We reviewed the Moto G30 earlier this year, and it proved to be a solid all-rounder, taking great photos in daylight and offering solid battery life, plus the 90Hz refresh rate display was a nice touch. While the G31 hasn’t changed much in terms of design, it’s received some upgrades and now has new competition. So, is the new Moto G31 as versatile as the Moto G30?
Motorola Moto G31 price in India
Moto G31 price starts at Rs. It is priced at 12,999 in India and comes in two variants. There is a base 4GB RAM and 64GB storage variant priced at Rs. 12,999, and the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage variant is priced at Rs. 14,999.
Motorola Moto G31 design
The Moto G31 looks very similar to its predecessor, the Moto G30. It’s made of polycarbonate and has a one-piece design that feels sturdy. It offers good grip thanks to a fine groove-like texture on the back, and is relatively slim at just 8.54mm thick. It’s rated IPX2 for water resistance, which is a slight drop from the G30’s IP52 rating for dust and water resistance.
Motorola Moto G31 is made of polycarbonate
Thanks to the textured and matte finish on the back, the phone doesn’t show fingerprints. Its display also remained smudge-free during the review period. I often had trouble finding the nearly recessed fingerprint reader, which sits on the back below the Motorola logo, but it unlocks the phone instantly. There’s only one speaker, located at the bottom, near the main microphone and USB Type-C port.
The Moto G31 features an AMOLED display with a punch-hole cutout for the camera, which looks modern compared to the notch display on the Moto G30. While the top, left, and right bezels look thin enough, the bottom ones are noticeably thicker.
There are four buttons on the right, including a dedicated button for Google Assistant
I don’t like the physical button layout on the Moto G31. There is a dedicated Google Assistant button located almost in the top right corner of the device, above the power button and volume rocker. The Assistant button doesn’t make much sense due to its inconvenient location, but it might come in handy since the device can’t wake up and perform actions while locked in response to voice commands.
Motorola Moto G31 specs and software
The Moto G31 is powered by the MediaTek Helio G85 processor and offers up to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Storage capacity is expandable up to 1TB using a microSD card in the hybrid dual-SIM tray. Communication standards include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5 and various satellite navigation systems. The phone is powered by a 5,000mAh battery and comes with a 20W charger in the box.
Motorola offers a near-native version of Android 11 for the Moto G31. It does have some customization options, including the ability to change accent colors, fonts, and icon shapes. There are also the usual Moto gestures and the Moto peek display feature, which lets you interact with notifications when the phone is locked. The software experience doesn’t include any of the third-party apps we’ve seen on most competing smartphones, but there is a Dolby Atmos app for an enhanced audio experience.
Motorola Moto G31 performance and battery life
The Moto G31’s software experience is overall smooth in everyday use. Upgraders will miss the Moto G30’s smooth 90Hz display, but performance is good and apps can stay in memory for a long time. The 6.4-inch AMOLED panel delivers deep blacks for an immersive viewing experience when watching movies and playing games. The phone comes with Widevine L1 DRM certification, allowing Full HD playback resolution in streaming applications. The Moto G31 has a bottom speaker that’s loud enough, but not as immersive as the stereo speakers on rival smartphones.
Moto G31 is equipped with an AMOLED display with a standard refresh rate of 60Hz
I received the 4GB RAM version for review, and it achieved average scores for a budget smartphone in our benchmark tests. The Moto G31 scored 1,55,315 points in AnTuTu and 346 points and 1,241 points in Geekbench’s single-core and multi-core tests respectively. The G31 achieved 39fps and 8.7fps in GFXBench’s T-Rex and Car Chase benchmarks, respectively, and scored 1,799 and 1,408 points in 3DMark’s Sling Shot and Sling Shot Extreme benchmarks. However, there are some smartphones with MediaTek Helio G88 and G95 SoC that perform better in this price segment.
The Moto G31 offers a basic budget smartphone gaming experience. The phone can handle most games on low graphics settings, but nothing more. I experienced some stuttering and lag while playing Call of Duty: Mobile on its default low graphics and medium frame rate settings. Asphalt 9: Racing Legends runs smoothly on default graphics settings, with some occasional lag when there’s a lot of action happening on screen. The phone does start to get warm after about 30 minutes of gaming, and beyond that time performance suffers. In fact, this is a smartphone mainly used for simple daily tasks and playing casual games.
Moto G31 comes with hybrid dual-SIM tray
The battery life of the Moto G31 is pretty good. Its 5,000mAh battery lasts for a day and a half, including some gaming. In our HD video loop battery life test, the phone lasted 18 hours and 32 minutes. The charging speed of the included 20W charger is pretty good. The Moto G31 took just 2 hours and 33 minutes to charge from empty to full.
Motorola Moto G31 camera
Motorola has reduced the number of rear cameras on the Moto G31. The Moto G30 has four sensors, including a dedicated 2-megapixel depth sensor. On the Moto G31, the 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera acts as a depth camera when taking photos using Portrait mode. The main camera now has a 50-megapixel sensor instead of the 64-megapixel one on the Moto G30, and there’s also a 2-megapixel macro camera. Selfie duties are handled by a 13-megapixel front camera.
Motorola Moto G31 has three rear cameras
The camera app interface is typical Motorola, offering a customizable list of camera modes in a very simplified layout. Most settings are hidden beneath the gear icon. Oddly, the camera interface doesn’t offer an option to select the video recording resolution, nor is there a symbol or icon to tell you what resolution it’s recording at.
Motorola Moto G31 daylight camera sample. From top to bottom: close-up, main camera, ultra-wide-angle camera (click to see the full picture)
Photos taken in daylight show mostly natural colors and good dynamic range. Most of the photos I took ended up looking a bit dreamy thanks to the aggressive HDR, but it also ensured good detail in the darker areas of each frame. The ultra-wide-angle camera performs poorly, with most scenes overexposed, resulting in blurry details and noticeable barrel distortion.
Moto G31 close-up camera sample. Top: macro camera, bottom: main camera (click to see full size)
Autofocus lock is a little slow, especially when shooting close-ups of objects. These photos show good detail, but often the background is overexposed or the highlights are blown out. Macro photos don’t have a lot of detail and I prefer using the main camera because the photos are clearer, have better detail, and can be cropped. Selfies look great if I don’t use portrait mode, which often results in a blown-out background.
Moto G31 low light camera sample. Top: Auto mode, Bottom: Night mode (click to view full image)
Low light photos come out quite blurry. Night mode manages to make photos sharper, but details are still sparse. Portrait mode doesn’t seem to work in low light. Video quality is generally good, with large exposure changes when panning. Low-light video effects are pretty poor.
judgment
Prices start from Rs. The Motorola Moto G31 is priced at 12,999 and offers a high-quality AMOLED display, a waterproof body, and a near-native Android software experience. However, it’s not on par with its predecessor in some respects, and its imaging capabilities are spotty and far from consistent. It’s not a do-it-all tool, but may still be suitable for those looking for a stock Android software experience. The Nokia G20 is the only phone in this price segment to offer this feature, and as I pointed out in my review, it’s an underpowered device.
If you don’t mind some Android customization and pre-installed apps, you can opt for smartphones like the Infinix Hot 11S (Review), which are cheaper (starting at Rs 10,999) but offer better specs and better gaming and camera performance. There’s also the Realme Narzo 30 (Review), which offers a high refresh rate display and a Helio G95 processor at a slightly higher price, starting at Rs. 13,499. Finally, there’s the Redmi 10 Prime (review), which offers a bigger battery and a 90Hz display for the same price.
