Motorola Moto G10 Review: It just won't die

Battery life is one of the most important considerations when buying a new phone. No one wants a device that's going to die on them at an inconvenient time. Fortunately, that isn't the case when it comes to Motorola's Moto G10. I'm not entirely convinced it will ever drop dead.

The $249 phone packs a massive 5,000mAh, and thanks to rather modest hardware, should comfortably last most two full days per charge. In my testing, I found I could rack up between nine and ten hours of screen time before needing to recharge. Considering many flagships can struggle to hit five hours unless you disable features, getting twice that is a seriously impressive feat.

The Moto G10 just keeps going. No matter how reckless your usage, it's hard to imagine a scenario where it couldn't last a full day.

Of course, as a phone on the more affordable side of the pricing spectrum, the Moto G10 isn't without it's compromises. While its battery life is amazing, you can't say the same about camera quality. The Moto G10 has a 48MP primary camera, which is actually rather unusual to see on a phone this cheap. Most of the time you're looking at 13MP max.

Sadly, the big numbers don't really do much here other than look good on a spec sheet. While the Moto G10 can take a decent enough photo, images are a bit washed and aren't great when it comes to dynamic range. Bright light sources - such as the sun or a neon sign - are very prone to blowout. They can also darken the rest of your image.

You can see this in the image below. The sun is completely white, while the building and blue sky are much duller than they should be for the time of day. 

Opening up the camera app is particularly slow, and shooting can be too. This can lead to subtle blur, even in what seems like a well-lit environment.

Where the 48MP lens can actually help is in lowlight. The Moto G10 doesn't actually take 48MP images. Instead, it merges four pixels into one, which gets you a brighter overall image. Not every shot will be amazing, but the Moto G10 can actually perform okay in lowlight for the price, especially with night mode.

Here's a lowlight shot without night mode:

Here's the same shot with night mode on:

You'll also find an ultra-wide lens and macro lens on the back. The ultra-wide lens performs alright during the day, but degrades at night. The macro lens may as well not have been included; at just 2MP, the images are too low in quality to do anything meaningful with.

When it comes to overall performance, the Moto G10 isn't the snappiest of phones. Even unlocking it with your fingerprint can take a hot second. It isn't unreasonably slow - especially for the price-point - but you'll need to have a little bit of patience. Apps can take a little longer to open than you might expect. That being said, the overall day-to-day experience isn't too bad - just don't expect to run any overly demanding games. Genshin Impact is a stuttery mess.

The Moto G10's display is fine, but not exactly a selling point. It's a touch washed out, you get colour shift off axis, and it's not very bright. It can be a little tricky to see in direct sunlight. The screen runs at 720p+, which is on the lower side for a 6.5-inch display. This isn't a huge deal, but you might notice some jagged edges on icons and text from time to time.

On the back you'll find a plastic back with a unique, protruding wavy texture. There's no real practical reason for this, but it's kinda cute. And it's much nicer than the glastic trend we've seen on a lot of cheaper devices lately. You can tell it's a cheaper phone, but the Moto G10 still feels decently well made.

Save a few trademark Motorola gestures (like karate chopping your phone to turn on the flashlight), the Moto G10 runs a clean version of Android which is a nice touch. There are very few preinstalled apps outside of the standard Google fare, and the Android interface hasn't been modified. It's a bloat-free experience which no doubt helps considering the more modest hardware.

Despite the light-handed take on Android, Motorola has been cagey regarding exactly how long it will support the Moto G10 with software and security updates. Extended support is sadly never a given when it comes to more affordable Android smartphones, but we've seen manufacturers making improvements in the space. 

Even Samsung's $249 Galaxy A12 is set to get two years of operating system and security updates, the $169 Nokia 1.4 promises two years of operating system updates and three years of security updates, and OPPO says all of its A series devices will get three years of security updates and most will get at least one operating system upgrade. 

On the other hand, Motorola wasn't able to provide any details regarding the roadmap for the Moto G10, and did not commit to any operating system upgrades. 

"At Motorola, we are committed to providing timely security upgrades on our smartphones," said a spokesperson. 

"We’re unable to provide specifics in regards to software update timings, as this depends on several factors for each device. However, we understand that having up-to-date and secure software is very important to our customers and this is why our software team is always evaluating and working towards future upgrades."

Motorola Moto G10 - Final Thoughts

For the most part, the Moto G10 is a good phone at a reasonable price. It doesn't overdeliver for the money, but none of its compromises are big red flags - and they tend to be the kind of things that are common across all budget smartphones. A $249 phone simply isn't going to deliver an outstanding camera experience. If you're after a basic phone for day-to-day tasks with a battery you don't need to fret about, the Moto G10 is a solid pick.

Motorola Moto G10 camera samples

Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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