The Moto G Power line has been a go-to for anyone who wants a capable Android phone without spending flagship money, and the 2026 version continues that tradition at $299. It’s essentially built to be a do-it-all device that does everything decently well, while offering a long-lasting battery and a durable build. Compared to the 2025 model, however, anyone hoping for major hardware improvements might walk away a little disappointed. This is essentially the same phone as before, and in some ways, it’s actually worse than last year’s iteration.
Of course, the competition in this price range has been getting better too. Does the 2026 model earn that price tag, or is the Moto G Power starting to fall behind? I’ve been using it for a few weeks. The takeaway? If you want a dependable phone that can take a beating, there’s a lot to like. But if you’re after meaningful improvements from last year, you might want to keep shopping.
Design
The Motorola Moto G Power (2026) has a vegan leather back, and while it feels more like rubber than leather, I actually quite like the overall feel of it. It definitely adds to the durability of the device — a rubberized faux leather is going to take more abuse than glass would. It comes in two Pantone-inspired colors — Evening Blue and Pure Cashmere — and I’m reviewing the Evening Blue model, which looks good.
Durability is, thankfully, where the design of the phone excels. Beyond the faux leather, the device offers IP68 and IP69 water-resistance, which means it can handle high-pressure water jets, not just the occasional splash or dunk. Motorola also says it meets the MIL-STD-810 standard across 14 different categories –- including drops, extreme temperatures, humidity, and so on. If you work outdoors or just have a habit of dropping things, this can be helpful.
The layout is what you’d expect. There’s a USB-C port on the bottom, along with a volume rocker and power button on the right edge, which doubles as a fingerprint sensor. I found the sensor to be fast and responsive the majority of the time. Motorola also kept a 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom of the phone, which is rare to see these days, plus there are stereo speakers built in to the device — and they sound quite good.
At 8.7mm thick, the phone has some heft to it. It’s a little chunky by modern standards, though it never feels awkward to hold. The 6.8-inch display gives you plenty of screen to work with. On the back, the camera module keeps a relatively low profile, blending in rather than sticking out dramatically like you see on a lot of flagship phones.
You can tell it’s plastic when you pick it up, which isn’t surprising at this price. The materials don’t feel overly cheap, but set your expectations accordingly. Overall, the 2026 Moto G Power looks and feels solid.
Display
The Moto G Power (2026) comes with a 6.8-inch IPS LCD screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 7i protection. You’ll get a 2388 x 1080 resolution, which works out to 385 PPI, and a 120Hz refresh rate that makes scrolling and animations feel smooth.
The screen looks fine, but not incredible. It’s bright enough, but as an LCD screen instead of OLED, you won’t get those deep black levels and high contrast you can find on flagship phones. It’s also worth remembering that not long ago, phones in this category shipped with 720p screens –- the 1080p resolution and high refresh rate represent solid improvements over the past few years.
Motorola says peak brightness hits 1000 nits, and again, I found it bright enough for most use. Indoors, you won’t have any issues. Direct sunlight is a little tricky at times, and you may have to squint a little. It wasn’t a huge issue for me in daily use, and I suspect most people will have a similar experience.
Performance
Under the hood, the Moto G Power (2026) runs a MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chip, paired with 8GB of RAM. This is basically the same setup as the 2025 model, and I would have liked to see a slight bump in processing capabilities.
Day-to-day, though, the phone handles typical tasks well enough. Apps load relatively quickly and the 120Hz display keeps navigation feeling smooth. Social media, messaging, and productivity apps will all work just fine. Push it much harder, and the processor will start to show its limits. Mobile gaming in particular can feel a little sluggish, with frame rates and loading times that lag behind pricier options.
If you’re mainly using your phone for calls, texts, web browsing, and social media, the Moto G Power (2026) delivers solid performance. Gaming enthusiasts or anyone with more demanding needs should probably look at devices with stronger chipsets, even if that means spending more.
Battery and charging
The Moto G Power (2026) offers a 5,200 mAh battery, which is pretty big. Sure, there are phones with larger batteries, but they’re more expensive, especially those that have newer silicon-carbon batteries. The battery in the Moto G Power provides enough power for extended use between charges. Motorola says the battery keeps over 80 percent capacity after 1,000 charging cycles, which is good news if you plan on holding onto this phone for a few years.
How long it actually lasts on a charge heavily depends on how you use it. Lighter usage, like calls, texts, and social media, will easily make it through a full day and potentially stretch into day two. Meanwhile, those who are streaming and gaming all day will see that the Dimensity 6300 isn’t the most efficient chip around, and even straightforward tasks like video playback draw more power than they would on flagship devices. Still, for the intended audience, battery life is more than serviceable.
Charging happens via 30W wired fast charging with Motorola’s TurboPower chargers. In my testing, the phone went from 1 percent to full in just over an hour, which isn’t bad — and it got to 20% in only around 10 minutes. Unfortunately, however, Motorola removed wireless charging from this year’s model, even though the 2025 version had it. This is a genuine step backward, and it’s hard to justify, especially with wireless charging continuing to gain steam through new standards like Qi2.2.
Camera
The camera setup includes a dual-lens rear system, featuring a 50-megapixel main sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and optical image stabilization, as well as an 8-megapixel ultrawide camera with an f/2.2 aperture and 13mm focal length. On the front, there’s a 32 megapixel camera with 1080p video capability.
In good lighting, the main camera captures reasonably vibrant images that work fine for casual photography. Colors look accurate enough, and the optical image stabilization helps reduce blur from shaky hands. For social media posts and everyday snapshots, the results are acceptable at this price. As you try to zoom in, though, image quality degrades relatively quickly, and at the maximum zoom, which is only 8x, images look pretty rough.
Christian de Looper/BGR
The ultrawide does its job adequately, giving you a wider field of view for landscapes and group shots. Results don’t rival flagship phones, but they serve their purpose. Detail and color consistency fall a bit short of the main sensor, which is typical for secondary cameras in this price range.
Low light is where it gets dicey, as you’d expect. The main camera manages to produce usable images in dim conditions, though details soften noticeably compared to well-lit shots. The results actually exceeded my initial expectations, but if you’re used to flagship-level night modes, you’ll see the difference immediately. The ultrawide struggles more in darkness, with quality dropping. Photos still work in some scenarios, but temper your expectations.
Software
The Moto G Power (2026) comes with Android 16. Motorola keeps its Android approach relatively hands-off, so you get a mostly clean software experience, which is always nice. Everything appears where you’d expect, and navigation feels intuitive without needing to learn a bunch of custom features.
Unfortunately, the out-of-box experience includes a number of preinstalled apps. Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook are all pre-installed on the phone, along with shortcuts to games you’ll probably never open. Motorola’s own additions include apps like Moto Secure and Family Space. The good news is that many of these can be uninstalled or disabled, so you can reclaim storage space and clean up your app drawer.
Despite the bloatware, the overall software experience stays positive. Motorola’s additions to Android are subtle and functional rather than intrusive.
Conclusions
The Motorola Moto G Power (2026) lands as a solid budget smartphone option. It delivers dependable everyday performance, good durability, and a clean software experience at a reasonable price. For anyone who just wants a no-frills device that handles calls, texts, social media, and web browsing reliably, it checks those boxes without complaint.
But the lack of meaningful upgrades from the 2025 model is a little disappointing, especially the removal of wireless charging. If you’re considering the Moto G Power (2026), you’ll have to be comfortable with some limitations in performance and camera quality — but for many, the good battery life and durability will make it worth the trade-off.
The competition
A few alternatives are worth looking at in the $250-$350 range. Samsung’s Galaxy A15 5G and A25 5G are decent competitors, though I prefer Motorola’s software experience to Samsung’s One UI.
If you’re willing to spend a little more, then the Nothing Phone (3a) is worth considering instead. It performs a little better, plus it has a triple camera system and a clean, approachable software experience.
Should I buy the Motorola Moto G Power (2026)?
Maybe, but also consider the Nothing Phone (3a).
