Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This phone was disappointing - I have used Moto G, Moto G2, Moto G5 Plus earlier in the Moto G series and also OnePlus, Samsung Galaxy Note, Huwaei devices, LG flagships,, Sony Ericcson flagships and a host of other midrange and budget phones. I was currently using Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 and so that phone is my reference for this review. The Asus cost me about 190 USD in 2018 including tax (i.e about 140 USD less than the G7 including tax) and it was an amazing value for the money - a 6.2 " bright, accurate crisp display, decent camera, amazing battery life (5000 MAh battery - 2 day battery life), fantastic premium feeling build (smooth sleek metal body, well built). I bought it while I was in India - the budget smartphone market in India is extremely competitive and you get amazing devices at unbelievable prices compared to the US market. The only reason I had to look for a new phone was because the Asus was not fully compatible with US carrier bands. I chose the Moto G7 based on my previous satisfactory experience with Moto G phones and the reviews which said it was one of the best budget smartphones in US market. I was thoroughly disappointed - not only comparing the G7 to the Asus but even to the previous Moto G phones. Here are my impressions of the Moto G7 after using it for about 1 month as my only and main phone. Display - Washed out, lacking in brightness and saturation. The Asus was way better in terms of brightness, color, accuracy, sharpness. Sound - Bad. The speaker is too loud and harsh for itself. At full volume the sound cracks. No wonder there are so many complaints of the speakers going out after a few days of use - did Motorola even test them thoroughly ? Does not seem so. Even putting the volume to max during navigation would hurt your ears due to the high pitch cracked sound. Even the Moto G5 Plus has a much better well rounded sound (at least does not crack at full volume) Build Quality - Not too bad but the Asus is way better with its premium metal feel. Fingerprint reader - Not bad. Was decently responsive Feel and Handling - The glass back is too slippery and the phone gives a feeling that it will slip off from the hand any time. I am extremely careful with handling and have hardly ever dropped a phone ever (unbelievable but true) - and I rarely use protective casing or screen guard because I feel they take away from the beauty of a phone - but even I felt extremely nervous using this phone. I was forced to get a protective cover without which this phone seemed unusable. I have seen reviews where this phone cracks easily on drops so that is even worse. By the way - the cover I bought was very good and totally changed the handling experience to one of assurance and satisfaction w.r.t the grip and sense of security. Camera - Decent. Took good photos outdoors with adequate light. Battery Life - Now this was the real deal breaker. Battery life on the Moto G7 was terrible. I am an extremely light to moderate user and expect my phone battery to last at least till evening. I use my phone only for occasional calls (very infrequent), text messages (very infrequent), zero social networking except very light WhatsApp (max 4 times a day for a few minutes), web browsing and news (light to moderate), YouTube (light to moderate). The Asus last me around 2 days on a full charge. The Moto G6 Plus last me a full day. This phone - the Moto G7 lasted half a day at most ! This was totally unacceptable given my light usage. I had to carry the charger everywhere I went for the first time in my life ! I can attribute this low quality issues to cost cutting because clearly even the Moto G5 Plus was a much better built and better quality phone and there are way way better budget handsets in other more competitive markets like in Asia. I really really wanted to like and keep the Moto G7 but I had to return it because of it's bad battery and unsatisfactory overall experience. I am delighted with the phone I replaced it with for about 130 $ more.