The new budget smartphone will be available in the US and Canada from January
(Image credit: Motorola)
Motorola has announced a new budget smartphone, the Moto G Play (2023), which is the successor to the Moto G Play (2021) as we didn’t see a new G Play model this year. Available in the US and Canada it carries a very affordable $169.99 price tag and offers some decent specs including a 5,000mAh battery which is said to offer a three-day battery life.
Moto G Play (2023): Specifications
The Moto G Play (2023) is a budget 4G-only smartphone that offers an updated 6.5-inch LCD screen, now with a 90Hz refresh rate (up from 60Hz).
Unlike its predecessor, the Moto G Play (2023) features a 5,000mAh battery, which the company says will give a three-day battery life.
(Image credit: Motorola)
Camera-wise, there’s a 16MP triple rear camera setup (up from 13MP on the 2021 model) and a brighter f/1.22 lens (up from f/2.0). It has AI-powered features too, including Smart Composition and Dual Capture.
Rather than a Qualcomm processor as seen in the 2021 model, the Moto G Play (2023) has a MediaTek Helio G37 chipset. It comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage (which thank fully can be expanded via a microSD).
Available in Deep Indigo, the Moto G Play (2023) is IP52 rated for dust resistance and splash protection and also offers a fingerprint scanner.
While it’s not a phone that will set the smartphone market on fire, if you are looking for a decent but cheap-as-chips smartphone and aren’t bothered about 5G it’s a good option.
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Price and availability
The new Moto G Play (2023) is set to launch on January 12 in the US, priced at $169.99. It will be available directly from Motorola, Best Buy and Amazon. After the initial launch, it will be available from at Metro by T-Mobile, Dish, Xfinity Mobile, US Cellular, Consumer Cellular, Spectrum Mobile, and Optimum Mobile, although an exact date for this hasn’t been confirmed. The new budget smartphone will also be available in Canada on the same date, through yet-to-be-announced carriers and national retail locations.
Rachael is a British journalist with 18 years experience in the publishing industry. Since working on www.digitalcameraworld.com, she’s been freelancing, and contributing to some of the world’s best-loved websites and magazines including T3.com and TechRadar.com and has also had a book, iPad for Photographers, published. She's currently acting as editor of 5GRadar.com - a website specializing in the latest cellular technology.
