looking for the golden mean

The Motorola Moto G73 is the most powerful phone of the five midrange devices that Motorola announced at the beginning of this year. In this review you will find out what this 299 euro phone has to offer.

Hello Moto G73

Hello Moto G73! According to Motorola, this is the ultimate device for taking perfect photos, even in low-light conditions. And games should also come to life thanks to the 6.5-inch screen and the chipset. Nice words, but can Motorola live up to this? The Moto G73 in the Midnight Blue color has been my everyday companion for a while and in this review you can read whether Motorola lives up to its promises.

Specifications

	Motorola Moto G73
Dimensions and weight:	161.4 x 73.8 x 8.3mm, 181 grams
Housing:	Plastic (front and back), plastic frame, water resistant design
Screen:	6.5 inch FHD LCD, 120 Hz
Processor:	MediaTek Dimension 930
Random access memory:	8GB
Storage Memory:	256GB
Rear Cameras:	50 MP main camera f/1.8, 8 MP wide-angle camera
Cameras for:	16MP
Battery:	5,000 mAh, 30W fast charging
Android version:	Android 13, MyUX
Update Policy:	1 Android version + 3 years of security updates
Extras:	5G, stereo speakers, side fingerprint scanner, 3.5mm audio jack, Bluetooth 5.3
To colour:	Midnight Blue, Lucent White
MSRP:	299.99 euros

Moto G73: The Pros

1. Strong performance

The Moto G73 gets the MediaTek Dimensity 930 as opposed to the Moto G72 which is still on the MediaTek Helio G99 chipset. That means that the Moto G73 now also has 5G and is a bit faster than its predecessor. Add 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of expandable storage memory to that and you can get by with this phone in terms of speed.

If you play heavy graphics games, turn the graphics back a notch. You don’t have to worry about the standard games. They run fine on the Moto G73. And before I forget, Motorola added the 3.5mm headphone jack to this phone and you don’t see that much on phones anymore. So that may be the feature for you to choose this phone. Finally, there is the fingerprint scanner on the side and it works fine.

The AW Reader on the Moto G73

2. Great cameras

The Moto G73 has a 50 MP main camera and an 8 MP wide-angle sensor. That’s a completely different camera setup than that of the Moto G72. This phone got a 108 MP main camera, an 8 MP wide-angle camera and a 2 MP macro camera. This main camera uses 9×1 pixel binning technology. The device therefore takes standard photos with a resolution of 12 MP. The Moto G73’s 50MP main camera uses 4×1 pixel binning to combine four pixels and capture standard 12.5-megapixel images.

The primary camera’s 12.5MP images have good dynamic range and feature well-exposed highlights. The HDR mode sharpens the details, while the colors continue to look realistic. The 8 MP wide-angle camera captures images with a field of view of 118 degrees. These photos look good, at least when the sun is shining. The dynamic range and colors are acceptable, but there is distortion in the corners, which is common with smartphones in this segment.

In low light and indoors, the performance of the camera drops slightly. There is a slight delay in capturing images and the cameras also take time to focus. The images therefore look a bit grainy and less detailed. In this case you can use the night mode to reduce the noise.

Portrait mode does a good job of separating the background from the foreground object. Macro mode, on the other hand, is mediocre. Stable hands and good lighting are a requirement to shoot a sharp picture. There’s a 16 MP camera on the front and it delivers photos with enough detail as long as there’s enough light.

3. Nice big battery

The battery is a 5,000 mAh one and charging works with a 30W fast charger. Fully charging the Moto G73 takes 60 to 90 minutes, so you can use it for another day with average use.

The quick settings on the Moto G73 look just like on Google’s Pixel phones

4. Android as it should be, but…

There are many manufacturers who choose not to adapt much to the Android software as Google offers it. Motorola is one of them and the Moto G73 is another perfect example. The phone runs on Android 13 including Motorola’s own MY UX software shell. It is, as we are used to, very similar to a pure Android experience. The MY UX software shell is pleasant to work with and looks nice and modern and fresh.

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Motorola does add some apps, but they are more than welcome. For example, there is the Moto app with many personalization functions and handy gestures to, for example, take a screenshot or turn on the flashlight. The Games app is back too, allowing you to quickly block calls while gaming, stream your gameplay to Twitch, and much more. In addition to a number of Motorola apps, third-party apps are also pre-installed. Striking because I have not seen this kind of ‘bloatware’ on Motos before. It is understandable because these types of apps can reduce the price of the phone. The apps in question are Phone Guardian and Candy Crush. If you do not want to use these apps, you can easily remove them.

Moto G73: The negatives

1. From OLED to LCD

The Moto G73 has a 6.5 inch LCD screen with a FullHD resolution and a refresh rate of 120 Hz. That’s almost identical to the screen of the Moto G72 except for the type. The G72 has an OLED screen and that is quite a decent one upgrade. That type of screen is currently the cream of the crop.

Despite this, the Moto G73’s LCD screen offers a respectable viewing experience. The colors look sharp and the screen is also easy to read outdoors. The 120 Hz refresh rate works well in apps and while browsing. You can fix the refresh rate of the screen at 60 Hz or 120 Hz or on automatic. With the latter, the system automatically adjusts the refresh rate based on the content displayed on the screen. This can help with battery life.

2. One new Android version

The Motorola Moto G73 will receive one major Android version update and that is the update to Android 14. In addition, the phone will receive a security update every two months for three years. The Moto G73 is unfortunately not in the top in terms of update policy. Most mid-range phones today can already count on two to three new Android versions.

This is the handy Moto app with the many personalization features

Conclusion

The Moto G73 5G has the same suggested retail price as its predecessor, the Moto G72, namely 299.99 euros. For the same amount you can buy a new phone without the OLED screen and 108 MP camera of the Moto G72. On the other hand, the Moto G73 is a lot faster and ready for 5G.

All in all, Motorola went looking for the golden mean to arrive at the same suggested retail price and they finally succeeded. So it’s up to you whether you care about the 108 MP camera and the OLED screen or not. If so, go for the Moto G72, which can be yours for just over 200 euros. If you go for 5G and speed, you choose the new Moto G73.

Buy Motorola Moto G73

You can buy the Motorola Moto G73 for a suggested retail price of 299.99 euros via the stores listed below. You can choose from the colors in Midnight Blue and Lucent White.

Buy Motorola Moto G73

The Moto G73 has a 50 MP main camera and an 8 MP wide-angle sensor. The battery is a 5,000 mAh one and charging works with a 30W fast charger. Under the hood of the phone is a 2.2 Ghz MediaTek Dimensity 930 processor that works with 6 or 8 GB of RAM. There is also 128 or 256 GB of onboard storage. A striking presence is the 3.5 mm audio jack that is retained with this phone. It runs on Android 13.

€299

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