Moto G45 Review: Midrange Performance, Affordable Price

Moto G45 5G was launched in India last month as the company’s latest addition to the G-series of smartphones. It is the spiritual successor to the Moto G34 that arrived in India earlier this year and features a few hardware tweaks and improvements. A Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 chipset powers the Moto G45 5G and features an IPS LCD screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. The rear panel on the handset has a vegan leather finish. It competes with similarly priced smartphones like the iQOO Z9x and the Realme Narzo 70x 5G.

This handset is available in 4GB+128GB and 8GB+128GB RAM and storage variants that are priced at Rs. 10,999 and 12,999, respectively. The company provided us with a Moto G45 5G review unit with 8GB of memory.

Moto G45 5G Design: Looks Familiar

• Dimensions – 162.7 x 74.64 x 8.03mm
• Weight – 183g
• Colours – Brilliant Blue (in this review), Brilliant Green, and Viva Magenta

If you hold the Moto G45 5G and the slightly older Moto G34 next to each other, you’ll see a lot of similarities between them in terms of design. The new handset has a vegan leather finish on the rear panel, making it easy to grip if you prefer to use your phone without a protective cover.

Moto G45 5G has a rear panel with a vegan leather finish

The Moto G45 5G moniker is not mentioned on the rear panel, and the only way you can tell it’s a Motorola phone is the batwing logo that’s located in the centre of the screen. The handset has flat edges made of plastic, and the top edge includes the Dolby Atmos logo.

The camera island on the Moto G45 5G is located at the top left edge of the rear panel, and the phone wobbles a little when you place it on a flat surface. Thankfully, the handset comes with a transparent TPU case, which takes care of this issue. The bottom edge of the handset has a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB Type-C port, and a speaker grille. The Moto G45 5G also ships with a USB Type-A to Type-C cable and a 20W charging adapter.

Moto G45 5G Software: Contains Bloatware, Notification Spam

• Software – My UX
• Version – Android 14
• Latest security patch – June 1, 2024

Like other budget phones from Motorola, this smartphone features the company’s My UX skin, based on Android 14. The handset doesn’t appear to have any system-level bloatware that can’t be uninstalled, but it does download applications and places promotional app folders (Shopping, Entertainment, GamesHub) on the home screen — these can be manually disabled.

The phone will also prompt you to turn on a Glance plugin that activates a permanent spot on the lock screen that shows weather and news updates. You can turn this off, even if you accidentally turned it on while setting up the phone. You must also disable the MotoHub app to prevent the phone from spamming you with somewhat irrelevant news stories.

Moto G45 5G runs on Android 14 with the company’s My UX interface

The Moto G45 5G comes with features on the company’s other smartphones, including Family Space, Moto Unplugged, and Moto Secure. Some of these apps are quite useful, especially the secure folder and phishing protection features and Moto’s quick gestures that let you toggle various features or perform actions on the phone.

The Moto G45 5G will be updated to Android 15 at some point in 2025, and the phone will get two years of security updates every two months, according to the company. Most phones at this price point are promised to receive one major Android update, with the exception of the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G, which will get two Android upgrades and four years of security updates.

Moto G45 5G Performance: Above Average

• Processor – Snapdragon 6s Gen 3
• Memory – Up to 8GB
• Storage – 128GB (UFS 2.2)

Like the more expensive Moto G85, this handset is also powered by Snapdragon 6s Gen 3, a 6nm chipset from Qualcomm that is a rebranded version of the three-year-old Snapdragon 695 SoC. While it was disappointing to see the processor on the Moto G85, when the competition was equipped with 4nm chips, it is more acceptable in this price segment.

This phone can easily handle day-to-day tasks, including browsing the web and social media, replying to emails, and playing light games. Some applications took just over a second to open when loaded for the first time, but there were no issues when re-opening the apps.

Moto G45 5G performance is on par with similarly priced phones

Games like BGMI run on HD settings and a ‘High’ framerate by default, while I was able to play Asphalt Legends: Unite on the default settings. I didn’t notice any major issues with stuttering or sluggishness. A Moto Gametime feature automatically turns on and offers the ability to disable notifications, block calls, and optimise other features. You can also choose from balanced, turbo, and battery-saver performance modes, but there was no noticeable change in performance when using them.

In synthetic benchmark tests, the Moto G45 5G achieved scores that are on par with smartphones like the OnePlus Nord CE 4 Lite and iQOO Z9x. It also delivers the same CPU and GPU performance as the company’s more expensive Moto G85 model.

Here’s a handy table that will let you compare the Moto G45 5G benchmark scores with other smartphones that are also available at a similar price.

The smartphone has a 6.5-inch HD+ (720×1,600 pixels) IPS LCD screen that doesn’t get bright enough when using the phone in bright sunlight. The adaptive brightness mode is responsive, making quick adjustments based on ambient lighting levels.

The display refreshes at 120Hz and feels smooth and optimised for day-to-day use. The ‘natural’ display mode appears a little warmer than other Motorola phones, such as the Moto G85, and I ended up choosing the ‘saturated’ mode on the Moto G45 5G.

Moto G45 5G Cameras: Slow but Steady

• Main camera – 50-megapixel, up to 1080p/ 30fps video
• Macro camera – 8-megapixel, fixed focus
• Selfie camera – 16-megapixel, up to 1080p/ 30fps video

During the daytime, the Moto G45 5G lets you capture decent images when there’s enough natural light, but the camera takes a little over a second to capture each image. There’s a bit of noise and softening when you zoom in. In extremely bright scenarios, the dynamic range takes a bit of a hit, with skies appearing brighter than when the image was captured. There’s enough detail when you zoom in, and there’s not a lot of noise or softening.

Moto G45 5G Camera Samples. Top to bottom – Daytime, Night, Macro (Tap images to expand)

The delay in capturing images is more pronounced in low light scenarios, where the Moto G45 5G takes a few seconds to snap a photo with the Night Vision mode and then process it. This can prove to be a hassle if you’re trying to click a picture with a moving subject. However, if you can hold the phone for long enough, the phone captures bright images with enough detail.

You can also capture images with the 8-megapixel macro camera that lets you get much closer to your subject. It sometimes struggles to focus on subjects, and you have to keep moving the phone until the image in the viewfinder is clear. The colour reproduction is not on par with the primary camera — colours are more saturated, while some brighter areas are overexposed.

The 16-megapixel selfie camera on the Moto G45 5G works well during the day, capturing images that are detailed. The ‘beautification’ features are also disabled by default, and the camera app offers built-in filters while clicking selfies. The selfie camera leaves a lot to be desired in low light scenarios, capturing images with a lot of noise and smoothening.

Moto G45 5G is equipped with a dual rear camera setup

Video recording at 1080p/ 30fps is supported on both the primary rear and selfie cameras, although the former offers far better video quality. If you want to record video of yourself, it’s probably better to use the rear camera using a tripod or Gorillapod, as it offers better white balance, contrast, and clarity compared to the rear camera. Low-light video recording is subpar, even with the built-in stabilisation mode enabled.

Moto G45 5G Battery: Very Reliable

• Battery Capacity – 5,000mAh
• Wired Charging: 18W USB PD
• Charger: 20W (included)

The Moto G45 5G weighs over 180g, thanks in part to its 5,000mAh battery, which delivers more than a day of usage — if you aren’t glued to your phone. During the time I spent testing the phone, I was able to get about seven hours of screen on time and 15 hours of standby time before the phone needed another charge.

This included about two hours of social media apps, texting, and an hour playing Asphalt Legends Unite. This is par for the course when it comes to budget smartphones, which have lower-resolution displays that don’t get very bright.

During our HD video battery loop test, the Moto G45 5G lasted about 23 hours before the battery was completely depleted. It took about two hours and five minutes to charge the phone fully using the charging adapter that ships with the phone.

Moto G45 5G Review: Verdict

There’s a lot of competition in the budget 5G smartphone segment, and the Moto G45 5G is one of several phones that offers a decent experience for less than Rs. 12,000. It doesn’t have any standout features, but the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 chipset delivers performance that is on par with more expensive smartphones.

The laggy camera software, subpar macro camera, and notification spam are three reasons to avoid purchasing the Moto G45 5G. It offers reliable battery backup, but it would have been nice to see faster charging on the handset.

If you’re not keen on the Moto G45 5G, other smartphones to consider in this price segment with comparable specifications include the iQOO Z9x (Review), Realme C65 5G, Realme Narzo N65 5G, Infinix Hot 50 5G, or the older Samsung Galaxy A14 5G.