Smartphone deal: Motorola Moto G34 5G in the test – 120 Hz for 100 euros

With the Moto G34 5G, Motorola has made it easier to get a good, reliable smartphone at a surprisingly affordable price. It currently costs eBay Only 96 Euros (Code: Powerbay8Valid until August 14, 2024 instead of 104 euros). This is successful because the company seems to have understood what such a smartphone can do and what it should contain. Former American electronics manufacturer Motorola, now under the laptop manufacturer Lenovo, offers to continue this pleasant story with the Moto G34 5G. Although the smartphone is still in the entry-level class, especially in terms of price, it offers much more than it seems. Some quirks become apparent in the detailed test.

Motorola always impresses with its simple yet precise and high-quality smartphone design. The manufacturer does not deviate from this line even with the Moto G34 5G. The only thing that bothers us is the camera module – due to the strange separation from the rest of the back and the color highlighting, it seems a bit out of place, unlike many other Moto models.

Otherwise, the plastic back of the gray model that was provided to us is in a beautiful glossy, matte gray color. The painted plastic frame also has the same color. The display on the front is surrounded by display edges that could be a little thinner. The dimensions of the device are 162.7 millimeters high and 74.6 millimeters wide. With a thickness of just eight millimeters and a weight of 179 grams, this smartphone is extremely light and fits comfortably in the hand. The workmanship is also impeccable and doesn’t feel cheap. However, the Moto G34 5G does not offer water resistance certification. Motorola describes the casing as water-repellent, which means the smartphone is protected against splashes of water and rain.

For the display, Motorola opted for a 6.5-inch IPS panel with a resolution of 1600 × 720 pixels. This is not entirely unusual for a smartphone in this price range, but the resolution is still below average – 1080p would have been nicer and more contemporary. The high refresh rate of 120Hz is commendable. The screen is of high quality and offers accurate colour representation with good contrast values, and there is nothing wrong with the viewing angles either. Rather, at maximum brightness – at around 515 cd/m² it is enough to remain readable outdoors in normal lighting conditions. However, viewing content in direct sunlight becomes quite difficult. Here too, we wish for something better, although given the price of the device, this is already a high level of complaint.

When it comes to the camera, there is hardly anything wrong with the Moto G34 5G. A main camera with 50 megapixel resolution is used, with an aperture of f/1.8 and built-in autofocus. There is also a macro camera with two megapixels, which (like almost all cheap smartphones) is more or less useless and could have been an ultra-wide-angle camera as well. However, the main camera takes really good pictures – the pictures come out especially good in daylight. There is no lack of detail or accurate, bold color representation. There is rarely anything oversaturated or overexposed here, and the smartphone does not have a hard time with the accurate representation of the sky blue of the problem.

As expected, when there is low light, the recording is also accompanied by image noise, although the smartphone delivers comparatively good results in post-processing. The front camera has a resolution of 16 megapixels and is just as useful – the quality offered here is definitely suitable for quick selfies or video conferences. Video recording is possible at a maximum of 1080p at 30 frames per second and takes place without optical image stabilization.

The Moto G34 5G uses the Snapdragon 695 5G as a processor. This chip from Qualcomm belongs to the mid-range and is now almost three years old – thanks to the production using the 6nm process and the generous clock frequency of the performance cores, it will still work well in 2024. In the PCMark Work 3.0 benchmark, the smartphone scored almost 10,000 points, which is certainly competitive in this price range. And 1200 points in 3DMark “Wild Life” are also impressive for the price.

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In everyday life, this means almost smooth operation, with rarely any waiting times or other interruptions. Multitasking is out of the question here, and even simple games are out of the question. However, you should not attempt resource-intensive processes or advanced 3D games here. This smartphone is available with 4 GB to 8 GB of RAM and 64 GB or 128 GB of internal memory is available.

The rest of the features of the Moto G34 5G are not much more than expected. For communication there is Wi-Fi 5 (IEEE 802.11ac), Bluetooth 5.1, GPS with GLONASS and mobile communication with dual SIM, eSIM and 5G support. We are particularly pleased about the latter and it is increasingly available in the price range below 200 euros, but at less than 100 euros it is still an extremely rare item. The USB-C port only works according to the slower USB 2.0 standard, although for the price this is normal. The fingerprint sensor is hidden in the power button and responds quickly and reliably. Motorola opted for a stereo arrangement for the speakers; the sound quality is relatively good. There are no problems even when making calls.

The pure Android operating system without any manufacturer hustle is used with version 14, the security patch is still current. Motorola has promised at least two years of security updates for this device – it is unclear if there will be major Android version updates.

Another highlight of the Moto G34 5G is battery life. The device has a 5000mAh lithium-ion cell, which produces 13.5 hours of playback time in PCMark’s battery test. This means two days of battery life with normal use intensity in most cases. It recharges at 18 watts – that’s fine, but could be a little faster. In any case, Turbo Power, as Motorola calls it, cannot be used to describe the charging speed.

The Moto G34 5G is available in Charcoal Black and Ice Blue colours and various storage configurations. The 4/64GB variant is the current best price for entry 96 Euros on ebay with code Powerbay8 (Valid till 14th August 2024). It is priced in storage configuration 4/128 GB Galaxus Currently 108 EurosWhich means the surcharge is low enough that we’d recommend this option.

What else can you say about the Moto G34 5G? This is another successful entry-level smartphone from Motorola, which you can get at the very affordable price of 96 euros at the time of testing (August 13, 2024).

Lots of power, a beautiful (albeit dark and low-resolution) 120Hz display, a stylish design and good features: this makes the device the perfect choice for many people looking for an inexpensive smartphone for everyday life. It is also lightweight and offers long battery life. Even the camera can be enjoyed at a reasonable price, which really surprised us. Although the macro lens is for tons, we would have liked an ultra wide angle better. Overall, we are very surprised and the Moto G34 5G earns four and a half stars in our test if you look at it in terms of an excellent price-performance ratio.

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