I was shopping for a new smartphone, since my previous Moto G5+ had microphone issues (it's a phone, right!).
Comparison
When I purchased my previous Moto G5+, it was advertised with 3GB of RAM, but the one I received had 4 !
Here is a quick specs comparison. For more info, see links below
| Moto G5+ | Moto G73 | |
|---|---|---|
| chipset | Qualcomm SnapDragon 625 (14nm) | Mediatek Dimensity 930 (6nm) |
| CPU | 8×Cortex A53 @ 2.0GHz | 2×Cortex-A78 @ 2.2 GHz + 6×Cortex-A55 @ 2.0 GHz |
| RAM | 4GB | 8GB |
| Storage | 32GB + dedicated MicroSD | 256GB + shared MicroSD |
| OS | Android 7.0 (upgraded to 8.1.0) | Android 13 |
| Display | 60Hz 5.2" 1080p IPS, 9:16 | 120Hz 6.5" 1080 x 2400 IPS, 9:20 |
| Fingerprint | in the bezel below the screen, doubles as navigation button | side-mounted on power button |
| Network | 4G dual-sim | 5G dual-sim (shared with MicroSD) |
| Connectors | micro USB OTG, 3.5mm jack, NFC | USB-C, 3.5mm jack, NFC |
| Battery | 3000mAh | 5000mAh |
| Weight | 155g | 181g |
Motorola Moto G5 Plus - Full phone specifications
Motorola Moto G73 - Full phone specifications
My MotoG5+ became somewhat sluggish: opening apps was a bit slow, but overall OK. However, web navigation was really slow on modern websites with tons of Javascript.
General
The Moto G73 is big, and heavy. It technically fits in a big jean/trouser pocket, but it's so tall that it becomes somewhat impractical.
It comes with a flexible transparent case, cable and charger.
Display
The display is perfectly fine for me. By default, Android uses an adaptive refresh rate: 30Hz for static content, 60Hz for video, 90/120Hz for scrolling. You can lock it at 60Hz to save power, but after using 120Hz it feels laggy.
The display ships with 2 color modes: normal and "vibrant". Vibrant, which increases saturation is the default, and you can also change the color temperature (gets overriden by Night Mode/redshift).
The 1080p resolution is good enough for me, I can't tell the individual pixels.
Charger
It's a 30W USB-C PD charger which is quite light, and only has one USB-C port.
I got an EU model, with a European Type C plug, so no grounding. It takes in 100-240V @ 50/60Hz. I guess both the power input and outputs are Type C, but from different standards. See the link below for power socket standards.
Plug & socket types (the charger will thus fit in Types C, E F sockets)
Here are its power rating:
-
5V, 3A (15W)
-
9V, 3A (27W)
-
10V, 3A (30W)
Because it supports the USB Power Delivery standard, I can benefit from fast charging using my laptop's power brick or a 3rd party power brick.
Software
Motorola provides a stock Android, with some little additions like gestures and theming. The only app installed by default is Facebook (which can be fully uninstalled).
There are no duplicate apps like on Samsung phones (extra browser, SMS, calling, contacts ... apps).
Upon first boot, several Google apps are scheduled for installation, but you can refuse them. There is a Dolby Atmos center for advanced sound control, Family app, and Moto center which provides shortcuts for motorola-specific settings.
The usual Motorola gestures are present, like the "karate-chop" to turn on the flashligh without even unlocking the phone. There are other optionnal quality-of-life features such as keeping the display on when you are looking at it.
Updates
Motorola isn't really known for its regular updates, but in the 4 months since purchased this phone, I got two security updates and one general update !