out of your hands if you are too casual with your phones. I would recommend you slap on the transparent case that comes in the box. Yes, it takes away some of the beauty of the phone, but it’s grippy and safer that way.

Moving to the sides, the Moto G13 has a power button and a volume rocker on the right spine, while featuring a SIM card tray on the left spine. It’s a hybrid SIM slot, so you have a choice of adding two SIMs or a microSD card and a single SIM.

It has a 3.5mm headphone jack on the top, which is an unusual place since most phones have it on the bottom. There’s also the Dolby Atmos branding on the top. On the bottom, there’s a microphone, a USB Type-C port, and a speaker grille.

By the way, the device boasts a dual speaker setup, and the second speaker is nothing but the earpiece on the front above the screen.

Coming to the screen, the device sports a 6.5-inch punch-hole display and for the price it comes, it’s a great panel. It’s an LCD panel with a 90Hz refresh rate and vibrant colors.

I like that the punch-hole cutout on the phone isn’t as wide as some phones in the upper segment. Also, the screen has Widevine L1 support, which means you can stream movies on Amazon Prime and Netflix in HD quality. Furthermore, in YouTube, the device has streaming options of up to 4K even though it’s an HD panel.

All the goods aside, it’s an HD+ resolution panel which is a bummer since some phones in this price range do come with a Full-HD+ resolution screen.

My only major complaint about the screen isn’t that bright for outdoor usage. The screen brightness peaks at 400 nits on the G13, while some other devices in this range have a 500 nits bright screen.

Moto G13 Review: Cameras

Click here to see original quality images.

If you search for a smartphone under the sub-Rs 10,000, you’d find many phones with several cameras. All of them have one thing in common, that’s a main useful lens and two supporting sensors that are nothing but placeholders.

Motorola has done just that with the Moto G13. There’s a triple camera system on the rear with a 50MP main lens and two 2MP lenses for macro and depth shots.

The main lens is pretty good if you focus manually and take control of the exposure. In the 50MP mode, the images are a lot more detailed. However, you need the environment to be bright with lots of light or outdoor light to get the crispier shots.

The images in daylight offer close-to-natural colors and the software processing makes the final shot acceptable. In some lighting conditions, the photos captured do look foggy.

There are several modes in the camera app for both photography and videography. There’s the standard Portrait mode, Pro mode, Panorama, Night vision, Ultra-Res (50MP), Timelapse, and dual capture for photo and video.

As for the video, the camera can shoot 1080 videos at 30fps from both the front and the rear camera. The videography on the phone is average, just as you’d expect from a budget phone.

Selfies clicked on the 8MP front camera of the phone are again average but acceptable. Fine enough for quick video calls with your colleagues.

Moto G13 Review: Performance

Under the matte back of the phone lies a chipset that was launched in the Covid era. I’m talking about the year 2020.

The device is powered by a 12nm MediaTek Helio G85 SoC that does a great job of handling apps and heavy games. I mean it’s not the most powerful chipset in the budget range nor it is a lackluster SoC. But rather, it stands in the midst and offers a good performance for the price.

Paired with 4GB of LPDDR4X RAM and up to 128GB of eMMC 5.1 storage, and also the MyUX skin on top of Android 13, the Moto G13 provides a smooth day-to-day performance.

Although you’d notice some lags in between, which is expected in this segment, the overall performance is fluid. Major credits for this go to stock Android UI, about which, we’ll talk later briefly in this review.

But for the chipset, it scored 200,000+ points on AnTuTu and maintained a stability score of 80 percent. It can handle casual games like Asphalt 9 and some heavy games like Call of Duty in medium to low settings. But do not that it isn’t a phone made for hardcore gamers, which for this price isn’t possible anyway.

Coming to the battery, the device packs a 5,000mAh cell that easily offers a full day of battery life. But, unfortunately, the charging speed is too slow at 10W. A faster 18W solution would have been great.

Now, about the software. There’s a bit of controversy surrounding the recent Motorola phones that the company’s purposely adding bloatware. With Moto G13, there were a few apps pre-installed but if you stay aware while setting up your device, you can get rid of the bloatware. Also, some third-party pre-installed apps can be uninstalled.

Motorola has shipped Glance with the phone. For the unversed, Glance offers curated news and information based on your preferences. But you can turn it off easily in the settings or choose to not activate it when setting up the device.

Having said that, I have had no issues with the overall user interface of the phone. And if you are considering buying the phone for its stock Android feel, it’s a green signal right there.

Getting into the extras, Motorola, as always with its recent phones, has offered a stereo speaker setup with Dolby Atmos audio. The speakers are loud and clear, but it’s not for bass lovers if you are into that.

There’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack, which works as intended. But I found myself relying more on Bluetooth headphones. That said, the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity is great and even the call quality is clear.

As for the side-mounted fingerprint scanner performance, it works most of the time. There’s also facial unlock support and it works as it should. Interestingly, Motorola has offered ingress protection at under Rs 10,000, which is rare and applaudable.

Moto G13 Review: Verdict

The Motorola Moto G13 is a solid offering at the price of Rs 9,999. It offers a vibrant and smooth panel, a good main camera, and good performance for the price. Also, features like stock Android UI, IP52 rating, and Dolby Atmos speakers are icing on the cake.

Having said that, if you are looking for a smartphone with a clean user interface, smooth display, and good overall performance, the Moto G13 is a great choice.

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