Moto G53 review

The Motorola Moto G53 5G is a member of the brand-new mid-ranger lineup. The primary innovation it offers is 5G connectivity. Although the G53 has good specs, adding 5G seems to have been an expensive addition.

The Moto G53 is equipped with a Snapdragon 4xx class chipset, specifically the Snapdragon 480+, as opposed to the Moto G52’s Snapdragon 680. There have also been various display upgrades. The FullHD+ OLED panel of the G52 is replaced by an HD+ IPS LCD one in the G53. On the plus side, the G53’s refresh rate has increased from 90Hz to 120Hz.

The rear cameras are also unique. The main 50MP camera has a smaller 0.64m pixel sensor (1.28m with binning). As expected, the camera is limited to 1080p video capturing (at only 30fps, not 60fps like the G73). In addition, instead of an ultra-wide camera, there is a simple 2MP macro camera.

The most perplexing decrease, though, is to the charging system. The G53, like its predecessor, has a large 5,000 mAh battery. The G53, on the other hand, only supports 10W charging in the worldwide model and 18W charging in China and South America.

Regardless of its deficiencies in comparison to its predecessor, the Moto G53 deserves a chance to impress us in practise. Join us as we go further on the next pages.

Unboxing of Moto G53

The Moto G53 comes in a two-piece cardboard box that is tinted in a natural-looking cardboard brown. Motorola has been promoting recyclable packaging for quite some time. The box’s limited printing is also done with soy ink.

Despite the absence of plastic on the interior, there is a cradle to secure the phone and a handful of compartments on the bottom level.

The G53 has a charger in the box. A USB Type-A to Type-C cable is also included. That pretty much sums up the accessories bundle. There is no such thing as a case.

Design

The Moto G53’s general design may be defined as simple, unobtrusive, and dignified. It’s the type of phone that will fit in with any atmosphere. This is due in part to its colour scheme. The phone is available in three colours: Ink Blue, Arctic Silver, and Pale Pink. The colours are all fairly muted.

The Moto G53 achieves a wonderful blend between a boxy overall appearance and modest curve for in-hand comfort. For example, the central frame is rather flat along its straights and then curving along the corners.

The rear of the G53 is flat, however there is a chamfer at the extreme edges. One that is met by the chamfers on the central frame, which is definitely a unique aesthetic. The camera island is similarly boxy, but it also has rounded edges and a chamfer.

The G53’s front end is nearly flawlessly flat. The display bezels, on the other hand, extend down and form a black “ring” that wraps around the entire device.

The G53 is made up of three unique parts: the display assembly at the front, a flat back screen, and a centre frame wedged in between.

Build Quality

The phone is incredibly firm, with almost no flex. There is also no hollowness on the back side, which is common on lower-end gadgets.

The G53 has a plastic back and a plastic central frame. The rear, on the other hand, appears like frosted glass, and the frame is made of metal. These surfaces are quite easy to clean and do not accumulate a lot of dirt and oil.

The front of the G53 is made of glass, albeit we don’t know what sort it is or how much drop and scratch resistance it has.

In terms of resistance, the G53 is water-resistant and has Motorola’s distinctive nano-coating on the inside. Nevertheless, there is no official ingress protection rating.

Controls

The Moto G53 has a completely conventional control set and configuration. The volume rockers and power button are located on the device’s right side. They are well-placed in terms of height and accessibility. Nevertheless, they are mushy with poor tactile input and do not feel very comfortable to push.

The power button also functions as an extremely thin fingerprint reader. We discovered that it works very well and is both quick and dependable. There are no complaints.

A single Nano-SIM slot is located in a tray on the left side of the frame, directly next to the dedicated microSD storage slot.

The G53’s top side only contains a single small hole for the auxiliary noise-canceling microphone. There’s also a Dolby Atmos logo.

The G53 does, in fact, support Dolby Atmos. A stereo speaker system is also available. On the bottom of the phone, we discover a single bottom-firing speaker, while the second channel is handled by an amplified earpiece.

A 3.5mm audio connector, the primary microphone, and a USB Type-C port are also located on the phone’s bottom.

In case you were wondering, the Moto G53 lacks a notification LED.

Connectivity

As previously said, one of the advantages of the Moto G53 over its predecessor is the presence of 5G connection. The X51 5G/LTE modem built into the chipset is responsible for this. It should be capable of theoretical maximum download rates of 2.5 Gbps on 5G and Cat 15 (800 Mbps) on LTE.

For local connectivity, the G53 and its Snapdragon 480+ processor support dual-band Wi-Fi ac and Bluetooth 5.1 with LE. GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, and NFC are also supported. The latter, however, is market-dependent. Although there is no FM radio, there is a 3.5mm audio jack.

The G53’s Type-C connection is only wired for USB 2.0 data communication (up to 480 Mbps), however it does support USB Host (OTG). While Motorola does not market its “ready for” platform for the G53, we tried nevertheless and discovered that there is no video output through the Type-C port.

The G53 includes a plethora of sensors. An accelerometer and gyroscope combination (BOSCH bmi3x0), a magnetometer and compass combination (MEMSIC mmc56x3x), and a light and proximity sensor combination are available (AMS AG tmd2755). On board, there is no barometer.

Display

The Moto G53 has a 6.5-inch HD+ IPS LCD screen. Its predecessor, the G52, features a 6.6-inch FullHD+ OLED display. As a result, there is a clear degradation. The one bright spot is that the display can now refresh at 120Hz rather than 90Hz.

The G53’s display performance isn’t spectacular, but it’s adequate for the price. In terms of brightness, the slider measured 489 nits, with a maximum auto increase of 599 nits in bright outside settings. Neither figure is very outstanding. We did have some difficulty using the G53 outside in direct sunshine.

Color accuracy

The Moto G53 features two colour modes: saturated and natural. The default saturated mode tries for and covers the sRGB colour space well. Its colour profile is a little too cool for our liking, but it can be adjusted using the accompanying temperature slider.

Natural mode also tries for the sRGB colour space and basically nails it with deltaE values low enough for it to be termed color-accurate.

HDR Support

The G53 does not support HDR and does not have decoder support in software.

On the plus side, it has the highest possible Widevine L1 certification, which allows streaming services such as Netflix to provide it HD quality and saturate its display resolution.

Refresh rating

The Moto G53, as previously stated, offers a 120Hz display. It has three refresh rate options in settings: 60Hz, 120Hz, and Auto mode. The first two are simple – the phone is simply set to a static 60Hz or 120Hz frequency, and that’s all.

Nevertheless, the G53 does not just support 60Hz, 120Hz, and 144Hz refresh rates. That list really covers 60Hz, 90Hz and 120Hz. There is no 48Hz mode, like we have seen with previous Motorola phones. Auto refresh rate mode promises Ai-driven automated refresh rate switching and delivers, thanks to a highly dynamic and content-aware technology.

In practise, the operating system actively monitors what is currently displayed on the screen. If it detects motion, it assesses whether it needs a boost up to 90Hz or a larger boost up to 120Hz and responds accordingly. In our experience, the method works incredibly effectively.

Here’s a little movie that shows how effectively Auto refresh rate mode identifies the BlurBusters UFO test in a browser and then a video playing in both a local player and YouTube and adjusts to the correct refresh rate on the go.

Battery Life

The Moto G53 comes with a huge 5,000 mAh battery. Additionally, the Snapdragon 480+ has been proved in the past to be an extremely efficient chipset. It also performs admirably in our patented test, with the Moto G53 achieving a good endurance rating of 123 hours. This is consistent with other Snapdragon 480+ smartphones, such as the Moto G51 and Moto G62.

Charging Speed

There’s no need to beat around the bush: the Moto G53 charges slowly. It’s really painful. We have no idea why Motorola decided to discontinue TurboPower charging functionality. The G52, its predecessor, has 30W charging. The functionality is also available on the lower-end Moto G23. Regrettably, the G53 is limited to basic 10W charging, for which we must deduct significant points.

When we say “basic,” we mean it. The charger included with the Moto G53 has a [email protected] output. It is as close to conventional USB power as it gets. We were able to bring the G53 from dead to 12% in 15 minutes and 22% in 30 minutes using this method. It took us 2:35 hours to charge completely.

Speakers

The Moto G53 is equipped with a hybrid stereo speaker system, with one channel handled by a dedicated bottom-firing speaker and the other by an amplified earpiece. This is a very typical solution.

Because of this, the speakers on the G53 are not very well balanced, although they do go rather loud. Nevertheless, this is both an advantage and a drawback because there is a lot of distortion at high level, particularly from the top speaker/earpiece. At least you may rest confident that you will always hear your phone ringing.

In terms of output quality, the Moto G53 is largely unexceptional but overall adequate. At modest volumes, it sounds well enough to us, with great voices, some bass, and slightly murky treble.

In the G53, Motorola has also added Dolby Atmos. It has a strong set of equalisers with several settings to pick from.

Software

The Moto G53, being a Motorola phone, runs a very clean, virtually AOSP-looking version of Android 13 with only a few Moto customizations on top. We continue to feel that this clean design is a selling point for all Moto products. The Moto G53, being a Motorola phone, runs a very clean, virtually AOSP-looking version of Android 13 with only a few Moto customizations on top. We continue to feel that this clean design is a selling point for all Moto products.

In newer AOSP versions, the Quick Settings and notification shade stand out with huge and bubbly buttons (four on the first pull, up to eight on the second) and the full-screen notification shade.

On to widgets, which underwent a makeover in Android 12. The widget picker provides responsive previews for various widget sizes. By hooking into the Material You theming engine, the new API offers dynamic colouring, letting widgets to adapt to the wallpaper.

The Material You auto-theming functionality is also there, but hidden behind a slightly modified Moto-specific theming engine. Wallpaper-based accent colours are still available for Google applications and the settings menu. Motorola also provides an Interactive Wallpapers app where you can download a variety of dynamic wallpapers.

Motorola has, as is customary, included a slew of handy extras. These are all stored in a Moto settings app, which organises them into categories. The Moto app has been updated.

The first category is customization, and it is here that the OS-native auto-theming finds a place. In addition to Google’s own wallpapers, there is a broad variety of Moto wallpapers available, as well as the opportunity to use AI to design your own from photographs in your gallery.

Then there are the motions. You’ve probably seen Moto’s karate chop gesture for turning on and off the flashlight, as well as the twisting action for launching the camera app. Both are functional even when the device is locked.

The lift-to-unlock gesture complements face unlock by unlocking the handset as soon as you pick it up and glance at the screen. A swipe-to-split capability is also available, which activates split-screen multitasking. You may also perform a custom action by double-tapping the back of the phone.

Peek Display and Attentive Display are display-related characteristics. The former serves as a second-best substitute for the Always-on display feature, which is truly absent, but with some additional functionality to compensate.

When the phone senses motion or when you pick it up, the screen illuminates. When you receive a notification, you may touch on it to view the message and even interact with it from the lock screen.

As long as there is a face staring at the screen, Attentive Display disables the screen timeout.

Then there’s the Play area. The Gametime utility is located here, and it provides the standard functionality of utilities such as call and notification blocking and screen recording. There are also optional shortcuts for media playing when the screen is locked, as well as a Dolby Atmos sound enhancement application.

Google has made significant investments in the privacy and security features of Android in recent versions. This includes features such as the Privacy dashboard, which provides a single view of which permissions are being utilised by which app and when.

There are also camera and microphone indications in the upper right corner of the screen for an instant indication that you’re being watched/listened to, as well as easy toggles to disable access to those entirely. You may also choose whether an app receives your precise coordinates or an estimated location.

The term “secure folder” is self-explanatory. It is a safe place to store your important programmes and files. There are a few interesting network security features on board, such as the ability to prevent specific programmes from accessing the network while connected to an insecure Wi-Fi hotspot.

Additional intriguing security features include the ability to lock your network and security settings for the duration of your screen’s inactivity. Moreover, you may scramble your pin input interface for added protection. All of these security and privacy options are also accessible via a separate Moto Secure app shortcut.

The Overcharge protection option in the Battery menu is a relatively new function. When it detects that the phone hasn’t been unplugged for three days in a row, it will stop charging and keep the battery charged at a much healthy 80%.

The Moto G53, predictably, lacks the “Ready For” function seen on several of Motorola’s higher-end models.

Performance

The Snapdragon 480+ chipset powers the Moto G53 5G. The Snapdragon 480+ is an improved version of the Snapdragon 480, which was released in 2021 as the first processor in the Snapdragon 4xx family to offer 5G connection. The Snapdragon 480+ is built on an 8nm LPP technology and features two Kryo 460 Gold (Cortex-A76) CPU cores that can run at up to 2.2 GHz, as well as six Kryo 460 Silver (Cortex-A55) cores that can run at up to 1.8 GHz. There is also an Adreno 619 GPU and an X51 internal 5G/LTE modem on board. The Snapdragon 480+ can support up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM. Our test unit features 4GB of Memory and 128GB of storage.

In some ways, the Snapdragon 480+ is a step down from the Snapdragon 680 found inside the Moto G52. Motorola presumably had to make the tradeoff in order to provide 5G connection at this pricing point.

Let’s begin with CPU testing and GeekBench. The multi-core CPU performance of the Snapdragon 480+ is rather poor. The Moto G53, in particular, appears to be underperforming when compared to similarly equipped handsets such as the Moto G51 5G and Moto G62. Not by much, mind you.

The Moto G53 does far better in single-core testing, which is perhaps the most relevant factor in day-to-day average use.

AnTuTu is a considerably more comprehensive benchmark that includes, among other things, CPU, GPU, and memory testing. It’s actually rather beneficial to the Moto G53 5G.

The Adreno 619 GPU inside the Moto G53 is also quite weak. However, the phone’s display’s HD+ native resolution serves as a sort of saving grace. This enables relatively better on-screen test results. Still, nothing spectacular. In off-screen tests, the Moto G53 performs similarly to the Moto G51 5G and G62, indicating that Motorola is making the most of the Snapdragon 480+ chipset.

The Snapdragon 480+ is not a top-of-the-line chip, but it is quite efficient. It also does not run particularly hot. Under prolonged load, the Moto G53 never got hotter than lukewarm, and the chipset performed admirably with thermal throttling. It is done in a very controlled, gradual, and minimal manner.

Overall, the Moto G53 provides adequate performance for day-to-day use but is largely unimpressive in this regard. We believe Motorola made too many performance sacrifices in order to fit 5G into a low-cost price category. Some competitors, including Xiaomi, POCO, Realme, and Samsung, manage to provide more raw power and 5G connectivity for a comparable price, putting the G53 to shame in terms of value.

Camera

Another area where Motorola made a downgrade from the Moto G52 is the camera setup. That phone’s ultrawide camera is no longer available. On the back, the Moto G53 only has a 50MP main camera and a 2MP macro camera.

The primary sensor is a 50MP Samsung ISOCELL S5KJN1 1/2.76″ sensor with a Tetracell filter and 0.64m pixels. It has an f/1.8 lens and PDAF, but nothing too fancy beyond that, such as OIS. The other rear camera is a 2MP OmniVision OV02B10. It has a 1/5″ sensor and 1.75 million individual pixels. This camera is fixed-focus only and has an f/2.4 aperture.

Finally, the Moto G53 has either an 8MP, f/2.0 or a 16MP, f/2.2 selfie camera. The former is equipped with an 8MP Samsung ISOCELL 4H7 sensor in our unit (S5K4H7). It has 1.12m individual pixels and a 1/4″ optical format. The selfie does not have autofocus.

The camera app is standard Motorola fare. The camera modes are organised in a configurable carousel, with the hamburger menu at the rightmost end of the carousel containing the less frequently used shooting modes.

Pro mode gives you complete control over the camera’s settings such as white balance, ISO, autofocus, shutter speed, and exposure compensation, and it is available on both rear cameras. It even includes a histogram.

Swiping up in the viewfinder reveals additional settings for each camera mode, as indicated by a tiny arrow. In Photo mode, you’ll find flash and self-timer settings. Surprisingly, there is no resolution selection for video capture. 1080p is just the upper limit and the default. The gear icon in the general settings menu contains even more options, such as photo resolutions.

Daylight photos

Due to its Quad-Bayer nature, the 50MP main camera captures 12.5MP stills by default. These images have a lot of detail, good contrast and dynamic range, and nice, true-to-life colours.

However, there are some noticeable flaws when pixel-peeping, such as softness and graininess on most uniform surfaces. But it’s not a deal breaker, especially on a low-cost device.

The G53 can shoot in full-resolution 50MP mode. These images do not have significantly more detail, but there are advantages in very fine detail or patterns. It also doesn’t take long for the G53 to capture 50MP stills. If you can handle larger file sizes, we strongly recommend 50MP mode.

2X Zoom

While there is no dedicated zoom camera on the G53, nor is there a quick toggle for zooming on the camera UI, you can perform a digital zoom. The 50MP main camera has more than enough resolution to handle a 2x zoom with ease. The quality of these shots is comparable to standard ones, and they are perfectly usable.

Macro camera

For its small size and lack of autofocus, the 2MP macro camera gives fairly good pictures. Even though the focal plane is very wide, you must be careful to keep the subject in focus. But, once it is completed, the photographs have a surprising amount of detail and great hues.

Low-light photos

The Moto G53 suffers a bit in low-light circumstances. The images are a tad soft and grainy and also fairly dark. On the bright side, there is a pretty fair amount of detail in the frame, and light sources are handled properly.

The Moto G53’s automated night mode regularly activates and completes its task. Beyond that, there is a manual night mode. It yields outcomes that are remarkably comparable. Its photos occasionally seem softer than they usually do, which is strange.

On the other side, even with the G53’s somewhat underpowered processor, taking photos in night mode doesn’t take too long.

Selfie Camera

The 8MP selfie camera performs admirably. Plenty of detail is present, but finer skin texture is lost in the process. Although skin tones aren’t entirely natural, colours seem lovely. Once more, the focal plane is rather broad and tolerant.

Portrait Mode

The portraits taken by the primary camera are passable but not particularly noteworthy. Both subject separation and detection are effective, while the background blur is of great quality.

Non-human subjects might be a little trickier to focus on correctly, but with enough perseverance, you can get excellent results.

Video recording

The Moto G53’s primary and selfie cameras can only record videos in [email protected]. You don’t get to pick a lesser resolution either unless you install third-party software like Open Camera. Videos are stored in an MP4 container as a typical h.264 AVC video stream at 20 Mbps with a 48 kHz stereo AAC audio track. But, H.265 HEVC video is a choice in the camera app settings.

The primary camera records passable but typically underwhelming 1080p footage. In general, this kind of resolution produces good detail. The colours are also not that awful. Contrast, however, is considerably enhanced, giving the image a highly unnatural and overly processed appearance. The dynamic range is also somewhat constrained.

Our Verdict

The Moto G53 5G is not a really thrilling gadget. With features like dual speakers, a sturdy construction, a 120Hz refresh rate with superb management, and a large battery with long battery life, it provides a respectable overall package. Its streamlined Android 13 OS is quick and packed with a tonne of helpful but unobtrusive Moto extras. We are certain that the phone will meet the needs of less demanding consumers.

There is no use in wasting time trying to hide the fact that the Moto G53 5G is not a very good value at the moment. For whatever reason, Motorola just chose to significantly reduce the G5X line’s features in order to support 5G connection.

We just need to compare the G53 to its G52 predecessor to observe some of these significant shortcomings, such as the use of a pretty mediocre 720p LCD display rather than a 1080p OLED panel, the absence of an ultrawide camera, and the Snapdragon 480+ chipset’s subpar performance. Certain reductions are outright puzzling, like as the choice to go from 30W fast charging to basic 10W charging in 2023, which is almost nonexistent even at this price range.

As we already noted, the Moto G53 might be perfectly adequate for a less demanding user, especially if your carrier offers you a good contract price. The retail price sticker, though, may cause us to continue exploring as better phones are frequently available.

PRO’S & CON’S