Motorola's Moto G line has consistenly earned a spot on our list of the best smartphones by providing strong performance at a reasonable price.
But over the last couple of years, G series phones have become increasingly more expensive.
This year's Moto G7 comes in at $299, a price that nudges it out of budget territory and into a much more competitive midrange market.
And while the G7 features good looks and solid performance, the Nokia 7.1 and Moto G7 Power offer more for your money.
Design and Display
The Moto G7 is a sleek reinterpretation of its predecessor, the Moto G6.
The phone is a Gorilla Glass shell with an aluminum frame and feels great in the hand.
It has a curved, reflective glass back that comes in black or white.
There's a slight hump at the top for the dual camera sensors, and a small Motorola logo below that discretely hides the fingerprint sensor.
The front of the phone features a nearly bezel-less 6.2-inch LCD with an 18:9 aspect ratio.
Motorola reduced the bezels here by adding a pronounced teardrop notch for the 8MP selfie camera.
Display resolution comes in at 2,270 by 1,080, for 403 pixels per inch.
Viewing angles are good.
Colors are slightly cool, but you can easily adjust the color temperature and saturation in the settings menu.
The display is bright enough to use in direct sunlight.
The phone measures 6.1 by 3.0 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.0 ounces.
It's slightly heavier than its predecessor and the similarly outfitted Nokia 7.1, but the weight is well-distributed.
The power button and volume rocker sit on the right side, while the hybrid SIM/microSD slot is on the top.
On the bottom, you'll find a speaker, a USB-C charging port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Network Performance and Audio
Like previous G series phones, the Moto G7 is available unlocked and has LTE bands 1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/20/25/26/27/37/40/41/66, so it should perform well on most carriers.
This year Motorola omitted bands 29 and 30, so AT&T subscribers in heavily congested areas could see reduced speeds.
Band 71 continues to be left out, meaning T-Mobile customers in rural areas might have spotty coverage.
We tested the phone on T-Mobile's heavily congested network in downtown Manhattan and got speeds of 22Mbps down and 17Mbps up, on par with other midrange devices we've tested in the same area.
Wi-Fi is supported on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.
There's also Bluetooth 4.2 LE for wireless audio and wearable connectivity.
NFC is missing, which is a disappointing for a $300 phone, especially when less expensive phones like the Nokia 6.1 offer the feature.
Call quality is a mixed bag.
During our test calls, we heard significant static through the earpiece and some clipping when using the speakerphone.
Noise cancellation, however, was excellent.
We heard absolutely no background noise, nor was there any skipping or crackling when listening to a call made from a busy Manhattan street.
There's a single bottom-firing speaker on the phone.
At 82dB it's loud enough to fill a room.
The overall sound is fine for multimedia streaming or conference calls, but lacks any bass and becomes tinny at higher volumes.
This is common for budget phones, and luckily the G7 has both a 3.5mm jack and Bluetooth for wired or wireless headphones.
Hardware and Benchmarks
The Moto G7 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 processor with 4GB of RAM.
Storage comes in at 64GB, but you can add up to an additional 512GB via the microSD slot.
For the average user, the G7 has more than enough processing power for multimedia streaming and multitasking.
See How We Test Phones
During our tests, we were pleasantly surprised by the Moto G7's performance.
We encountered no lag or hiccups with a dozen apps open simultaneously.
In our benchmark testing, the G7 scored 6,181 on PCMark, a series of tests that emulates a variety of typical smartphone tasks.
That's significantly higher than the Nokia 6.1 (4,856), though we noticed no discernible difference between the two in day-to-day use.
That's likely because benchmarking offers an objective measure to compare handsets, but doesn't necessarily predict how your phone will perform with regular use.
Gaming is also good on the G7.
We played PUBG Mobile on the medium graphics setting for nearly an hour without a hiccup.
The phone did become warm after the 15-minute mark while playing, but that's not uncommon.
And power management seems excellent, as the battery capacity only decreased by 14 percent during gameplay.
Battery
The Moto G7 is powered by a 3,000mAh battery.
It's significantly smaller than the 5,000mAh cell that comes in the less expensive Moto G7 Power, but it's still enough to get you through an entire day without worry.
We managed to squeeze out 9 hours and 58 minutes of power during our test in which we stream video over Wi-Fi at full brightness.
With more moderate use, you should have no problem getting 13 to 14 hours of screen time before needing to recharge.
If you do find yourself running low on power, the G7 comes with a 15W power adapter in the box that can add up to 9 hours of use with a 15-minute charge.
But while Motorola chose to use a glass back plate on the G7, the reason was purely aesthetic, as it doesn't offer wireless charging.
Cameras
Last year, we were pleasantly surprised by the Moto G6's camera setup, but the G7 is underwhelming at best.
On the back of the phone, you'll find a 12MP primary sensor with f/1.8 aperture.
There's a secondary 5MP depth lens that's primarily for the Bokeh and Portrait modes.
The front-facing camera comes in at 8MP.
In our tests, we found the rear cameras to be acceptable in bright light.
Colors were accurate, but there was minor blurring in the foreground and most of the images lacked depth.
Performance in low light was poor.
All of our test images came out blurry and there was significant noise.
The front-facing camera was mediocre in daylight tests.
There was significant blur in the background, and colors appeared washed out.
In low light, photos came out worse.
While camera performance is mediocre, Motorola does have some interesting software features.
The G7 has Cinemagraph mode, a feature that allows you to create a still image with continuous movement in an isolated area.
There's also a Beauty Filter, Bokeh and Portrait modes, and a Cutout mode that lets you switch the background in a photo.
Software
The Moto G7 ships with a nearly stock version of Android 9.0 Pie.
There is a Motorola app added to the mix that brings useful gestures and other minor features that improve the overall usefulness of the phone.
There's no word if it will receive an update to Android Q, though we are hopeful since last year's Moto G6 received an update to Pie.
Conclusions
At $300, the Moto G7 falls squarely into midrange territory.
There's a lot to like about it, including solid performance thanks to its Snapdragon 632 processor and 4GB of RAM, plenty of storage, and strong battery life.
However, the cameras are disappointing and both wireless charging and NFC are missing.
If you're willing to spend an additional $50, the Nokia 7.1 looks to be a better choice.
We haven't tested it yet, but it features a more powerful processor, NFC, and is part of the Android One program so it will get guaranteed OS updates for two years and security updates for at least three.
The Moto G7 Power is another good option, and less expensive at $250.
It trades a lower screen resolution for a larger battery, but is otherwise essentially the same phone as the G7, and a stronger value for the price.
The Bottom Line
The Motorola Moto G7 offers solid performance, but its cameras and call quality leave room for improvement.
