Moto G100 announced and it’s by far the most powerful Moto G yet

Moto G100
(Image credit: Future)

The Moto G range is known for offering dependable, affordable handsets. What it’s not known for is high-end specs – but with the Moto G100, that looks set to change.

This newly announced entry in the range is actually the Motorola Edge S (a phone previously launched in China) in all but name, and while the lack of a curved screen means it was never an ideal fit for the Edge name, the rest of its specs mean it stands out from the G range too.

For one thing, the Moto G100 is the first Moto G phone with a Snapdragon 800-series chipset. Specifically, it has the Snapdragon 870, which is a high-end one, but not quite a match for the Snapdragon 888 in the likes of the OnePlus 9 range. That’s a 5G chipset and it’s paired with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

The Moto G100 also has a 6.7-inch 1080 x 2520 screen with HDR10 support and a 90Hz refresh rate, while its cameras include a 64MP main one, a 16MP ultra-wide (which also takes macro shots), a 2MP depth sensor, and a time-of-flight sensor. There’s also a dual-lens camera on the front in a pair of punch-holes, with both a 16MP main sensor and an 8MP ultra-wide one.

It also has a 5,000mAh battery, which is big but not a match for, say, the Moto G9 Power with its 6,000mAh one.

The Moto G100 comes in Sky and Beryl shades (which are basically white and turquoise respectively), and it has a 3.5mm headphone port, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, and a Power Touch feature inherited from the Moto G 5G Plus, which lets you double tap the power button to access shortcuts.

Ready for anything

The phone itself is only part of the story though, as the Moto G100 is also shipped with a dock for Motorola’s new Ready For platform. This lets you connect the phone to a TV or monitor if you want a bigger screen for work, gaming, video calls, or anything else really. And the dock has a built-in cooling system to keep the Moto G100 cool even when you’re pushing it hard.

It’s set to cost £449 (around $615 / AU$810) with the Ready For dock, and won’t be sold separately. It’s also not coming to the US, and there’s no word yet on Australia. There’s no exact UK release date yet either, but we’d expect you’ll be able to buy it soon.

That price makes it by far the most expensive Moto G handset, but again, it doesn’t have the specs of a Moto G phone. On that front it’s more in line with the Motorola Edge – a phone which had a higher price at launch. So if the Moto G100 lives up to its specs then it could be a bit of a mid-range bargain, but we’ll let you know once we’ve put it through a full review.

James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.