Motorola targets budget smartphone buyers with the Moto g05 and moto g15

Motorola’s once again playing in the low-cost end of the smartphone pool with its two newest handsets, the Motorola Moto g05 and Motorola Moto g15.

While Motorola has done some interesting work in the more mid-range and premium spaces of late with phones like the Razr 50 Ultra and the Edge 50 Neo, its core market in Australia has long been in the budget space.

Motorola’s newest entries into that space – though it describes them as “mid-tier”, a slightly odd choice for phones that run less than $230 a piece – are the Motorola Moto g05 and Moto g15.

How much do the Motorola Moto g05 and Moto g15 cost in Australia?

The Motorola Moto g05 is the cheaper of the pair, available in Australia for $179 AUD.

If you want the slightly fancier – bearing in mind that this is a relative term for budget phones – Motorola Moto g15, that will set you back $229 AUD.

When can I buy the Motorola Moto g05 and Moto g15 in Australia?

From February 20th 2025… which just so happens to be today as I’m writing this. So if you’re reading this, it’s available now, unless you’re reading this 10 years from now, in which case I very much doubt it.

Motorola Moto g05 and Moto g15 Specifications

Motorola Moto g05 and Moto g15: Alex’s Early Thoughts

Budget phones, as I’ve said so many times now, are about compromises. You can’t expect the latest and greatest when you’re spending in the sub-$200 category.

Still, Motorola’s made some interesting choices here.

In the plus column for both phones is a boost up to 5,200mAh batteries, though of course I’ll have to properly test them to see if those are there to give even more battery life than your typical 5,000mAh smartphone, or if they’re more simply making up for any inefficiencies in their MediaTek Helio G81 Extreme CPUs.

Of note, neither phone comes with a charger in the box in Australia, just a USB-C to USB-C cable, so you’ll need to provide your own charger.

It’s also nice to see NFC on both phones, opening up contactless payments in the budget space, because that’s still a pretty rare feature in budget phones.

There’s some odd tradeoffs between each phone in display terms; the cheaper g05 can do up to 90Hz refresh rates, but only up to 720p, while the pricier g15 has a 60Hz panel, but at 1080p on the same sized screen.

Likewise, the cheaper Moto g05 has (as per the specification sheet sent to me) IP52 rated water resistance, while the Moto g15 is listed merely as being "water repellent"... which as I've explained previously, doesn't necessarily mean much in water protection terms.

The colour choices on offer look fun, though I do note that they’re all in “vegan leather” (AKA “soft plastic that makes me shudder”) finishes. Motorola are thankfully bundling in protective cases with both phones as per the specification sheet supplied to me, so I won’t have to touch the vegan leather backs for too long.

Yes, I know that’s a niche concern, but you did ask for my take on it.

Both phones are 4G only in practical terms for the Australian market; while they’re 3G capable we don’t have any live 3G networks here for them to run on, though that could come into play I suppose if you’re travelling internationally.

Motorola’s track record for Android upgrades hasn’t been that great when it comes to its budget phones… and it seems that in 2025 that’s going to continue, with the Moto g15 and moto g05 both seeing no updates and 2 years of security updates.

I’ve requested to get both phones in for review, so stay tuned for my full reviews in due course.

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