My experience changing from a Motorola Moto E4 to a Motorola G Pure and how it’s going.
I plan to update again at one month, three months, six months, and one year
Jump to:
– 2 week review
– 1 month review
–3 months review
-6 months review (upcoming)
-1-year review (upcoming)
Prior to the Moto G Pure, I bought my real first smartphone in 2018, a Moto E4. That little phone did everything I needed it to do, used it heavily for listening to podcasts, watching Youtube videos daily, and for all the most popular apps (social media, banking, etc.)
When the Moto E4’s charging cable wouldn’t work anymore, since you could swap batteries, I bought an external phone charger and from 2020 through the first quarter of 2023 I’d charge an extra battery and swap it in when my phone needed a fresh charge, often multiple times a day.
In May 2023, my Moto E4 would not start properly anymore, it was stuck in a startup loop. It simply wasn’t worth repairing.
Add to that, the Moto E4 maxed out at Android 7.1 and some of my apps no longer worked.
Upgrade time, obviously.
Enter the Motorola G Pure.
I was happy with my Motorola experience and was looking for a sub-$200 replacement.
As of this blog post and when I visited Motorola.com in May they have/had a sale for the G Pure for $109.99. With twice the storage, more RAM, a bigger battery, and a bigger screen, this phone sounded like a no-brainer.
I didn’t like that the screen wasn’t made from Corning Gorilla Glass (unlike the Moto E4 which I confidently used without a screen protector) and I couldn’t swap batteries, something that’s now ubiquitous with Android phones unfortunately.
Then, I started scrolling through what people thought of the phone on Reddit and Youtube comments. There were a lot of concerning remarks, that it was laggy, slow, and the worst Android experience they ever had.
Since the Moto E4, quality’s apparently gone down somewhat with Motorola phones.
Since I hate wasting my hard-earned money, this was a concern.
But, at that price, how bad could it be?
Using a browser coupon app, I got a $10 discount and, with tax, I only spent $107.16, and it came with free two-day expedited shipping.
Two days later, it arrived.
First Impressions and 2 Week Review
Compared to the Moto E4, this phone is huge (5 inches vs. 6.5 inches respectively)
Here’s what mine looks like plus a screenshot.
First impressions are GREAT!
My Moto G Pure starts considerably faster, at less than a minute. The Moto E4 took at least two minutes, glacial in comparison.
I added the essential apps like my app for WordPress, Google Podcasts, Youtube, Facebook, and a handful of banking apps to begin.
The Moto G Pure is responsive, fast, smooth scrolling, and I don’t notice lag.
Fast forward two weeks (as of this blog post) and it’s just as responsive, fast, and handles my daily workload (podcasts, youtube, and social media) without breaking a sweat.
The 4000 mah battery truly lasts a full day of heavy use and when I plug it in after 24 hours, there’s about 20% remaining. If I wasn’t on my phone as much as I should be, it’d last two days easily.
As great as my experience has been, there are three small concerns thus far.
One, the screen is supposedly fragile, so I didn’t leave the house with it until I put on a screen protector and case.
This is the one I got. That pattern makes it feel a tad more expensive and classier than the $10.99 price would suggest.
Two, the Moto G Pure comes preloaded with Android 11 which I’m happy with and reluctant to upgrade to Android 12 after reading some experiences from Moto G Pure users after updating.
I get a reminder to upgrade every couple of days, which I just hit postpone. I plan to do this as long as possible. I skipped over 8,9, and 10 so 11 feels like a whole new world even though I’m already one version behind, and they’re on the cusp of releasing Android 13? Let me breathe!
And finally, the Moto G Pure restarted itself on me after a week while watching Youtube. Except for one boot loop that resolved itself before this last one that killed it, I NEVER had software/hardware problems with my Moto E4. I did just finish installing even more apps and hadn’t restarted my phone since I got it, so perhaps it just needed rebooting? It hasn’t happened since and, if it does, I’ll mention it in my next update.
Other than those concerns, I’m really happy with my purchase and hope this G Pure will last at least two years of daily use before I even consider getting another phone. I also hope I can stay on Android 11 as long as possible because if it ain’t broke and all that…
If you’re on the fence about buying a Moto G Pure, just do it, you won’t regret it.
For a sub $110, what do you really expect? If you’re coming from a mid to high-end phone, I can see how you might feel like this phone is a massive you know what.
But, if you’re like me, a guy who really doesn’t need a smartphone but finds himself using one a whole lot, the Moto G Pure works A-OK and then some.
Next update is at one month!
One month review
It’s been one month of ownership with my G Pure and the big question is do I regret it?
No!
The Motorola G Pure has handled my daily tasks of internet browsing, podcast listening, and app-using with aplomb; in other words it’s still as fast and responsive as the day I bought it.
My concerns thus far include, for one, my storage is filling up quickly. I’ve added four more apps and I’m already up to 75 percent of storage used. I’ve only installed 25 apps on top of and minus whatever the bloatware my phone came with.
Also, an annoying bug that’s popped up is my camera defaults to selfie mode when bringing up my camera app by double pressing the power button (quick access via gestures.) It opens normally with the backside camera accessing the camera by pressing the camera icon.
This means I can no longer (if no fix is found) snap a shot quickly, frustrating as a self-proclaimed car spotter, but not entirely a deal breaker.
On my spare time I’ll continue to look for a fix/work around but, for now, it’s annoying.
Other than those two minor issues, I’m still happy with my Motorola G-Pure experience and come to the same conclusion as my two-week review, if you’re on the fence if you should get this phone, do it!
For a non-phone techie person like myself, I’m more than happy with this Motorola G Pure.
I’m still dodging that Android 12 update like the plague.
I’ll update y’all in two months for my three-month follow-up.
Three months review
I can’t believe it’s been three months with this phone already but the long and short of it is that the phone’s working great.
I installed the Accubattery app to monitor my battery health and, in three months, battery life’s decreased by 2% which is supposedly par for the course.
Still on Android 11.
As of this blog post, the Moto G Stylus got a price drop to $130 so, if you have the choice, the G Stylus with 128 GB storage, a better camera, a larger battery, and better everything, really, is a better value and is actually cheaper than the G Pure/Play.
But, as for my G Pure, no complaints here.