for those who love this budget phone with higher capacity, so far this is quite a good price for local retailer (even it is grey import), if you still love the 8GB model with good price, go pricematch Officeworks $238 for 5% cheaper The Good Guys $235
Just received mine a week ago from them and can confirm no troubles though didn't know about the retailmenot code, damn it all!
Always do a quick search before clicking on confirm. :)
A recent post was made about the moto g with the 16GB single sim version selling for ~$234 from Amazon or ~$227 from Camera Paradise with coupon, provided you don't need the dual sim and don't mind grey imports.
If you live in NSW, you could also try an officeworks price match with wireless1, as they are selling it for $229.
I wish TGG ebay have 30% off again
If Motorola offered a user-replaceable battery and MicroSD card slot they would be far easier for me to recommend to others (and buy myself). Fixed storage and non-user-replaceable batteries is stone-age stuff (IMO).
I did note those, however I think it unlikely that I will hit the storage limit during the life of the phone, as I'm not the kind of person to take lots of videos, photos or load up dozens of apps. As for the non-removable battery, I think it's only a matter of time before shops will put in a replacement for a fee. I have a 3-year old smartphone and it's still going strong on the original battery. I'll be lucky to get 3 years out of this before it's technologically obsolete.
Obviously those design decisions were to drive down the manufacturing cost.
i thought removable battery was stone age :P considering i can only think of one line of phones with it right now…
That's what I was thinking.
As stated there is little need for a removable battery unless you often travel to dirt huts with no mains power but removable storage does have it's advantages including expansion, easy backup and restoring of music/video/images/books/downloads
You can still attach external USB storage via the OTG USB port for backups—USB sticks are cheaper and more convenient to insert than SD cards; or use cloud storage. Not usable for apps though. Mind you, I've only used half of the 2GB storage on my old smartphone. Personally I'm less comfortable with the 1GB RAM but it's a tradeoff between what I can afford now and how soon I need to upgrade.
As stated there is little need for a removable battery unless you often travel to dirt huts with no mains power…
I can think of several reasons for a removable:
* longevity. Eventually the battery will need replacement 'cause it won't hold much charge as it ages.
* cost. A removable battery makes replacement easy and it makes shopping for a new battery a far less wallet-raping thing (and less need for more research as to which battery is suitable). More competition from several vendors offering both original and third-party batteries means easy buying for average Joe without decrypting part numbers and other nonsense. I have a Lenovo phone with original batteries that cost less than 15 AUD.
* practicality. Connected chargers aren't practical when on-the-go; a dangling appendage connected to the phone places stresses on the connector. A simpler battery swap makes it far easier to be mobile while having a full charge quickly, especially on heavy-use days. Those that can benefit from this shouldn't be excluded from bringing a spare. What most people do is use one battery, but why omit the small percentage of people that like the flexibility of popping in a spare?
From my perspective, there really aren't any disadvantages to having both easily removable batteries and a MicroSD slot, apart from less money going directly in the hands of the phone vendor. (which they know, of course). Phone vendors often charge ludicrous amounts for the differences between storage sizes too. You don't have to look far to see this in action…
i thought removable battery was stone age :P
Nothing stone-age about having an easy low-cost battery swap outside of the manufacturer's business model of "we'll do it for you, for a high fee along with your downtime". (and/or the Do-It-Yourself route). The power that was once in the customer's hands is being taken away. That will never sit well with me.
And 16GB really is too small for my uses, even though I don't consider myself a cutting-edge guy when it comes to phones (I never spend more than about 200 bucks on a phone, without contract). So the storage and no easy battery swap are 2 really bad choices with this model which will force many users to dump it in favour of something else well before its time (I feel). A 32GB MicroSD card is about 25 bucks now. Look at the difference in price between the 8 and 16 GB model. I'll let you work that one out.
So I can't wait to see a similar model with these 2 things addressed while selling at this price point. It probably won't take long now.
PS. There are plenty of phones offering MicroSD and removable battery, including countless China phones.
Those weird name brand Chinese phones - quality is a big concern. Even if you can replace the battery, if the phone is no longer working, having lots of batteries won't make much difference. Also, they tend to have small phone storage space or have really weird / dodgy partition.
Moto G 8GB at $223. Why bother. It was $175 few weeks ago. At $250, you could get Sony Xperia SP (with microSD card support, 4G, more powerful CPU).
At $250, you could get Sony Xperia SP (with microSD card support, 4G, more powerful CPU).
Xperia SP also has a non-removable battery though. But it does seem to offer more.
And unfortunately, they are now the only line of phones I will consider (along with the LG G Pro 2).
Admittedly, most people probably have no need for a removable battery but for me it is almost the number one consideration. There are many, many situations where having a power-bank hanging off my phone is simply not feasible, especially since I am constantly moving and require regular use of my phone, and having the ability to instantly swap into a completely charged battery is so much more convenient. Not to mention that a spare battery is much smaller to carry in your pockets than a power-bank with a cable leading out of it.
im waiting for the Asus Zenfone 5. it looks awesome and spec wise almost unbeatable for the price. note: Taiwanese version has 16gb rom and 2GB Ram. It only costs $175AUD in Taiwan.
I got the 8GB model from JB 3 months ago for $219. I literally just asked the sales rep and he said yes.
Let me know if you want to post a receipt.
16GB model $249 from DWI (grey import but local agent)
http://www.dwidigitalcameras.com.au/astore/Moto-G-16GB-Dual-…
Free shipping, + 2% if paying with Paypal, + about $5 for optional shipping insurance. Then apply a $10 code from Retailmenot and comes down to about $250 again. About a week to arrive.