Motorola 2026 Moto G Energy
ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Motorola’s 2026 Moto G Energy is offered for $300.
- It is a strong funds package deal with an extended battery life and a Full HD+ show.
- Nonetheless, it is solely a modest improve over the 2025 mannequin.
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Over the previous a number of weeks, I have been testing the 2026 Moto G Energy, the final of Motorola’s 2026 sequence — for now. Throughout CES 2026, the corporate unveiled the Razr Fold, its first foldable smartphone, so there may be extra to come back. However for the preliminary group, I might prefer to assume that Motorola saved the perfect for final. It affords the perfect person expertise of its era, and I like to recommend it over the others.
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My greatest criticism of Motorola’s 2026 lineup is that it carefully mirrors the earlier era: many of those telephones really feel nearly equivalent to their 2025 counterparts. Nonetheless, though the 2026 Moto G Energy shares a whole lot of DNA with the 2025 model, it introduces extra significant upgrades that permit it to face out by itself.
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Improved options
The most important upgrades to the 2026 Moto G Energy have been made to the battery and digicam system. It packs a 5,200mAh battery, which is barely bigger than the earlier era’s 5,000mAh cell. It does not seem to be an enormous change, however the additional dimension does enhance longevity. As a part of testing, I performed a 720p YouTube livestream nonstop, and the gadget lasted an excellent 20 hours earlier than tapping out. It’s attainable to double that run time by activating Most Battery Saver.
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What this does is limit a lot of the gadget’s options, aside from important capabilities and apps, akin to Cellphone, Messages, Settings, and the Google Play Retailer. A Motorola rep advised me that these 4 apps have been “designated as important”, so these stay lively. It is a software meant to be used solely in emergencies. Activating it may prolong the battery life to over 40 hours, as was the case with my evaluate unit.
The selfie digicam has been upgraded to a 32MP lens, delivering sharper images with higher colour accuracy. Like the remainder of the 2026 sequence, the rear digicam on the Moto G Energy obtained the identical colour correction tweaks. Photographs taken by the cell gadget aren’t overly saturated. As an instance my level, I’ve included an image I took of a gaggle of plush penguins to exhibit the digicam’s high quality.
One other standout digicam characteristic is Evening Imaginative and prescient. When the sunshine sensor detects a low-light setting, the telephone offers the chance to activate the software, permitting the lenses to seize extra mild for brighter, higher-quality nighttime images. You will must hold your fingers regular to get a transparent shot. Thankfully, Optical Picture Stabilization retains the digicam regular, minimizing blur from slight hand actions.
Motorola additionally advised me that Evening Imaginative and prescient captures a number of frames, “choosing moments of minimal movement.” Under is a photograph I took of a distant home mild utilizing Evening Imaginative and prescient, and I believe it turned out fairly properly. You’ll be able to see all of the objects fairly clearly, regardless of the less-than-optimal circumstances.
Modern and sturdy
Design-wise, the 2026 Moto G Energy is basically unchanged from the 2025 mannequin, other than the brand new out there colours. It is a 6.8-inch telephone weighing simply over 200 grams, and it is constructed to be powerful. The display screen is made out of Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, which is extremely proof against scratches and may survive drops of as much as three toes onto asphalt. Motorola’s smartphone can be rated IP69, which means it may deal with transient submersion underwater.
Like the opposite fashions within the sequence, the again is roofed in vegan leather-based. I am unsure if Motorola made modifications to the fabric or used a special one, as a result of the again of the Moto G Energy felt totally different, rougher, like precise leather-based. I truly want this building. The opposite telephones had a softer again, nearly like material. This telephone had a nicer really feel.
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Returning to the show, it operates at Full HD+ decision (2388 x 1080 pixels), and it’s, far and away, the perfect display screen among the many 2026 trio. It persistently outputs high-res visuals with vivid and vibrant colours. On the opposite Moto G fashions, the display screen high quality was so low that it nearly ruins the digicam. Their shows do not do the images they take any justice. Fortunately, that isn’t a problem with the Moto G Energy.
Beneath the hood, the telephone is powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chipset. I’ll be brutally trustworthy right here: I’ve nothing to say concerning the 6300 that I have not already mentioned earlier than. It is a first rate piece of {hardware}.
Practically each Motorola smartphone from the 2025 and 2026 traces makes use of this chipset, and it is a strong midrange platform that is nice for informal web looking and light-weight images, however struggles below heavy workloads, like cell gaming. On this occasion, the Full HD+ show does a whole lot of heavy lifting, elevating the 2026 Moto G Energy above the remaining.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
The Moto G Energy is offered now for $300 on the corporate’s web site. You’ll be able to select from two colours: Night Blue and Pure Cashmere, which is a shiny, pearl-like white.
I’ve suggested readers in earlier evaluations to contemplate the 2025 fashions if they need a cell gadget just like the 2026 model however at a lower cost. On this occasion, nonetheless, I can confidently say that this Moto G Energy mannequin is best than its predecessor because of the enhancements made to the battery and digicam.
