Motorola Moto G56 5G offers simple trade-offs

New Zealand’s 3G network shutdown could mean your handset is in danger of being left behind. Motorola’s NZ$430 Moto G56 5G is ready to step up.

It’s a mid-price phone that is ready for the today’s 5G networks. That means faster downloads and more reliable coverage in crowded areas.

If you’re price conscious, it's possible this hardware could serve you for years to come. As we will see, the problem here is not the hardware but the software.

Toyota Corolla of phones

Motorola makes few fancy claims about the Moto G56 5G. It is a foot soldier. If it were a car it would be a Toyota Corolla, that is a steady, mid-price choice for pragmatists who don’t demand the latest features, who don’t expect the world and who aren’t willing to pay extra for luxuries they may not need.

It prioritises a good screen and clean software over fancy camera features, AI capability or speed. For some people that will be more than enough. Others might find it too vanilla.

A good display for the price

Moto G56 5G has a decent 6.7” FHD+ screen with 2400×1080 resolution. Motorola has gone for a 20:9 aspect ratio which makes it taller and thinner than most phones. The shape can look odd coming from wider body phones, but it works well in the hand.

Crunching the resolution and screen size numbers mean you get 391 ppi. That's less than you'd find on premium phones and at the lower end for mid-price phones, but is generous considering the cost of a Moto G56 5G.

Text and images are perhaps not as sharp as you’d see if you spent more. In practice this is fine, far better than adequate. Given the phone's asking price, the screen does well in terms of brightness, colour richness and accuracy.

Clean software, unclear support

Mercifully, Motorola’s ‘My UX’ Android overlay is minimal. It feels close to pure Google Android. There are useful gestures like a double-chop move to turn on the torch.

Motorola’s software update policy is, perhaps, the phone's major weakness. Based on what the company says, the G56 will likely get one major Android update and just three years of security patches.

This falls well short of Samsung’s promise for its similar-price-range A-series phones. It is nowhere near Apple’s half-decade of support, although the starting price for iPhones is much higher.

Although the case is plastic, the hardware looks as if it could last seven years, on existing terms, the phone will be unsafe to use well before then. If future-proofing matters to you, look elsewhere.

Motorola insists you install a ton of bloatware on the phone. An Adobe scan AI app, TikTok, Perplexity, Copilot and Linkedin are not optional. Likewise six Google apps are loaded whether you want them or not.

Motorola's marketing material says the phone comes with One NZ Satellite TXT. That makes the Moto G56 5G a low-cost entry into space-based communications, but the feature is not obvious. If you are on a suitable One NZ plan, it kicks in on the messaging app when you lose the network signal.

Adequate performance, so-so camera

A MediaTek Dimensity 7060 processor drives the phone. It's a budget chip and represents a trade-off. The review model has 8GB of Ram and 256GB of storage—there is a lower tier model, but the higher specced review version appears to be standard in New Zealand.

The Ram and processor combination handle the basics well, scrolling and basic apps are smooth. Don’t expect anything more. Demanding apps and games will struggle.

You can easily get a full day from a single charge thanks to the 5000mAh battery. Motorola did not supply a charger in the review phone.

There’s little wrong with 50MP main camera when working in good light conditions. Photos are acceptable for online use, but there’s nothing exciting or outstanding here. The 8MP ultra-wide does what it promises but in lower light the cameras struggle. Phone makers talk a lot about cameras, but not everyone cares.

The phone has IP68 and IP69 ratings which means it can cope with dust and has a high level of waterproofing. You could swim pool laps before it would stop working.

How it compares with rivals

Samsung's Galaxy A17 5G (NZ$300) and Oppo's A5 Pro 5G (~NZ$500) are likely to be on the list of most people considering the G56 5G. Samsung beats Motorola on screen quality and length of software support, the Motorola has the edge on robustness with a tougher case and better waterproofing. Go for the G56 5G if you are hard on your handsets.

Oppo is way ahead of both when it comes to charging thanks to its SuperVOOC technology. It's a matter of taste whether you would regard its far more aggressive AI-power photo post-processing as a plus point.

Verdict: Safe choice with little excitement

To damn the Moto G56 with faint praise, it is a sensible Android choice.

If you value a decent screen and an unobtrusive Android overlay, you’ll like this so long as you can also accept middling performance and average cameras.

You might be better off investing the NZ$430 recommended retail price in another phone. However, at the time of writing the Moto G56 5G is on sale at some New Zealand outlets for under NZ$300. That’s a bargain.