The Motorola g56 5G is an entry-level mid-range that has every feature you need, a fit-for-purpose processor, no AI, a good battery and a decent camera.
I would have liked to be more enthusiastic, but this is part of its cookie-cutter design allows for new models to be rolled out from under $200 to this at $499. Essentially, it’s all about a standard design and changing processors, RAM, storage, camera sensors and battery sizes to produce class-leading phones in every price bracket.
It’s worth every cent, but there are some strong contenders in the $300-399 price bracket. Its strongest contender is the Motorola G86 Power 5G: $499 Fantastic value and almost class-leading everything, which has more power, a bigger battery and city, suburb and regional phone reception.
Motorola G86 Power 5G Quick Specs
| Screen | 6.7” 2400 x 1080, 120Hz IPS LCD – PWM free |
| Processor | MediaTek Dimensity 7300, 4nm |
| RAM/Storage | 8GB (expandable to a virtual 16GB) 256GB Storage microSD slot |
| Phone | SIM and eSIM City/suburb phone signal strength. |
| Camera | Rear dual-camera 50+8 Flicker sensor 32MP selfie |
| Comms | Wi-Fi 5 BT 5.3 GPS NFC |
| Battery | 6720 mAh battery |
| Build | IP68, IP69, MIL-STD-810H 1.2m drop Gorilla Glass 7i |
| Android policy | 8GB model: Android 15 with 2 OS upgrades and 4 years of bi-monthly security patches. |
As we often say, we don’t know how Motorola does it, but we are sure glad they do.
Australian Review: Motorola G86 Power 5G 8/2568GB, SIM and eSIM, Model XT2529-2
Note: This is not the 4GB/128GB version sold by Telcos.
| Brand | Motorola |
| Model | Motorola g56 5G |
| Model Number | XT2529-2 |
| RAM/Storage Base | 8/256 |
| Price base | 399 |
| Price 2 | Optus and Vodafone sell a 4GB/128GB model for $299 |
| Price 3 | |
| Price 4 | |
| Warranty months | 24-month |
| Teir | lower mid-range |
| Website | Product page |
| From | Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, Good Guys, Officeworks, Bing Lee, Amazon AU, Lenovo |
| Country of Origin | China |
| Company | Owned by Lenovo (Est 1984) – a multinational technology company with its primary operational headquarters in Beijing and Morrisville, North Carolina. It is the world’s largest PC maker. It purchased Motorola Mobility from Google in 2014. Most of Lenovo’s smartphone business is now under the Motorola brand, and it has grand plans to become a ‘top five’ smartphone maker. |
| Test date | August 2025 |
| Ambient temp | 2 to 18° |
| Release | July 2025 |
| Other models not for Australia (Don’t buy) | Must have an R-NZ C-Tick. Only approved resellers – any other outlet is likely to be grey market |
| More | CyberShack phones news and reviews |
Ratings
We use the following ratings for many of the items below. CyberShack regards 70/100 as a pass mark. You can click on most images to enlarge them.
- Fail (below expectations), and we will let you know if this affects its use.
- Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be.
- Pass (meets expectations).
- Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good, but does not quite make it to Exceed
- Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader).
How to make the best use of this deep dive review
We tested over 70 different aspects and uncovered nearly 300 key data points about the device. Overall reviews can reach a few thousand words. So, if you are keen, this is the world’s most comprehensive review!
If you want to see our impressions only, they are listed at the beginning of each table. At the end, you will find CyberShack’s view, competitor analysis, and ratings. Ratings are based on the price bracket and expectations, so a $200 phone may score as well as a $2000 phone—we compare like with like.
First Impression – Pantone Grey Mist (looks olive to me)
I want to explain why ‘cookie-cutter’ is good in the mid-range price bracket. All the 2025 G-series look similar. Motorola can mix and match internals and come up with phones at a range of prices—kind of the ‘Camry’ of the smartphone world.
The more you pay, the more you get, and at $399, this is the second best. And it’s all you need.
Screen: Pass
The Motorola g56 5G has a 6.7”, 120Hz IPS LCD. It does not have PWM, so it can be used by those sensitive to that.
Its peak brightness is around 1000 nits for HDR10 content, and the screen is about 400 nits for general use. The automatic brightness helps, but it’s not terribly readable in direct sunlight.
| Size | 6.7″ |
| Type | IPS LCD |
| Flat, Curve, 2D, 3D | Flat |
| Resolution | 2400 x 1800 |
| PPI | 391 |
| Ratio | 20:9 |
| Screen to Body % | 87% |
| Colours bits | 8-bit 16.7m colours |
| Refresh Hz, adaptive | Smart and Balanced steps 60/90/120Hz Hyper Smooth 120 Hz Efficiency 60Hz |
| Response 120Hz | N/A |
| Nits typical, test | Not disclosed Typical 405 nits |
| Nits max, test | Not disclosed, but assume 1000 nits HBM. Test:790 maximum and 900 in 5% window. |
| Contrast | Not disclosed, but assume 1500:1 Test: 1510:1 |
| sRGB | Not disclosed Test: 99% |
| DCI-P3 | No – SDR only |
| Rec 2020 or other | No |
| Delta E (<4 is excellent) | 4.4 |
| HDR Level | Downscales HDR10 to SDR panel capability |
| SDR Upscale | No |
| Blue Light control | No |
| PWM if known | No |
| Daylight readable | No |
| Always on Display | No |
| Edge display | No |
| Accessibility | Usual Android features |
| DRM | L1 for FHD SDR playback (we were unable to stream HDR content) |
| Gaming | The screen is slow at 28ms GtG. |
| Screen protection | Gorilla Glass 7i Mohs 6 |
| Comment | Solid 1080p screen for the price, but not highly colour accurate or overly bright. |
Processor: Pass
This is a new processor, and there are no benchmarks yet. It does not run GFX games tests, which means that gamers should look elsewhere.
It does not support AI – just a good, honest phone. With 8/256GB RAM/storage and a microSD slot, you won’t run out of space.
| Type | MediaTek Dimensity 7060 Not listed on the MediaTek site. |
| nm | 6 TSMC |
| Cores | 2 x 2.6 GHz 6 x 2.0 GHz |
| GPU | IMG BXM-8-256 (950 MHz) |
| Modem | MediaTek |
| AI TOPS OR Multi-thread Integer Operations Per Second (INOPS) GINOPS = billion | AI not tested, as this is not an AI phone. |
| AnTuTu | 482889 |
| Geekbench 6 Single-core | 1040 |
| Geekbench 6 multi-core | 2401 |
| Like | No benchmarks yet. Similar to MediaTek 7025 or Snapdragon 860. |
| GPU Test | |
| OpenCL | Would not run |
| Like | The inability to test for OpenCL or Vulcan means that it does not support games. |
| Vulcan | Would not run |
| RAM, type | 8GB LPDDR4X and virtual expansion to 16GB using slower SSD. 4GB option is for Telco sales |
| Storage, free, type | 256GB UFS 2.2 128GB option |
| micro-SD | Up to 1TB |
| CPDT internal seq. Read MBps sustained/peak | 621/998 |
| CPDT internal seq. write MBps sustained/peak | 422/580 |
| CPDT microSD read, write MBps | 75/49 mountable for photos |
| CPDT external (mountable?) MBps | 26/12 OTG (Tested 2GB) |
| Comment | All are fit for purpose and price. |
Throttle test – Pass
It has excellent thermal management.
| Max GIPS | 182711 |
| Average GIPS | 171382 |
| Minimum GIPS | 142880 |
| % Throttle | 10% |
| CPU Temp | 50° |
| Comment | Excellent thermal management, but raw scores put it well below the older G54 and G55. |
Comms – Pass
Wi-Fi 5 performs as expected to a maximum of 433 Mbps. There was considerable variation in Rx/Tx speeds, and we suspect it’s about the processor not keeping up under load.
| Wi-Fi Type, model | Wi-Fi 5 AC 2.4/5Ghz |
| Test 2m -dBm, Rx/Tx Mbps | -41/6 to 433/353 to 433 |
| Test 5m | -47/6 to 433/263 to 404 |
| Test 10m | -59/148 to 433/263 to 404 |
| BT Type | 5.3 |
| GPS single, dual | GPS GLONASS Galileo QZSS Beidou |
| USB type | USB-C 2.0 480Mbps |
| ALT DP, DeX, Ready For | No – Miracast only |
| NFC | Yes |
| Ultra-wideband | No |
| Sensors | |
| Accelerometer | Yes |
| Gyro | Yes |
| e-Compass | Yes |
| Barometer | |
| Gravity | |
| Pedometer | |
| Ambient light | Yes |
| Hall sensor | |
| Proximity | Yes |
| Other | SAR sensor Fingerprint reader |
| Comment | Wi-Fi 5 speeds as expected. The big variances cannot be explained and occurred in multiple tests. It is as if it cannot sustain full speed. No matter – it’s more than enough. |
4/5G – Pass
It is strictly a city and suburbs phone with good tower coverage. In our test, it had no usable indoor signal and a limited usable outdoor 5G signal.
| SIM | SIM and eSIM, and microSD |
| Active | DSDS – dual sim, dual standby (one at a time) |
| Ringtone single, dual | Dual |
| VoLTE | Yes |
| Wi-Fi calling | Yes |
| 4G Bands | 1/2/3/5/7/8/20/26/28/32/38/40/41/42/71 |
| Comment | All Australian 4G bands |
| 5G sub-6Ghz | n1/n3/n5/n7/n8/n20/n26/n28/n38/n40/n41/n71/n75/n77/n78 |
| Comment | All Australian 5G sub-6 and low bands |
| mmWave | No |
| Test Boost Mobile, Telstra | |
| DL/UL, ms | 4G 25/16/32ms 5G: 190.6/17.8/24ms |
| Tower 1 -dBm, fW or pW | 4G Band 3: -79 to -114/12.6 pW to 4 fW (average) 5G: Band 1: -105 to -114/31.6 fW to 4 fW |
| Tower 2 | 4G Band 28: -79 to -83/12.6 pW to 5 pW |
| Tower 3 | No |
| Tower 4 | No |
| Indoor | 4G: Band 3 -111/4 fW 5G: No |
| Comment | Strictly a city and suburb phone with good tower coverage. |
Battery – Pass
Typical users can expect 24-36 hours. Heavy users 15-20 hours. No charger is supplied and a 10V/3A/30W will cost about $30.
| mAh | 5200 Claimed 1000 full recharge cycles, but this is not the new Si/C, so it is likely 300-500 charges. |
| Charger, type, supplied | 10V/3A/30W capable (Tested with Anker 140W GaN) |
| PD, QC level | PD 2.0 PPS capable |
| Qi, wattage | N/A |
| Reverse Qi or cable. | N/A |
| Test (60Hz or adaptive screen) | Adaptive |
| Charge % 30mins | Claim: 50% |
| Charge 0-100% | 1 hour 24 minutes |
| Charge Qi | N/A |
| Charge 5V, 2A | <3hours |
| Video loop 50%, aeroplane mode | 20 hours 18 minutes (accurate) |
| PC Mark 3 battery | 14 hours 9 minutes Accubattery 15 hours 25 minutes |
| GFX Bench Manhattan battery | Would not run |
| GFX Bench T-Rex | 450 minutes (7.5 hours) 5443 frames |
| Drain 100-0% full load screen on | 6 hours 5 minutes Accubattery 5 hours 57 minutes |
| mA Full load screen on | 1050-1100mA |
| mA Watt idle Screen on | 250-300mA |
| Estimate loss at max refresh | Auto mode maximises battery life, so we expect about a 20% penalty should you fix on 120Hz |
| Estimate typical use | Typical users can expect 24-36 hours. Heavy users 15-20 hours. |
| Comment | No charger inbox |
Sound Hardware – Pass
Pretty standard specs. Hands-free is good, and the BT aptX codecs make headphones even better.
| Speakers | Stereo earpiece and down-firing bottom speaker |
| Tuning | No |
| AMP | 2 x AW87 each 2.3W @10% THD |
| Dolby Atmos decode | Dolby Atmos decode to 2.0 speakers. |
| Hi-Res | No |
| 3.5mm | Yes |
| BT Codecs | SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, LDAC, LHDCV2/3 16-bit/44100/stereo |
| Multipoint | Yes |
| Dolby Atmos (DA) | Spatial Audio (no DA), Smart Audio, Music, Movie, Game, Podcast, Custom EQ |
| EQ | Yes and presets Manual Brilliant Treble Bass Boost Vocal Boost Sound Virtualiser 2.0 to spatial |
| Mics | Dual: limited noise cancelling |
| Test dB – all on EQ flat DA off | |
| Volume max | 80 |
| Media (music) | 82 |
| Ring | 80 |
| Alarm | 80 |
| Notifications | 79 |
| Earpiece | 65 |
| Hands-free | Dual mics and some noise-cancelling with adequate volume. |
| BT headphones | Excellent left-right separation and DA makes quite a difference with DA content. Also has a sound virtualiser. |
Sound Signature – Pass
It is hard to get any fidelity from mic-speakers, and this is no different. It has a mid signature for a clear voice. While it has an EQ, it can only recess frequencies (not boost) and really does not do much.
| Deep Bass 20-40Hz | Nil |
| Middle Bass 40-100Hz | Nil |
| High Bass 100-200Hz | Very slow build to 400 Hz |
| Low Mid 200-400Hz | Very slow build to 400 Hz |
| Mid 400-1000Hz | Flat to 10 kHz |
| High-Mid 1-2kHz | Flat to 10 kHz |
| Low Treble 2-4kHz | Flat to 10 kHz |
| Mid Treble 4-6kHz | Flat to 10 kHz |
| High Treble 6-10kHz | Flat to 10 kHz |
| Dog Whistle 10-20kHz | Slight dip and flat to 15 kHz, then a big dip |
| Sound Signature type | This is a mid-signature (bass recessed, mid boosted, treble recessed) for a clear voice. It’s not as bad as some Motorola models, as there is a slight amount of bass and some high treble. |
| Soundstage | As wide as the phone. DA content widens it a little and adds limited 3D spatial height: well-balanced top and bottom speakers. |
| Comment | The sound signature is above average, helped by slightly elevated high bass and low treble. |
Build – Exceed
Motorola has excellent build quality, and this has IP 68. IP69, MIL-STD-810H and Gorilla Glass 7i have 1.2m drop resistance.
| Size (H X W x D) | 165.75 x 76.26 x 8.35mm |
| Weight grams | 200g |
| Front glass | Gorilla Glass 7i Mohs hardness 6 |
| Rear material | Soft Luxe Texture |
| Frame | Plastic |
| IP rating | IP68 1.5m for 30 minutes IP69 MIL-STD-810H Claim: Drop-resistant 1.2m |
| Colours | Pantone Black Oyster Pantone Grey Mist |
| Pen, Stylus support | No |
| In the box | |
| Charger | No |
| USB cable | USB-C to USB-C 3W capable cable |
| Buds | No |
| Bumper cover | Yes |
| Comment | Very well-made. |
OS – Pass
Motorola uses pure Android overlaid with Hello UX. It’s a value-added light touch over Android. We like Motorola as it uses standard Google apps, making backup and restore very easy.
The 8GB retain version has a 2+2+4-year warranty, OS upgrades, and security patches – heaps for a $399 phone.
| Android | 15 |
| Security patch date | 1 July |
| UI | Hello UX Moto App: Personalise, Display, Gestures, Moto Secure, Play, Tips Moto Secure Family Space Games Moto Unplugged Smart Connect (for 8 GB/12 GB) |
| OS upgrade policy | 4GB 1 OS upgrade 8GB 2 OS upgrades |
| Security patch policy | 4G 3 years bi-monthly 8GB 4 years bi-monthly |
| Bloatware | Creeping in with Facebook, TikTok, Adobe, Block Blast, Blockdoku, Woodoku, Booking.com, LinkedIn, Solitaire, Temu |
| Other | Google Apps (necessary) and Moto Apps] |
| Comment | 8GB: It is a very reasonable 2+2+4 warranty, OS upgrades and security patches. |
| Security | |
| Fingerprint sensor location, type | On power button – 8/ 10 test |
| Face ID | Yes, 2D only |
| Other | Lenovo ThinkShield is more for enterprise use. |
| Comment |
Motorola g56 5G rear camera – Pass
This is almost the same setup as the g86 Power 5G. That has more processing power and a tad more AI image processing.
It has an entry-level Sony LYTIA LT-600 sensor (there are the 700, 800 and 900-series above this). It is what we would expect on a phone of this price, and it takes pretty good photos in both day and office light. It does not have HDR for photos or video, so it can lose details in the shadows or highlights.
The Ultrawide is an 8MP GalaxyCore GC08a8 Fixed Focus, which doubles as a macro. It is not colour consistent with the primary sensor, but that is not really an issue.
There appears to be a third camera sensor, but it is a flicker sensor that can reduce flickering in photos or videos under artificial light by adjusting the shutter speed.
10X zoom is all digital, and OIS helps stabilise these shots.
Maximum video is 1080p@60fps.
Rear camera tests
Read camera specs
| Rear Primary | Wide |
| MP | 50MP bins to 12.5 |
| Sensor | Sony LYTIA 600 (IMX882) |
| Focus | PDAF |
| f-stop | 1.8 |
| um | .8 bins to 1.6 |
| FOV° (stated, actual) | 68.5 to 80.8 |
| Stabilisation | OIS |
| Zoom | 10X Zoom Crop factor 5.3x |
| Rear 2 | Ultra-wide/macro |
| MP | 8MP |
| Sensor | GalaxyCore GC08a8 |
| Focus | Fixed |
| f-stop | 2.2 |
| um | 1.12 |
| FOV (stated, actual) | 118 |
| Stabilisation | No |
| Zoom | No |
| Rear 3 | Ambient Light Sensor |
| Video max | Wide: 1080p@60 Ultra-wide: 1080p@30 |
| Flash | LED |
| Auto-HDR | No |
| Ultra-Res Night Vision Portrait Panorama Pro Mode Scan Auto Smile Capture Auto Night Vision (for 8GB/12GB) High-res Digital Zoom (Up to 8x) Ultra-Wide Angle Google Lens integration VIDEO Dual Capture Time-lapse (w/ Hyperlapse) Slow motion Audio Zoom Ultra-Wide Angle | |
| QR code reader | Google Lens |
| Night mode | Yes |
| DXO Mark | No |
| Comment | Uses near pure Android and camera/photos app Zoom 1 and 2X OK Digital cropping loses too much detail. Sharp but loses details Ultrawide colour variation and fixed focus No macro Bokeh – not clean between the subject and the background Low light OK at 1X |
Motorola g56 selfie
It has a 32MP GalaxyCore sensor binned to 8MP, which is standard for this price bracket.
Selfies have natural skin tones, but fixed focus means you need to be careful. It can do small group selfies.
| Front | Selfie |
| MP | 32MP bins to 8MP |
| Sensor | GalaxyCore GC32e1 |
| Focus | Fixed |
| f-stop | 2.2 |
| um | .7 to 1.4 |
| FOV (stated, actual) | 77 to 89.7 |
| Stabilisation | No |
| Flash | Screen fill |
| Zoom | No |
| Video max | 1080p@30fps |
| Features | Gesture Selfie Face Retouch Selfie Photo Mirror |
| Comment | Selfies are a little soft. Natural skin tones under day and office light. |
CyberShack’s view: Motorola g56 5G is great value and all you need.
Yet another well-made cookie-cutter, meaning you are getting great value and features. There is a lot to like if you are not a power user.
Competition
Its real competition is the Motorola G86 Power 5G: $499 Fantastic value and almost class-leading everything. Yes, it’s worth spending $100 more.
But if we include a more expensive phone, then the $449 OPPO Reno 13 F 5G – the poor bushies’ new friend (review) is pretty tempting.
If you need to save a few dollars, the OPPO A5 Pro – $399 includes the kitchen sink is currently on sale for $329 (RRP $399).
Ratings
It is best described as a fit-for-purpose entry-level mid-range offering reasonable value. There is a lot to like and nothing to be concerned about.
| Features | 80 |
| It’s an entry-level mid-range. Feature-wise, nothing is missing. Power-wise, it is not the fastest. I would splash $100 more for the G86 Power 5G and its excellent phone reception. | |
| Value | 80 |
| It has all the necessary features, but some stiff competition in the $300-399 price bracket. | |
| Performance | 80 |
| It is a value SoC, and you get fit-for-purpose performance. It’s not for gamers. | |
| Ease of Use | 85 |
| Moto Hello is a nice upgrade from My UX. | |
| Design | 80 |
| Like the vegan leather finish. | |
| Rating out of 10 | 81 |
| Final comment | Yet another of the extensive Motorola lineup to fill every niche. Overall, it’s a good device for $399 – nothing outstanding, but nothing wrong either. |
CyberShack Verdict
Motorola g56 5G
$399
Comments