affordable budget smartphone with Android 12

The Motorola Moto G22 is a new phone from the low price segment. It costs 179.99 euros and comes with Android 12, and a camera setup with four lenses, including a 50 MP main camera. Do you get value for money with the Moto G22? We discuss that in this review.

Specifications

Casing and design

With its dimensions of 164 x 75 x 8.5 mm and a weight of 185 grams, the Moto G22 is quite large. When you hold the device, the front and the side feel solid. The rear, on the other hand, feels much cheaper and more fragile than the rest. The back is stiff enough due to the structure, so that the device fits well in the hand. The width of the device is fine, but I can’t operate the top with one hand, but I have that with other devices.

The device has a plastic frame and a plastic back, which is quite sensitive to smudges and fingerprints. The housing is provided with a water-repellent coating, which does not mean the same as ‘waterproof’. At the front you will find a screen that covers almost the entire front. There is no fingerprint scanner in or below the screen, it is incorporated in the on/off button on the right side. Unlocking the Moto G22 is also very easy/quick to do.

The rear contains a rounded camera module with four cameras in total and an LED flash. On the right side above the on/off button are the volume keys, with the 3.5mm audio jack on top. On the left you will find the sim holder, with space for two sims and a memory card. Here and there you will find some “seals” but as far as I know the device has no official IP rating. At the bottom a usual USB-C input and a single speaker.

Screen

The Moto G22 features a 6.5-inch (20:9 ratio) LCD screen with an HD+ resolution of 1600×720 pixels and a 90Hz refresh rate. The refresh rate can be selected from 60Hz – 90Hz or automatic. The screen is not completely filling, there is still a small screen edge at the bottom and the sides. The screen runs nicely around the round cutout for the 16 MP front camera.

The colours, the viewing angle of the screen, it is all just enough, but no more than that. The colors do not stand out, and are a bit matte. If you view the photos that you have taken with the Moto G22 on the screen, they do not come into their own. Even though I found the quality of the photos in general somewhat disappointing, but more on that later. In addition, the viewing angles of the LCD screen are also disappointing.

I didn’t find the brightness of the device really impressive, even in the maximum setting. This was still possible on the start screen, but certainly in dark mode everything remains really on the dark side. The touch sensitivity of the screen could have been a bit better in my opinion. The moment of starting scrolling, after the first touch on the screen, it doesn’t feel natural. Typing on the screen is not smooth I really miss the finesse. Looking at the price of the device, I think the price-quality ratio with regard to the screen is reasonable.

Performance and battery life

The Motorola G22 runs on a MediaTek Helio G37 processor and its performance is just enough, but really no more than that. For example, it took more than an hour to install the directly offered update on the phone. After the update was installed on the Moto G22 and the still “bare” Moto G22 finally started up, it took a long time before the well-known “Hello Moto” sounded in my eyes.

After installing the apps I use most, the boot time seemed to stabilize at around 30s-45s, which is an annoyance for me. It just takes too long before the device is ready for use. When using the Moto G22 with multiple apps open, you also run into many delays. Scrolling through Facebook or Twitter or switching between apps, it’s not really smooth. While playing a racing game it seems to go well, but every now and then you have a ‘glitch’ in performance and screen display. Even for a budget phone, the performance is really on the low side.

To use it as a work phone, quite a few security protocols need to be installed, including a work profile. The G22 couldn’t handle this, sending an e-mail or opening a file quickly became too difficult for the phone. This is still possible on my Nokia 6.2.

The battery life was more than adequate, excellent in fact. The daily routines of calling, emailing, nowadays many Teams meetings and social media. In terms of battery life, the G22 does not care about it. The Moto G22 easily survives all weekend. Too bad, because charging with 15 watts is not particularly fast. So it takes a while before the device is equipped with a full battery again.

It is a budget phone, so you should not expect more than charging via USB-C (so no wireless charging), but the Moto G22 scores above average on this point.

Cameras

There are four cameras on the back. Those are the following cameras:

• Main camera: 50MP, f/1.8,
• Wide-angle camera: 8 MP, f/2.2,
• Macro camera: 2 MP, f/2.4,
• Depth camera: 2 MP, f/2.4

That was promising in my opinion, but I have to say that I find the quality of the pictures rather disappointing. With sufficient light and taking standard photos it all works fine. Shooting photos in nature in partly cloudy weather conditions, the device really has trouble.

Photos taken with the main camera and wide-angle camera

Macro photos

When viewing the photos on the PC, the disappointing quality is also noticeable. The foreground of the photos is more than sufficient. However, if you look more closely at the photos, the more distant objects in particular are vague and contain little detail. I also don’t recognize the colors from the nature where I regularly walk. The green of grass, reeds and plants is not as bright as in real life. While some reflections in the water are again very sharp and detailed. It is also difficult to focus when taking a macro photo. Every time I got a blurry photo.

Nice additions are the double photo and double video that you can make, on the other hand I couldn’t find a slow motion option.

Software

I have had several Motorola telephones and there are still a few in the family. I think a great plus is the bare Android versions on which they run, including on the Moto G22. The phone runs on My UX, Motorola’s software shell, which is based on Android 12 on this phone. You hardly notice that the manufacturer has put its own shell over it.

My UX is intuitive to use, very clear and it actually offers everything you want. Despite the standard Android experience, you will unfortunately notice that it is not all snappy feels. Opening apps is simply not that fast. Motorola has also not yet indicated whether the phone will receive an update to Android 13. With the Moto G22 you can count on a security update every quarter for two years.

Conclusion

The Moto G22 is an affordable phone with a fine software shell based on Android 12, an extremely good battery life and an interesting price. Still, the phone also falls short, the Moto G22 scores just a sufficient on many points. The quality of the photos and the screen, the speed of the device, it’s all just not good enough. The price is of course a strong point, but in the budget segment I would spend a little more money for slightly better specifications.

The Moto G22 is suitable for people looking for an affordable phone with a good battery life and standard Android, with which they only send some apps or browse on Facebook. Do you have a little more to spend? Then take a look at the Moto G31 with a faster processor and a Full HD AMOLED screen. Are you looking for a fast camera smartphone? Then the Motorola Edge 30 may be a better choice for you.

Buy Motorola Moto G21

The Motorola Moto G22 is for sale in three different colors: Cosmic Black, Pearl White and Iceberg Blue and costs 179.99 euros.

Buy Motorola Moto G22

The Moto G22 has a stylish design and is packed with features. For example, the Moto G22 is equipped with a 50MP quad camera system

m, a smooth 6.5-inch 90 Hz Max Vision display and a long-lasting 5,000 mAh battery that helps users get through everyday tasks.

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179.99 euros

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