Motorola Moto G84 review: affordable Android smartphone with a bright 6.5-inch 120Hz OLED display

Motorola Moto G84 is a very nice smartphone in the mid-budget segment, which has all the essentials and some nice bonuses. The smartphone can offer its potential owner a great OLED display with high brightness, rich pictures and a 120Hz refresh rate, a good main camera that takes good pictures both day and night, good battery life and fast charging support. Moto G84 has loud enough speakers, stereo sound and a 3.5mm jack for those who don't want to throw away their favourite wired headphones. Inside, there is a large amount of both RAM and internal memory, and it is possible to additionally install a MicroSD card. The less pleasant features of the smartphone include a rather old Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G processor, as well as mediocre video recording quality. Also, the lack of eSIM support, which is present in both the company's more expensive models and the more affordable Moto G54, was a bit surprising.

There are many interesting models in this price range. And Motorola Moto G84 has quite strong competitors. For example, the Samsung Galaxy M34 has a larger battery, a slightly fresher processor (although the performance is not significantly different) and can shoot 4K@30fps. The Moto G84, on the other hand, has faster charging, more RAM and internal memory, and an ultra-wide-angle camera. Another competitor is the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro. In general, it is quite close in terms of characteristics and has faster charging. But it also has an ultra-wide-angle camera without autofocus. Instead, it has two additional unnecessary 2 MP modules.

6 reasons to buy Motorola Moto G84:

• Excellent OLED display with a refresh rate of 120 Hz
• High-quality main camera
• Loud stereo speakers with a 3.5 mm headphone jack
• Large amount of RAM and internal memory.'s memory, as well as a MicroSD slot
• Fast charging and good battery life
• Almost pure Android 13

3 reasons not to buy Motorola Moto G84:

• Mediocre performance
• Poor video recording quality
• You need eSIM support

Fast forward to:

1. What does the Motorola Moto G84 come with?
2. What does the Motorola Moto G84 look like?
3. How good is the Motorola Moto G84 screen?
4. What are the ways to unlock the Motorola Moto G84?
5. Motorola Moto G84 performance, sound and battery life
6. How user-friendly is the Motorola Moto G84 interface?
7. How do the Motorola Moto G84 cameras take pictures?
8. Five things you need to know about this smartphone

What does the Motorola Moto G84 come with?

We've reviewed quite a few Motorola smartphones in gg recently, so the package is quite familiar. A box with the Motorola logo and model name. Inside is the smartphone itself, a 33W power supply, a Type-C cable, a transparent silicone bumper case, a tray clip, and documentation.

What does the Motorola Moto G84 look like?

The design of the Motorola Moto G84 is almost familiar to modern smartphones, especially from the front. It will be difficult to distinguish it from other mid-range models. It has a flat display with rounded corners, a front camera hole and an earpiece speaker on top. It is also used as a second speaker for stereo sound. The bezels around the screen are thin. Unfortunately, the manufacturer does not specify the type of protective glass.

The frame is plastic with a matte finish. It is flat and has small chamfers around the perimeter. The volume and power buttons are conveniently placed and clearly fall under the finger when used. On the left side there is a tray.

The tray in Motorola Moto G84 is similar to many other inexpensive models. You can install either two SIM cards or install a MicroSD instead of the second one. At the same time, the smartphone does not support eSIM, which is surprising. Even the more affordable Moto G54, which recently visited gg, had eSIM support.

The Motorola Moto G84 has an additional microphone on top, as well as a Dolby Atmosmark. The bottom has a main speaker, a Type-C connector and a standard headphone jack. More affordable models haven't yet caught on to the trend of not having it.

The smartphone is available in three colours: light blue, red and dark blue. The first two have a back cover made of eco-leather. The last blue variant arrived at the editorial office of Gagadget.com . It has a plastic cover with a matte finish. It is pleasant to the touch and hardly bends. But it is quite slippery, so it makes sense to carry the smartphone in a protective bumper.

The rear camera of the Motorola Moto G84 includes two modules. They are placed on a common rectangular block with rounded corners. The cameras of almost all current Motorola smartphones have a similar shape. The module protrudes quite noticeably above the body, as do the two lenses themselves. However, the included protective bumper has a rim to keep the camera safe.

Motorola Moto G84 is relatively thin and light: 7.6 mm and 167 g, respectively. It is quite comfortable to use. The smartphone has protection according to the IP54standard, so it is not afraid of dust and water splashes.

How good is the Motorola Moto G84's screen?

The Motorola Moto G84 is equipped with a flat 6.5-inch pOLEDscreen.The resolution is 2400x1080 (aspect ratio 20:9), and the pixel density is about 402 ppi. It uses a 10-bit matrix, claiming to offer 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour space and a peak brightness of 1300 cd/m². Unfortunately, HDR is not supported. The refresh rate is 120 Hz, the sensor readout frequency is 240 Hz. Among the screen settings are andbrightness, a choice between dark and light themes, interface and text scale, flicker prevention (DC Dimming), a choice of refresh rates (60, 120 and adaptive), night mode and two colour display modes with colour temperature adjustment.

According to my own observations, a really high-quality screen with good brightness and very rich colours is used. The viewing angles are maximum. But at a certain angle, the white colour has a subtle green tint, which is typical for most OLED variations. Measurements showed that the maximum brightness in "Bright" mode is 468.117 cd/m². Slightly lower than the more expensive Edge, but the difference is not dramatic. The colour gamut is significantly wider than sRGB. But the colour temperature is close to 8500K with a reference value of 6500K, so the picture has a slightly cool tint.

In the "Natural" mode, the colour gamut is close to sRGB, and the colour reproduction is closer to the reference values. Maximum brightness 454.815 cd/m².

Motorola Moto G84 screen comparison with other models:

What are the ways to unlock Motorola Moto G84?

Motorola Moto G84 has a fingerprint scanner in the screen. It is an optical type and is located quite close to the bottom of the smartphone, which is not very convenient. But it takes a minimum of time to get used to. It generally works well: there were no errors during testing, but the speed is slightly inferior to the Edge line. There is also a face unlock. Everything here is standard: only the front camera works and you need enough light to work quickly.

Performance, sound and battery life of the Motorola Moto G84

The Motorola Moto G84 has a mid-range octa-core processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G, which was released in 2021. It is manufactured on a 6-nm process technology, includes 2 productive Kryo 660 Gold cores with a frequency of up to 2.2 GHz, 6 energy-efficient Kryo 660 Silver cores with a frequency of up to 1.7 GHz, and the Adreno 619accelerator is responsible for graphics. The amount of RAM is 12 GB, and the function of expanding the RAM is supported by a built-in storage device for another 3 GB. The storage has a capacity of 256 GB and uses the rather slow uMCP UFS 2.2 memory. Instead of a second SIM card, you can add a MicroSD card up to 1 TB. In tests, the smartphone demonstrates quite expected rather low performance, especially in terms of heavy graphics. It's quite enough for everyday tasks, but mobile gaming enthusiasts should look for something more powerful.

Motorola Moto G84 Performance Tests

Throttling Motorola Moto G84

Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G is a rather cold processor and doesn't get too hot under prolonged loads. In the Throttling Test, the processor dropped performance by up to 85% in 15 minutes of maximum load. The case remains barely warm.

Motorola Moto G84 performance in games

As mentioned above, the smartphone is not the best choice if you want to play modern games with heavy graphics. Diablo Immortal runs well on the minimum graphics settings with a frame rate of 30 FPS. There are no very noticeable freezes or frequency drops. CoD Mobile at high settings demonstrates a stable 60 frames per second.

Motorola Moto G84 Wireless and Sound

The Motorola Moto G84 features dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.1 LE and NFC for contactless payment. Support for global positioning systems: GPS, A-GPS, LTEPP, Glonass, Galileo, Beidou, QZSS. Stereo sound is reproduced by the main and earpiece speakers, as in the vast majority of modern smartphones. The volume margin is not bad, as is the sound quality for an affordable smartphone. Although, like most smartphones, there are almost no low frequencies. Virtual surround sound is supported Dolby Atmos.

Motorola Moto G84 battery test

Motorola Moto G84 has a battery of 5000 mAh. In heavy duty mode (with benchmarks and games), the smartphone works for a day. If you limit yourself to everyday tasks (calls, email, messengers, browser, YouTube), you can get a day and a half. The smartphone supports TurboPower's proprietary 30W fast charging. From 0 to 100% , the smartphone charges in about an hour and 15 minutes.

How user-friendly is the Motorola Moto G84 interface?

In terms of software, the Motorola Moto G84 does not differ from other models of the manufacturer. It uses pure Android 13 with all the familiar features, including extensive customisation options and the absence of unnecessary applications. The interface works quickly, everything is convenient and familiar.

All additional Motorola branded features, including gestures for quick launch of the camera, flashlight, security features and more, are collected in the Moto application:

How do the cameras of the Motorola Moto G84 work?

The Motorola Moto G84 has a dual camera at the back, a configuration similar to most current Motorola models. So we have the main module with a resolution of 50 megapixels and f/1.9 aperture. The size of the matrix is 1/1.5", the pixel is 1.0µm. It has phase detection autofocus and optical stabilisation. The second module is an ultra-wide-angle module at 8 MP with f/2.2 aperture and 120˚, 1/4.0", 1.12µm, autofocus. It is also used for macro at a distance of 2.5 cm to the subject. The maximum video resolution is FullHD, 60 FPS. The front camera has a resolution of 16 MP, f/2.5, 1.0µm.

The camera app is the same as in other Motorola models, which the editorial team of gg has reviewed quite a few recently. It is convenient, clear and not very different from other solutions. So we have the usual carousel of modes, additional ones in a separate section, and all the basic settings on the viewfinder screen.

Examples of Motorola Moto G84 camera photos

The main camera is capable of taking high-quality photos in most situations. In sufficient light, it produces natural colour reproduction and good detail. The night mode is also generally pleasing in terms of quality. Although, of course, the detail is reduced and in some cases the processing algorithms do not paint very natural shades.

The ultra-wide-angle camera can take good photos in sufficient light. The detail is quite acceptable, although the dynamic range is, of course, noticeably inferior to the main camera. At night, you can also take a good photo, although digital noise and blurring will be noticeable in some cases. But there is a problem with autofocus. It does not work slowly enough and not always correctly:

Macro mode:

Example of video shooting Motorola Moto G84

The maximum video resolution on the Motorola Moto G84 is FullHD 60 FPS. The video quality is very mediocre. The stabiliser doesn't do a great job and the detail is quite weak:

Motorola Moto G84 quick review: five things you need to know about this smartphone

• The Motorola Moto G84 is an affordable Android smartphone with a bright 6.5-inch 120Hz OLED display.
• Performance is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G processor, which is sufficient for everyday tasks but not enough for today's heavy games.
• Supports fast 30W wired charging and is fully charged in just over an hour.
• Has a microSD card slot.
• Runs on almost pure Android 13.

For those who want to know more:

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