Motorola has launched the new G54 5G in India at an attractive price point. The new 5G offering from Motorola is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 7020 chipset, making it the first smartphone in India to come with this chipset. To further elaborate on the launch, The Mobile Indian had an interaction with MediaTek India Managing Director Anku Jain and Motorola India CMO, Shivam Ranjan to figure out what the company is aiming to achieve with its latest launch. Before discussing more about that, take a look at what Moto G54 5G has to offer.
Moto G54 5G: Price, Specifications
The Motorola Moto G54 5G comes in at Rs 15,999 for the base 8GB + 128GB model and Rs 18,999 for the top-end 12GB + 256GB variant. It can be availed in Mint Green, Pearl Blue, and Midnight Blue shades. The handset will go on sale via Flipkart, the company’s official website, and offline retailers starting September 13, 2023.
Moto G54 5G sports a 6.5-inch FHD+ display with a punch-hole cutout, 240Hz touch sampling rate and a 120Hz refresh rate. It is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 7020 octa-core Chipset paired with up to 12GB RAM and 256GB storage that is further expandable up to 1TB. The phone runs on Android 13-based MyUX 4.0 custom skin out of the box.
Moto G54 5G has a dual camera setup on the back, consisting of a 50MP f/1.8 main sensor with OIS and an 8MP ultra-wide angle f/2.2 lens with LED Flash. There is a 16MP f/2.4 front camera for selfies and video chats. The Moto G54 5G packs a 6000mAh battery with 33W fast charging.
Connectivity options include 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth v5.3, GPS, NFC, 3.5mm Headphone jack and a USB Type-C port for charging. There is a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for Biometrics along with Dolby Atmos stereo speakers.
Moto G54 5G stands out from the competition with its segment-first features: Motorola India CMO
Ranjan has highlighted some unique features of the Moto G54 5G. This smartphone is the first in India to have a MediaTek Dimensity 7020 chipset. Additionally, Ranjan has mentioned that Motorola is the first brand to have completed 5G VoNR testing with Reliance Jio. This means that the Moto G54 5G can run 5G VoNR without needing any OTA update to enable the feature.
For those unaware, 5G VoNR, also known as Vo5G or Voice over 5G, is the method by which voice calls can be handled over the 5G network. It is very similar to VoLTE in terms of technology used. However, to support this technology, the telecom operator should be using the 5G Standalone architecture and not the Non-standalone tech.
Apart from this, the Moto G54 5G carries an 8MP ultra-wide sensor, which most brands have been removing from their devices in the sub-Rs 20,000 segment. Also, the 50MP OIS camera, 12GB RAM, and 256GB storage also make it to the segment-first list of features.
Further explaining the Dimensity 7020’s capability, Anku Jain, MD at MediaTek India, said that much of its features, such as MiraVision technology, Dual-SIM support, HyperEngine gaming technology and more, have been designed with the consumer in mind. He also notes that the Chipset has been developed with AI algorithms for efficient battery management on the Moto G54 5G. This should result in an excellent battery backup, thanks to the huge battery capacity of 6000mAh on the new Motorola smartphone.
Talking about the partnership of Motorola and MediaTek, Shivam hinted towards expanding it to more product categories in India soon, including home audio products. This category of products already has MediaTek-powered devices, such as Amazon’s Alexa smart speakers, and Motorola also seems to be exploring the segment.
As for software updates, Ranjan confirms that it is going to stick with the current standards of 1 major OS upgrade plus 3 years of security patches. However, he does state that “there’s always a possibility that Motorola might give the smartphone more than what it promises, and we will adapt to the market needs if it requires us to change the update policy for the Moto G-series devices”.
As for the speed of the updates, regarding which Motorola has been considerably criticised by its users, Ranjan said, “We have taken the feedback from Indian users and media regarding the situation. Internal discussions with senior management are already ongoing as to how we can improve our speed for delivering timely updates. Users will definitely witness an improvement soon”.
major OS upgrades don’t come for Free
Motorola says that there are costs associated with giving major OS upgrades. While Shivam didn’t point out any particular brand, he said that other OEMs offering phones in this segment cover these costs by pre-loading bloatware onto the devices, such as third-party apps like Moj. As for Motorola’s devices, he says that these are some of the devices that have an operating system closest to stock Android and Mto phones don’t have bloatware.
While explaining what these costs are, Anku Jain said that Google sends the chip manufacturers a pre-release version of the next major Android OS upgrade. This version then has to be ported and adapted to the various chipsets from the manufacturers, which involves R&D costs. The second step is where the chip manufacturer, MediaTek in this case, works with the OEM (Motorola) to optimize the version for their devices, which also results in significant manpower, thereby making the process more costly.
Finally, Motorola has plans for releasing more products before the end of the year. Shivam didn’t point out which segment the device would come in. As for MediaTek, its next major focus is going to be the automobile segment, and there are some Indian automakers whose upcoming vehicles will be powered by the MediaTek Dimensity Auto chipsets.
