Motorola g51 5G – well-priced, well-featured 5G (smartphone review)

The Motorola g51 5G is the company’s first 2020 Australian release. It is a 6.8″ Qualcomm SD480+, 6/128GB phone at a very reasonable $399.

Upfront, be clear that it is a no-risk purchase if you only have $399. It is future proof knowing you can use 5G if, and when, it is in your area and you want to pay a lot more for mobile data. So, think of it as a good 4G phone with potential future benefits.

But if you only want 4G and use a low-cost mobile reseller plan, there is a wide choice of decent 128GB handsets from $269 upwards. There are some ‘beauts’ in that group.

New Deep-Dive review format

It is now in two parts – a five-minute overview for most readers and a separate 300+ line database-driven spec including over 70 tests to back up the summary. It also helps us compare different phones and features.

5-minute review – Motorola g51 5G Model XT2171-2 6/128GB Dual Sim

Australian website	Product page
Price:	$399
Colours	Indigo Blue and Bright Silver
From:	Exclusive to JB Hi-Fi Indigo Blue or Bright Silver
Warranty:	12-months ACL
Country of Manufacture:	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.
More	Other CyberShack Motorola news and reviews

Better buy genuine, or 5G won’t work

We issue a strong warning that you must buy a genuine model with Australian firmware if you want to use 5G. Read Don’t buy a grey market phone to ensure you get the Australian model.

Do not buy any with 4GB, 16MP selfie or single SIM. These are models XT2171-1 or XT2171-3. But we are aware of country and telco carrier-specific models for the USA, China, LATAM and Europe that won’t work on 5G here. Make sure the software version is ‘retapac’.

It is easy to identify the Australian version – usually under Settings, About Phone, Legal Information, Regulatory compliance, you will see the Australian RCM C-tick mark.

First impression – a little heavier than expected

The Motorola g51 5G is an Indigo Blue or Bright Silver glass slab. Thankfully the back is glossy plastic and hides fingerprints well. The front Panda glass is reasonably scratch-resistant, and the plastic unibody won’t flex. It comes with a pre-fitted clear bumper case – use it.

It’s a big phone at 170.5 x 76.5 x 9.1 mm x 208g. All the buttons are on the right side, making them higher than you expect. It is not a one-handed use phone – unless you have big hands.

Screen 6.8″ is big

It is a relatively bright and colourful 1080p FHD+ with a choice of 60/120Hz. It is not adaptive, although our test software reveals a 90Hz setting– it swaps between 60 and 120Hz, and the latter takes about a 20% toll on battery life. Leave it on 60Hz.

It is daylight readable (in the shade), but you cannot expect more at this price.

Screen orientation is an issue. The combo Accelerometer and Gyroscope are very sensitive, and the slightest movement sends it to landscape. I had to turn autorotation off.

Summary: Good IPS screen for the price

Processor – Qualcomm SD480+ 8nm is all you need.

To put this in perspective, it is faster than a MediaTek Helio P0/G90/G70/Dimensity720 and slower than an SD730G.

It has a Gen 2 X51 modem for a maximum of 2.5Gbps download (it will never reach this).

The Adreno 619 GPU maxes out at 40fps for most games – not for gamers!

Performance is enhanced by the Australian version getting 6GB (all other versions are 4GB), and overall, it is pretty smooth.

The 128GB storage has microSD expansion to 512GB.

It passed all tests commensurate with this price bracket. Impressively, it does not throttle under load.

Comms – its all there

Wi-Fi 5 AC is all you can expect, and it connects at 433Mbps. The antenna strength is not as strong as some, and we experienced occasional Wi-Fi dropouts, but it does work out to 10m on the 5Ghz band.

BT 5.1 has Qualcomm standard codecs – SBC, AAC, aptX (most versions) and LDAC.

The dual GPS is welcome, but it easily loses satellites on cloudy days (and we are in the middle of a 100-year rain bomb).

NFC supports Google Pay.

Phone – dual sim, dual ringtone and solid signal strength

It is a dual hybrid SIM with one fitting a SIM or MicroSD. Only one can be active at a time, and if you have a 5G plan, it must be in SIM 1. It has two ringtones that are excellent for home and business users.

All you need to know is that it supports all Australian 4G/LTE and 5G sub-6Ghz and its low-bands.

It is a great city, suburbs, regional and rural area device with good strong antenna strength and it found four towers were many phones find one.

Battery – 5000mAh for two to three days use

The battery is 5000mAh. But it is laughable that it comes with a USB 2.0 5V/2A charger that can take over 5 hours. Using a USB-C 100W (well, anything above 25W) reduces this to 2 hours 33 minutes. We repeated the tests several times.

BTW – the supplied USB-A to USB-C cable is for charging only – it won’t transmit data, and it will not handle 15W charging – but a new charger and 3 to 5W cable.

PC Mark 3.0 battery test is one of the more accurate tests for heavy use, and it gives 14 hours and 29 minutes on the Adaptive setting.

• GFX Benchmark T-Rex is a good 1080p video benchmark, and it gives hours and minutes.
• GFX Benchmark Manhattan stresses the device a little more, but it had the dreaded out of memory error, which is not an issue.
• Our video loop on-device storage, 50% screen and aeroplane mode was 17 hours and 30 minutes.
• 100% drain screen-on was 13 hours and 25 minutes.

It has excellent battery life. Moto should have provided a 15W faster charger for the pittance that would cost.

Sound – mono says it all

Interestingly Motorola claims Dolby Atmos (DA). That’s like my Dolby Atmos toaster – good as a toaster and bloody useless as a speaker.

Overall, it’s a tiny, tinny speaker for clear voice only.

It can decode DA for the headphones only. DA comes into its own and sounds excellent when using the 3.5mm buds (supplied) or BT headphones (depending on earphone quality).

Build – solid

It is well-made and should withstand the knocks, especially with a clear bumper cover. However, IP52 is a joke – ‘Vertically dripping water shall have no harmful effect when the enclosure tilts at an angle of 15° from its normal position.’ Still, it should withstand light rain.

Android 11 – you will get 12

It ships with Android 11 and Motorola’s overlay My UX. You can reasonably expect Android 12 soon and two years of updates.

Android is almost pure, and the MY UX adds things like a camera app and Moto gestures.

Missing – not much

It has everything you need apart from a faster charger.

Motorola g51 5G camera

Let’s face it – it is an entry-level Samsung SK5JN1, 50MP with tiny .64um pixels binned to 12.5MP and 1.28um. Add to that the Qualcomm SD480+ has entry-level AI image processing and, well, it is adequate.

The result is generally good photos in day or office light. It struggles with low light introducing a lot of noise, but you will not see that on a 4×6″ print.

Night mode combines a bracket of shots to give an acceptable, still noisy result.

• Video:  Poor dynamic range leads to washed-out colours and lack of detail in light and dark areas. EIS is pretty good.
• Daylight photography has good colours and details but lacks details in the shadows and highlights
• You can shoot at 50MP mode without AI and no HDR
• The Ultrawide lens/sensor upscales from 8MP to 12.5MP and consequently has soft images
• Macro is very sensitive – must be at 4cm or blurred
• Low light – reasonably good in night mode by noisy otherwise
• Portrait and bokeh – OK but noisy and loses detail
• Selfie OK in good light

The new Google Camera 8.4 features (not all features are supported)

• Wireless Mic Support
• New Auto Exposure Feature
• Some Minor UI Changes
• HDR Enhanced and HDR + Option
• Astrophotography Mode
• Night Sight
• Google Lens
• Framing Hints Option for Better Photos
• Social Share Feature that Helps to Share Photos Instantly Up to 3 Social Media Apps
• Video Recording At 4K Video Recording Resolution is available
• Video Stabilization – EIS on front and back primary lenses/sensors
• New Video Stabilization Options Like Cinematic Pan, Standard Mode, Active Pan Mode & More
• Many Others Like Photo Sphere, Panorama, and Time Lapse
• Lens Blur, Slow Motion, Playground, RAW support, and more

It’s the same that runs on Google Pixel phones.

Daylight (it was overcast)

Macro

Office Light 400 lumens

Low light <40 lumens

CyberShack’s view – Motorola g51 5G grew on me

 The more I tested and stressed it, the more impressed I became. At $399, it is terrific and punches well above its weight. If that is all I had to spend I would buy it.

I keep talking about what’s coming from other brands in 2022 in similar price brackets. At the end of the review, I can safely say this phone is all you need, so don’t wait.

Motorola, you are on a rolla! First the excellent Edge 20 series, now this. And I know you have even more up your sleeve.

You can read the ratings at the end.

CyberShack Smartphone comparison v 1.1 (E&OE)

Motorola g51 5G Model XT2171-2 6/128GB Dual Sim

Brand	Motorola
Model	Motorola g51 5G (Moto)
Model Number	XT2171-2 Software version retapac
Price Base	6/128GB
Price base	$339
Warranty months	12-months ACL
Tier	lower-mid-range
Website	Product page
From	JB Hi-FI exclusive Indigo Blue Bright Silver
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.
More	CyberShack Motorola news and reviews
Test date	1-4 March 2022
Ambient temp	24°
Release	Feb-22
Other models not for Australia (Don’t buy)	Must have RCM C-Tick and retapac software. Any with 4GB, 16MP selfie or single SIM or models XT2171-1 or XT2171-3. We are aware of USA, China, LATAM, and Europe models that won’t work on 5G here.

 Screen

Size	6.8″
Type	IPS LCD
Flat, Curve, 2D, 3D	Flat with slightly curved edges
Resolution	2400 x 1080
PPI	387
Ratio	20:09
Screen to Body %	85.6
Colours bits	8-bit 16.7m colours
Refresh Hz, adaptive	60 or 120 – not adaptive. Leave it at 60Hz.
Response 120Hz	40ms GtG
Nits typical, test	487
Nits max, test	530-564 – a little uneven to the bottom
Contrast	1800:1 (1841:1)
sRGB	Natural 91%
DCI-P3	around 50% of the 16.7m gamut
Rec.2020 or other	No
Delta E (<4 is excellent)	3.5
HDR Level	No
SDR Upscale	No
Bluelight control	Yes
PWM if known	No
Daylight readable	Pretty good on maximum brightness
Always on Display	No
Edge display	No
Accessibility	Usual Android features
DRM	L1 for HD SDR playback
Gaming	40fps at best
Screen protection	Panda Glass (like GG3)
Comment	Slight blueish cast – best to use Natural setting. Overall a fit for purpose screen that is better than expected for this price.

Processor etc

Brand, Model	Qualcomm SD480+
nm	8
Cores	2×2.2GHz + 6×1.8GHz
Modem	x51
AI TOPS	Estimate 7 TOPS (low-end AI)
GeekBench 5 Single-core	544
GeekBench 5 multi-core	1739
Like	Qualcomm SD 730G but faster in multi-core like an SDS845
GPU	Adreno 619
GPU Test GeekBench
Open CL	1111
Like	SD 730G
Vulcan	1013
RAM, type	6 LPDDR4X
Storage, free, type	128 (97GB free) UFS 2.1
micro-SD	up to 512GB
CPDT internal seq. Read	430.13 – reflects UFS 2.1
CPDT internal seq. write	322.34
CPDT microSD read/write	43.73/28.24 and mountable as storage
CPDT external (mountable?)	31.83/24.46 OTG only
Comment	All are fit for purpose and price
Throttle test
Max GIPS	152062
Average GIPS	149628
Minimum GIPS	140201
% Throttle	Nil
CPU Temp	50°
Comment	Excellent thermal management

 Comms

Wi-FI Type, model	Wi-Fi 5 AC WCN3990 2×2 MU-MIMO
Test 2m -dBm, Mbps	-27/433
Test 5m	-38/234
Test 10m	-61/72
BT Type	5.1
GPS single, dual	Dual but tends to lose satellites on cloudy days. Accuracy <10m.
USB type	USB-C 2.0
Alt DP, DeX, Ready For	No
NFC	Yes
Ultra-wideband	No
Sensors
Accelerometer	Yes -combo with Gyro is very sensitive
Gyro	Yes
e-Compass	Yes
Barometer
Gravity
Pedometer
Ambient light	Yes
Hall sensor
Proximity	Yes
Other
Comment	Wi-Fi AC speeds are as expected, although 5 and 10m tests are a little below average.

LTE and 5G

SIM	Hybrid dual sim 1 x 5G and 1 x 4G with microSD
Active	Only one active at a time
Ring tone single, dual	Dual – excellent for travellers
VoLTE	Carrier dependent
Wi-Fi calling	Carrier dependent
4G Bands	1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 18, 20, 26, 28, 32, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43
Comment	All Australian 4G bands
5G sub-6Ghz	n1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41, 77, n78
Comment	All Australian 5G sub-6 and low bands
mmWave	No
Test Boost Mobile, Telstra
UL, DL, ms	24/9.8/42ms
Tower 1 -dBm, fW or pW	-85/3.2pW
Tower 2	-92/631fW
Tower 3	-92/631fW
Tower 4	-115/12fW
Comment	Good strong reception and found four towers – suitable for city, suburbs, regional and rural use. Dual ring tones are a bonus.

Battery

mAh	5000
Charger, type, supplied	10W supplied and capable of 15W
PD, QC level	PD capable -Overcharge protection may influence results
Qi/wattage	No
Reverse Qi or cable	No
Test (60Hz or adaptive screen)
Charge % 30mins	25%
Charge 0-100%	2 hours and 33 minutes (fast charge using 100W PD or 5V/3A)
Charge Qi, W	N/A
Charge 5V, 2A	5 hours 28 minutes
Video loop 50%, aeroplane	17hrs and 30 minutes
PC Mark 3 battery	14 hours 29 minutes
GFX Bench Manhattan battery	Out of memory error
GFX Bench T-Rex	338.7 minutes (5.65 hours) 3989 frames
Drain 100-0% full load screen on	13 hours 25 minute
Watt full load	1.5A
Watt idle	264mA
Estimated battery life loss at 120Hz	20%
Estimate typical use	Easily two to three days at 4 hours screen on time
Comment	Excellent battery life. Moto should have provided a 15W faster charger for the pittance that would cost. Oh well, a cost-saving measure. Note the provided cable is for charging only and will not handle 5V/3A/15W, so you need a higher rating cable.

Sound

Speakers	Earpiece and mono down-fixing speaker
Tuning	No
AMP	Qualcomm
Dolby Atmos decode	Only for headphones – it makes no difference to the speaker
Hi-Res	No
3.5mm	Yes
BT Codecs	SBC, AAC, LDAC and aptX/HD/TWS/Adaptive
Multipoint	Yes
EQ	Not for speaker – choice of smart, music or movie for headphones.
Mics	dual
Test dB – all on EQ flat DA off
Volume max	77
Media (music)	65
Ring	75
Alarm	77
Notifications	77
Earpiece	55 but it is very tinny
Hands-free	While it has dual mics and some noise-cancelling, the volume is just adequate.
BT headphones	Good volume and channel separation

Sound quality

Deep Bass 20-40Hz	Nil
Middle Bass 40-100Hz	Nil
High Bass 100-200Hz	Slowly build to 200Hz
Low Mid 200-400Hz	Still building to 1kHz
Mid 4000-1000Hz	Still building to 1kHz
High-Mid 1-2kHz	Flat to 8kHz
Low Treble 2-4kHz	Flat to 8kHz
Treble 4-6kHz	peaking
High Treble 6-10kHz	declining
Dog Whistle 10-20kHz	declining to 12kHz then off the cliff
Sound Signature type	Analytical: (bass/mid recessed; treble boosted) – crisp but not pleasant for most music
Soundstage	None – it is mono
Comment	At the price, this is all you can expect. The speaker is purely for clear voice, and music is unpleasant. Use earphones where DA adds more effect.

Build

Size (H X W x D)	170.5 x 76.5 x 9.1 mm
Weight grams	208
Front glass	Glass
Rear material	Plastic
Frame	Plastic unibody
IP rating	52 – light rain
Colours	Indigo Blue Bright Silver
Pen, Stylus support	No
In the box
Charger	10W
USB cable	USB-A to USB-C charge only – no data
Buds	Yes
Bumper cover	Yes
Comment	Nice of Moto to provide a charger – it should have been 15W.

OS

Android	11 – almost pure Android
Security patch date	1-Jan-22
UI	My UX Personalise: Styles, Wallpapers, Layout Display: Peek Display, Attentive Display Gestures: Power Touch, Quick capture, Fast torch, Three-finger screenshot, Pick up to silence, Screenshot toolkit, Media controls Play: Gametime Audio
OS upgrade policy	Should get Android 12
Security patch policy	Two years security patches
Bloatware	Facebook (uninstallable)
Other	Google Assistant button
Comment	There is a lot of added functionality in MY UX, which leaves the underlying Android alone.
Security
Fingerprint sensor location, type	On power button – 8/10 test
Face ID	Yes, not tested
Other	Lenovo Think Shield security for registered businesses – not for consumers
Comment

Motorola g51 5G camera

Rear Primary	Wide
MP	50 bins to 12.5
Sensor	Samsung S5KJN1
Focus	PDAF
f-stop	1.8
um	.64 bins to 1.28
FOV° (stated, actual)	(63)
Stabilisation	EIS only
Zoom	8X digital
Rear 2	Ultra-wide
MP	8
Sensor	Samsung SK54H7
Focus	AF
f-stop	2.2
um	1.12
FOV (stated, actual)	118
Stabilisation	no
Zoom	no
Rear 3	Macro
MP	2
Sensor	Galaxy Core GC02M1
Focus	Fixed 4cm
f-stop	2.4
um	1.75
FOV (stated, actual)	88.8
Stabilisation	No
Zoom	No
Special
Video max	1080p@60fps
Flash	LED
Auto-HDR	Primary lens/sensor only
	Limited AI from the Qualcomm SoC
QR code reader	Via Google Lens
Night mode	AI
Front
MP	13.1
Sensor	Samsung SK53L6
Focus	Fixed
f-stop	2.2
um	1.12
FOV (stated, actual)	(64.5)
Stabilisation	No – EIS only on video
Flash	Screen fill
Zoom	8X digital
Video max	1080p@30fps
Features	Dual capture front and back Auto HDR
Comment	The video’s poor dynamic range leads to washed-out colours and a lack of detail in light and dark areas. Daylight has good colours and details but lacks details in the shadows 50MP mode – no AI and no HDR UW upscales 8MP to 12.5MP and has soft images Macro – must be at 4cm or blurred Low light – reasonably good in night mode Portrait and bokeh – OK but noisy and loses detail Selfie OK in good light

Rating – Motorola g51 5G

Features	9
	It is an entry-level 5G phone using the Qualcomm SDF+480+ SoC, and there is not a lot wrong with it.
Value	10
	It is one of the first 2022 5G low-mid rangers at $399. While that is pretty good value, there are 2021 phones on runout like OPPO A64 ($349), vivo Y52 ($339), Samsung A22 ($349) and spend $100 to get the OPPO FindX3 Lite with three years of OS updates.
Performance	9
	It is a value SoC fit for purpose. It is not for gamers.
Ease of Use	9
	My UX adds some value to stock Android
Design	9
	All plastic is OK, as is toughened Panda glass
Rating out of 10	9.2
Pro
1	FHD+ screen
2	Better than social media class camera
3	Well-priced
4	Excellent battery life – albeit slow charge
5	6/128GB RAM is good
Con
1	Slow 10W charge but capable of 15W
2	Video quality is adequate
3	Photo quality is adequate – lots of noise
4	USB 2.0 and cable won’t do data transfer or handle 15W
5
Final comment	At $399, the Motorola g51 5G is an excellent and safe buy. You can’t go wrong.

Motorola g51 5G