Motorola Moto G55 Review: Excellent Value (On The Surface)

Price When Reviewed

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The Moto G55 appears to redefine expectations for budget smartphones, combining a premium design with capable hardware at an accessible price point. It’s even got the specs to match, such as a smooth 120Hz display and a robust 5000mAh battery.

The G55 could be punching well above its weight at under £200 and take on the likes of Samsung and Xiaomi, if it wasn’t for lackluster performance and an absence of flagship camera features. It lets down what would otherwise be an excellent value budget device.

Design & Build

• Eco-friendly vegan design
• Headphone jack
• Premium look and feel

The Moto G55 strikes a balance between modern aesthetics and practical design.

Its vegan leather back not only looks and feels premium (similar to the Edge 50 devices) but also adds grip, ensuring this device doesn’t slip from your hands easily. This material choice, combined with a solid frame, gives the device a reassuring weight and a sense of durability, making it feel more expensive than it is.

Motorola’s focus on practicality shines through the inclusion of features often missing in more expensive devices, like the 3.5mm headphone jack and a three-piece speaker grill. These thoughtful additions cater to users who value convenience and functionality over cutting-edge trends.

I did want to take this opportunity to talk about the Moto G55’s vibration motor. It’s not typically something I’d mention, but it is particularly bad on this device. The motor is incredibly strong, but in a bad way. It feels and sounds rattly, as if it was ramped up higher than it should go.

While the Smoky Green leather option stands out for its unique appearance, the other colour options (Forest Grey and Twilight Purple) offer a more subdued, sophisticated aesthetic if you ask me.

Despite its budget pricing, the G55 does not compromise on build quality or ergonomic comfort, with rounded corners and a clean design that feels great in hand.

Screen & Display

• 120Hz refresh rate
• Full HD+ resolution
• IPS LCD panel

The 6.49-inch IPS LCD panel on the Moto G55 delivers an enjoyable viewing experience for its price.

The 120Hz refresh rate makes scrolling through social media and browsing feel smooth, while the Full HD+ resolution ensures crisp text and images.

Although it lacks the deep blacks and vivid colours of an OLED display, the IPS tech offers excellent viewing angles and performs admirably under various lighting conditions.

Connor Jewiss / Foundry

Compared to its sibling, the Moto G85 (succeeding the G84), the G55’s display may fall slightly short in terms of vibrancy and contrast, but it still holds its own in this price range.

It handles most multimedia tasks well, whether you’re streaming YouTube videos or scrolling through photo galleries. While the thicker bezel including a larger chin remind you of its budget roots, these are minor compromises for an otherwise solid display.

The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, which adds durability, reducing the risk of scratches and minor drops. Coupled with the strong build of the phone itself, this makes the Moto G55 a reliable choice for users who want a budget device that can withstand everyday wear and tear.

Specs & Performance

• MediaTek Dimensity 7025
• Smooth for light day-to-day tasks
• Can slow down and freeze up

The Moto G55 manages casual games and everyday apps without breaking a sweat for the most part, but I did see the device struggle while doing some normal tasks.

For example, while I was downloading an app, I tried to switch back to the Settings app I had left open.

Connor Jewiss / Foundry

The smartphone lagged a while doing so, and noticeably froze up. I have plenty more example, as this was a regular occurrence. This is disappointing, as the device should be able to handle more.

Apps take a hot second to launch, and the phone sometimes struggles to handle transitions between tasks smoothly, especially with the default 120Hz refresh rate enabled. For anyone who does a lot of social media scrolling, browsing, or light productivity tasks, you’ll notice this over time.

The inclusion of 8GB of RAM inside this device seems under-used, struggling to keep multiple apps running in the background without noticeable slowdowns. The phone supports 5G networks which isn’t a given for all phones under £200 and 256GB of storage is impressively large.

Motorola’s device begins to show even more glaring limitations when pushed to its extremes, such as during long gaming sessions or high-definition video playback.

Under the hood, the Moto G55 is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 7025 chipset, which actually holds its own in performance benchmarks. Scoring 1017 in Geekbench 6 single-core and 2435 in multicore, the G55 competes well against similarly priced rivals like the slightly older Snapdragon 695-powered Redmi Note 12 Pro.

Moto G55 benchmarks

Cameras

• 50Mp main sensor
• 8Mp ultrawide
• 16Mp selfie camera

The Moto G55’s dual-camera setup performs admirably for its price, with the 50Mp main sensor producing sharp, vibrant images in daylight.

However, that’s about all. It struggles in low-light scenarios, where images often lack clarity and detail. Even with a dedicated Night Mode, it struggles to capture enough detail for any decent pictures.

Connor Jewiss / Foundry

The 8Mp ultrawide camera, while useful for group shots and landscapes, falls short in sharpness and colour accuracy compared to higher-end models. When using Portrait Mode, the image processing seems to have a hard time with trickier edge detection, and the overall effect is noticeably artificial.

On the front, the 16Mp selfie camera is surprisingly capable, capturing well-detailed images with good colour reproduction. Its wide-angle