Motorola Moto G200 review: this phone is a cheap powerhouse

If you want an affordable yet powerful handset this Motorola Moto G200 review is a good place to start. It will cope with just about any task you could throw at it. That's what makes this one of the best cheap phones to use for work. 

The Motorola G series packs decent tech into inexpensive devices, proving you don't need to spend hundreds and hundreds on your next handset. The Moto G200 might be one of the more expensive options from the G family, but it's still very reasonably priced considering just how much you get for your money.

So who should buy this phone? Because the focus here is largely on power, it'd make a good work phone. You'll be able to answer emails as well as open up a number of documents and apps at once without any problems at all. The big 6.8-inch screen gives you plenty of screen space to see your work on, not to mention the fact that it'll be great for watching Netflix on your commute as well. 

Motorola Moto G200 review: price and availability

You can buy the Motorola Moto G200 now directly from the Motorola website. Prices start from £399.99 in the UK. It hasn’t yet been confirmed as to when or if it will be launched in the US or Australia. 

Motorola Moto G200 review: design and display 

The Motorola Moto G200 is a big phone with a big screen, it measures 168.07 x 75.53 x 8.89mm and weighs 202g so it isn’t really for those with small hands. If that's not a problem for you then this will give you plenty of screen real-estate to watch videos or to do a bit of work on the go. 

Thanks to the 6.8” Max Vision display, this phone delivers pretty much everything you could hope for at this price when it comes to the screen. It has a resolution of 1080 x 2460p FHD+ which is pretty standard at this sort of price. It’s sharp, bright and detailed. There's even HDR10 support so when you’re streaming shows and movies from the likes of Netflix you’ll be able to see every inch of every shot. Plus the adaptive brightness will adjust the screen depending on your environment and what you’re doing which should help to prevent eye strain. 

That’s all paired with a 144Hz refresh rate so mobile games, in particular, are smooth and seamless. You can choose to have it set to 60Hz to conserve battery or 144Hz if you want the silkiest experience possible. There is also an Auto mode that uses AI to decide what the best refresh rate is for the task at hand, automatically switching between them. 

You can buy the phone in Stellar Blue or Glacier Green. I got my hands on the blue colourway, the back of the phone has a shiny matte finish that shimmers when it catches the light. It was a little prone to fingerprint marks, but that’s easily solved by the clear plastic case which is included in the box. 

Setting this phone apart from the crowd, the camera module isn’t so much of a notch, it’s more of a slope stretching across the back of the phone. It looks cool but means the handset doesn’t sit flat on the table so you have to use it at a bit of an angle. 

The build quality of the phone is fine - it doesn’t feel as premium as other devices, which is partly due to the fact that the back is made from plastic. The positive side of that is that it won’t be so easy to break if you were to drop it. It feels durable although the Motorola Moto G200 is only water-repellent (as opposed to water-proof) so it’ll survive light splashes of rain but you're unlikely to get it working again if you drop it in a river.

Sitting on the frame, there’s a power button, volume rocker and a dedicated Google Assistant button as well as the USB-C power input. If you still use wired headphones, you’ll need to upgrade them to Bluetooth or buy an adaptor because you won’t get a headphone jack here.

You get a bottom-ported loudspeaker here with Dolby Atmos support, it delivers loud, clear audio across your videos and games. Because the speakers are only located at the bottom of the phone, you can’t expect to feel completely immersed in stereo sound but it’s good enough for just watching a few YouTube videos out loud here and there.

Motorola Moto G200 review: camera system

The camera system on the Motorola Moto G200 is made up of an 108MP ultra pixel lens, a 13MP ultra-wide angle lens and a 2MP depth sensor with a 16MP camera on the front. 

Considering this is a relatively cheap smartphone, the camera took good photos on a sunny day. Pictures looked bright and vibrant with accurate colours, and the camera did a good job at lightening up the darker areas of the shot as well. 

When you zoom in, you’ll be able to see that there isn’t the same level of detail as you would get from a pricier handset, especially when objects are quite far away. For the more casual user, this phone camera will do just fine. Below you can see some examples of photos taken using the Motorola Moto G200. 

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The main camera can shoot video in resolutions up to UHD, and I was impressed by the quality of the footage it produced. On the default 4K UHD settings with a frame rate of 30fps, videos were steady and clear although admittedly the colours did look a little dull so you can't expect it to be eye-popping in any way.

Motorola Moto G200 review: performance and battery 

Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888+ 5G, you’d be right to expect big things when it comes to the speed and performance of the Motorola Moto G200. There didn’t seem to be any problems to note when I tapped on my apps or switched between open windows. 

It even coped fine with larger mobile games, so this phone will be good for gamers as well as those who just plan to scroll through the web. 

To see how it stacks up against the competition, I ran the Geekbench 5 benchmarking test on the Motorola Moto G200. It scored 1067 in single-core and 3317 in multicore which is similar to flagship phones like the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G and the OnePlus 9 - not bad Motorola!

Storage-wise, you get 8GB of RAM and 128GB of built-in memory. The Motorola Moto G200 also supports both Wi-Fi 6 and 5G so you’ll be able to make the most out of the fastest internet speeds possible both at home and out in public.

A 5,000mAh battery sits underneath the hood which Motorola claims will last about 1.5 days before it runs out. During my tests this seemed to be accurate, the phone was still alive well into my second day of using it. 

To test out the battery a little more rigorously, I downloaded and ran a TV show on full brightness over two hours. In that time, the battery level dropped by 20% which suggests I would have gotten a total of 10 hours out of it. Charging it back up again took about an hour and a half using the 33W TurboPower charger that comes in the box. 

Running Android 11, the Motorola Moto G200 feels incredibly easy to use without being too simple. You get quick and easy access to all of Google’s apps when you first start up the phone so you won't have to spend time downloading them all. 

You'll also get access to the Motorola Ready For platform which lets you expand the phone onto any TV or display. That means you can easily transform your handset into a desktop-like experience and you’ll be able to get work done just about anywhere. You can use the phone as a trackpad or even hook up separate Bluetooth devices like a mouse or keyboard.  It’ll be really useful for updating documents, or replying to your emails, especially if you use Google apps. 

There’s one thing Motorola phones have that no one else has managed to nail in the same way, and that’s Moto Actions. You can activate certain apps or responses just by moving the phone in a particular gesture like pick up to silence, lift to unlock, shake to turn on the torch or twist to open the camera. They’re pretty reliable, once you’ve learnt each one that is! 

Motorola Moto G200 review: verdict  

The Motorola Moto G200 sits on the affordable end of mid-range, and the design echoes that price tag. Delve deeper into the handset though, and what you’ll find is a powerful piece of kit that will be great to use as a work phone or your next commuting companion. 

Thanks to its high-end chipset and large screen, this phone performs really well. It’ll happily open up loads of different apps at once, and the screen looks great across most types of content. What's more, is that you can count on it not to have run out of battery by the time you get into the office in the morning. 

While the Motorola Moto G200 might not be the sleekest or slimmest phone you can buy, it does do a good job where it matters the most and you'll be able to rely on it day in, day out. 

Motorola Moto G200 review: also consider  

If you're not so sure about the huge screen, the best cheap Android phone for most people is the OnePlus Nord 2. It's seriously good-looking and manages to pack in impressive performance, an excellent camera and a very long battery life. 

Those who are willing to spend a little more should - the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE is one of the pricier 'cheap' phones but it's well worth it. You get all of the key benefits of the Samsung Galaxy S20 series including an incredible screen and a top-tier chipset.