Moto G35 5G Review

We’ve seen the launch of several smartphones in India in 2024, from entry-level handsets to flagship models and foldable phones. The budget segment sees a lot of competition from handset companies in the country, with each new model offering iterative upgrades over their predecessors. Motorola recently launched the

Moto G35 5G ships with Android 14, along with the company’s My UX skin (tap to expand)

After setting up the smartphone, I was prompted to “try” (install) three third-party applications by the Moto App Manager app that is also preinstalled on the company’s smartphones. The installer informs users that it will install three new apps monthly when a system update is installed. These apps can be uninstalled like any other app that a user chooses to download on their smartphone.

This handset is slated to receive only one Android OS update, meaning it should get Android 15 sometime next year. It would have been nice to see the company deliver at least two Android OS upgrades for this smartphone, considering the fact that it ships with Android 14, which was released a year ago. The Moto G35 is scheduled to receive security updates until August 2027, according to the company’s support website.

Moto G35 5G Performance: Decent for the Price

Processor – Unisoc T760
Memory – 4GB LPDDR4X
Storage – 128GB UFS 2.2

The Moto G35 5G is equipped with a 6nm Unisoc T760 chipset launched in July. It is an octa-core processor that comprises six Arm Cortex-A76 cores (2.2GHz) and four Cortex A55 cores (2GHz), along with a Mali G57 MC4 GPU. This puts it on par with the MediaTek Dimensity 6300 SoC, which has slightly faster A76 cores (2.4GHz) but a slightly older Mali G57 MC2 GPU.

As you can probably tell, this isn’t an exceptionally fast processor. Still, it’s pretty good at handling day-to-day tasks like browsing the web, texting someone on WhatsApp, and using social media apps like Facebook or Instagram. I noticed a bit of lag in slightly more demanding apps like Snapchat and Google Maps.

Moto G35 5G benchmark results (tap to expand)

You can play casual games on this handset without any issues — I tested out a couple of the third-party games that were downloaded after setting up the phone — and it can also handle some titles like Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) if you use the lowest graphics settings. I also ran Asphalt Legends Unite on the default setting without any issues.

I also ran multiple benchmark tests on the Moto G35 5G to get a better understanding of how it fares against smartphones equipped with processors that offer comparable performance, such as the Redmi A4 5G, Samsung Galaxy A16 5G and the Infinix Note 40X. The handset’s performance appeared to be on par with some of these models that are sold at higher prices.

You can look at the table below to see how the Moto G35 5G fared on benchmark tests, in comparison with similar models from other smartphone makers.

Benchmark	Moto G35 5G	Redmi A4 5G	Samsung Galaxy A16 5G	Infinix Note 40X
Geekbench 6 Single Core	741	839	736	768
Geekbench 6 Multi Core	2290	1919	1938	2050
AnTuTu v10	470,387	387,157	411,056	393,680
PCMark Work 3.0	11,755	8,782	9,382	9,151
3DMark Wild Life	1351	647	1351	1373
3DMark Wild Life Unlimited	1335	Failed to run	1335	1356
3DMark Sling Shot	3603	2409	3603	3724
3DMark Sling Shot Extreme	2629	647	2629	2747
GFXBench Car Chase	16	15	56	13
GFXBench Manhattan 3.1	29	28	24	22
GFXBench T-Rex	55	55	14	52

Motorola has equipped this smartphone with a 6.72-inch Full-HD+ (1,080×2,400 pixels) LCD screen along with Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The display’s refresh rate can be e set at 60Hz or 120Hz — while the latter offers a much smoother experience, you might want to leave it on the default mode for better battery life.

Visibility is not ideal when you are outdoors in bright sunlight, but it’s quite usable during other times of the day. After poking around the settings, I found a toggle under Settings > Display > Extra brightness that did improve the display’s brightness level, but also resulted in faster battery drain.

Moto G35 5G Cameras: Gets the Job Done

Primary camera – 50-megapixel (f/1.8), PDAF, up to 4K/ 30fps video
Ultrawide camera – 8-megapixel (f/2.2), 120-degree field-of-view
Selfie camera – 16-megapixel

The Moto G35 5G is a budget smartphone with a dual rear camera setup. It’s good to see that the company hasn’t bothered with adding a low-resolution macro or depth sensor, which are usually disappointing when included on phones in this price segment.

Moto G35 5G Camera Samples. Top to bottom — Primary, Ultrawide, Portrait (Tap images to expand)

When clicking photos with the primary 50-megapixel camera during the day, the phone delivers bright images with a decent amount of detail, for a budget smartphone. It also reproduces skin tones accurately, when capturing portrait images. Subjects that are closer to the camera will definitely have more detail, and the camera app is fast and snappy when taking photos.

The 8-megapixel ultrawide camera produces images that aren’t as detailed as the primary camera, and you will notice a distinct lack of detail when you zoom in on these images. For example, I clicked an image of a sign across the street using the primary and ultrawide camera, and only the image captured with the former included legible text.

In low light scenarios and at night, there’s only one camera worth using on the Moto G35 5G, and the 50-megapixel sensor is best used in combination with the Night Vision feature available inside the camera app. It takes a couple of seconds to capture an image, but the difference in detail is quite evident in our camera samples.

Samsung Galaxy A16 5G Camera Samples. Top to bottom — Day, Night (Tap images to expand)

Motorola has equipped the handset with a 16-megapixel selfie camera, which captures decent images during the day. In darker scenarios, it still manages to let in enough light for a recognisable image, but you also see a lot of smoothening and noise.

There’s no image stabilisation on the Moto G35 5G, and the smartphone lets you record video at up to 4K/ 30fps using the primary camera and up to 1080p/ 30fps using the ultrawide camera. Once again, the former is the one to use while recording with this handset.

Moto G35 5G Battery: Slow to Charge, Slower to Discharge

Battery Capacity – 5,000mAh
Wired Charging – 18W (USB Type-C)

The Unisoc T760 chip on the Moto G35 5G appears to be quite efficient, as the handset is capable of delivering well over a day and a half of battery life, before it needed another charge. In our HD video battery loop test, the phone lasted for approximately 18 hours and 50 minutes, but keep in mind that these are synthetic tests.

The Moto G35 5G offers over one day of use on a single charge

In day to day use, battery drain on the Moto G35 is not high during active use as well as in standby mode. I used the phone to make calls using WhatsApp, browsing the web and checking social media apps, and playing a few casual games — it delivered about 5.5 hours of screen on time, along with about 21 hours of standby life.

Charging the Moto G35 5G from 0 to 100 percent can take a while, especially if your battery is low when you plug in the handset. During the time I tested the handset, it took around two hours for a full charge, using the 18W adapter included in the box.