Affordable 5G smartphone with AMOLED display

We tested the Motorola Moto G71 5G, an Android 11 mobile with 5G and an AMOLED screen for an affordable price. Is it worth switching the little extra cost to the previously tested Moto G51 5G?

The 11th generation of the g-series from Motorola, a Lenovo smartphone brand, are reasonably priced affordable Android smartphones incorporating recent technology. Previously, we tested the slightly older and still available Moto G51 5G, which is fifty euros cheaper than the G71 5G reviewed here.

Characteristic

The Moto G71 G5 dual-sim officially costs 299 euros, although we also see prices on the internet that are already somewhat lower.

The Moto G71 has a slightly smaller 6.4-inch AMOLED display, with a “regular” 60Hz refresh rate.

Like all Motos, this smartphone runs a fairly clean version of Android 11 (with some not-too-drastic ‘Moto My UX’ extras). The IP52 certified body is made entirely of plastic. It is splash proof, but not resistant to immersion in water. A protective plastic cover that protects the back is included as standard.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G soc differs slightly and is slightly faster, but the Adreno 619 GPU is the same as in the Moto G51. The 128 GB model we tested still has about 103 GB of free space, but in this case you can’t expand it with a memory card.

The fingerprint sensor is located on the back instead of on the right side.

The triple main camera is the same as in the Moto G51, that is, on the back with a 78° four-pixel sensor with a resolution of 50 megapixels, complemented by a 16MP wide-angle lens (108°) and a 2MP macro sensor. The 16 mp selfie camera is also the same.

Wi-Fi connection is limited to a maximum of Wireless-AC; wifi-6 is not compatible with this mobile.

The battery is just as powerful (5,000 mAh), but it charges faster thanks to a 30-watt fast charger (fifty percent in thirty minutes).

Thanks to the smaller and lighter screen, this smartphone is more compact and lighter than the G51: 179g instead of 208g; 16.12 cm wide instead of 17.05 cm and 8.5 mm thick instead of 9.1 mm.

All the details about the Moto G71 5G can be found on the Motorola website.

Practice

The screen is brighter and sharper than the Moto G51, but it has a less smooth display.

The main camera works well in daylight, but worse in low light (then focusing is especially slow). By the way, only the main sensor works in the dark and you can no longer use the wide angle or macro lens.

Performance

The Moto G71 5G runs slightly faster than the G51 5G, with no dramatic differences. The relation to its price and level of equipment is good, but it is not a monster of speed. That’s especially a point if you play a lot; for normal use, this smartphone works fast enough. †Edit: We’ve adjusted the weights in the tests, so you can’t compare the figures to those of previously tested smartphones.†

Mark	lenovo	Motorola	Motorola
Type	Moto G71 5G (128GB)	Moto G51 5G (128GB)	Moto G100 5G (128GB)
Futuremark 3DMark Wildlife 2560 x 1440 px
Wildlife Overall Score	1211	977	4157
Average frame rate in fps	7.3	5.9	24.9
Stability stress test %	99.7	99.5	99.1
Futuremark PCMark Android Work 3.0
Work Performance Score 3.0	7921	9639	12701
Web Browsing Score 2.0	6028	9185	10053
Video editing score	3778	4477	6697
Writing 2.0 Score	10130	11201	14702
Photo Editing 2.0 Score	17231	20232	30860
Data Manipulation Score	7844	8931	10942
Android Storage Futuremark PCMark
Storage Score	16932	15700	28765
internal stream read MB/s	468.28	449.36	1439.56
Internal Random Read MB/s	26	25.36	32.84
internal stream write MB/s	370.65	388.12	719
Internal Random Write MB/s	30.96	34.69	62.25
external stream read MB/s	428.37	445.63	1480.69
External Random Read MB/s	21.3	21.06	29.04
external stream write MB/s	382.09	375.39	672.77
External Random Write MB/s	31.42	20.96	57.81
SQLite reads	5449	5347	10118
SQLite update iops	1749	1668	1647
SQLite insert iops	1000	666	2000
SQLite remove iops	1488	1396	1578
Battery life Futuremark PCMark Android Work 3.0
Autonomy in the worst case, 50% screen brightness, Wi-Fi activated (minutes)	1245	870	774
Diskidee Weighted Scores (out of 100)
Weighted Benchmark	85	78	78
Subjective score	84	82	85
Functionality Score	74	68	90
DiskIdee Weighted Final Scores
Performance Score (out of 100)	79	75	85

conclusion
If you’re looking for an affordable 5G smartphone with a good display and decent performance (except for gaming), the Motorola G71 5G is certainly not a bad choice. The difference with the Moto G51 5G fifty euros cheaper is not dramatic. Especially the nicer screen is a plus, but the screen is smaller. The advantage is that this results in a more compact mobile with excellent autonomy.

Average price
€299 (128GB)