moto g9 power ( 6.8" Max Vision HD+, Qualcomm Snapdragon, 64MP triple camera system, 6000 mAH battery, Dual SIM, 4/128GB, Android 10), Metallic Sage

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This is the same chipset used by the slightly cheaper Moto G9 Play, which we reviewed in September 2020 and there are no surprises when it comes to final benchmarking figures. My conclusions are the same too: performance is rather good for the price but don’t expect it to blow your mind. As for the cameras, the Moto G9 Play uses a triple-camera array on the rear. The primary snapper is a 48MP (f/1.7) affair, and this is complemented by a 2MP (f/2.4) macro and a 2MP (f/2.4) depth-sensing unit. Eagle-eyed readers might have noticed that the depth sensor actually replaces the Moto G8’s wide-angle camera, which is a bit of a shame. In my view, the option to squeeze more stuff in the frame is more beneficial than any marginal gains achieved by a depth sensor. As for my own testing, the Moto G9 Power lasted an astonishing 26hrs 51mins on a single charge while playing a looped video with data connections switched off and the screen set to our standard 170cd/m ² brightness level. At the time of writing this review, only two phones have ever lasted longer in this test: the now discontinued Lenovo P2 and the pricier Galaxy M31, which was the first phone to break the 30-hour mark. The front camera has an 8MP f/2.2 sensor that seems to smear fine detail in anything less than good lighting. But we think it’s a perfectly acceptable selfie camera at this level. The Moto G9 Play also has a Portrait mode for selfies, which is a lovely touch.

Peek shows you the time and icons representing notifications, to let you know if there’s anything you need to take a closer look at. Battery life Gaming is no problem either. Fortnite runs at an acceptable 20-30fps, only usually dropping below 20fps when falling from the dropship or taking to the skies in the plane. PUBG runs well at ‘balanced’ graphics, and you can’t use the higher-end modes anyway. Video is severely restricted, though. You can only shoot at up to 1080p resolution, 60 frames per second. And we recommend using 1080p, 30fps most of the time, as it’s the best quality mode on offer that also allows for electronic image stabilization (EIS). Footage looks jerky and ugly without EIS. Compared with the very best smartphones on the market, the Moto G9 Power does look like a less expensive alternative, but when you measure it up against handsets that cost a similar amount of money, it more than holds its own. It's fair to say that for what you're paying, the G9 Power is a decent-looking smartphone, and that's all that you can really ask. With that out of the way, it’s time to talk about the fun stuff. The Moto G9 Play is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 processor, which is paired with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage (which can be expanded up to a further 512GB via microSD).Its large size is also a big benefit for almost all games and apps. Can you do better for the same cost? Yes. Xiaomi sells several phones for similar money with higher resolution displays. The Xiaomi Redmi 9 and Redmi Note 9 have 1080p screens, as does the Realme 6. While the Moto G9 Plus isn’t completely immune to this phenomenon, it makes a good fist of it, as you can see from the sunset picture of my garden above. Zoomed in below, you’ll see a little detail lost but, again, this is very good for the price. Attributes present here typical of phones at the price include that photos taken in indoor lighting look soft and desaturated, and right down at pixel level images tend to look either noisy or processed. However, given the price, the Moto G9 Play performs admirably enough. A PC Mark battery benchmark score of 25hr 44min is around double that of rivals like the Poco X3 NFC. It’s not far off three times better than the likes of the Realme 7.

In the Geekbench 5 single and multi-core CPU tests, the Moto G9 Power gains a small lead on its predecessor, the Moto G8 Power and outperforms the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 in multi-core processing, as well as the more expensive Galaxy M31. It isn’t quite as good as the Realme 6 in these tests, but the differences between the two won’t really be noticeable for the vast majority of Android users. To put that in perspective, the Moto G9 Power lasted four and a half hours longer than the Moto G8 Power under the same conditions and I didn’t have any issues in squeezing out more than two days of use while testing. When I took the phone out and about to do my usual array of camera tests, the battery level indicator fell a mere 4%. Motorola Moto G9 Power review: Cameras The two other display modes on offer – “Saturated” and “Boosted” – tinker with the vibrancy of certain colour tones but these are a bit too saturated and candy-coloured for my tastes. One saving grace, however, is that the Moto G9 Play’s contrast ratio is rather good, at a measured 1,999:1. Motorola Moto G9 Play review: Performance and battery lifeLike the Moto G8, camera performance is a bit of a mixed bag. The Moto G9 Play’s main camera takes 12-megapixel still images (via a process called pixel binning) and, as far as I could tell, there’s no option to take a full 48MP image. Provided you’re graced with plenty of light, still images look quite lovely for the price, with a decent amount of detail and clean, neutral-looking colours.