Motorola have recently refreshed its Moto G lineup for 2025, with the recently announced Moto G15, alongside some other devices in which Motorola are looking to go from strength to strength, offering a device for just about every budget.
So when Motorola announced the Moto G15, we thought we would give it a test drive and see how the device can handle an Ausdroid review.
So, how did the Moto G15 fare? Let’s have a look shall we.
What’s in the Box
Inside the box you get device itself, long side a soft plastic PVC phone cover which I do believe all manufacturers should supply, a 1 meter USB-C to USB-C cable, sim ejector tool and the usual paperwork.
Sadly this time around you don’t get an included wall charger brick which is unusual for Motorola but given these are relative cheap to get should you need one (think Kmart maybe) or have one laying around it does make sense to not include one to help reduce both cost but also packaging and more.
The Design
The moto G15 offers on its front a front display of the Moto G15 is a 6.7-inch IPS LCD display (2400 x 1080 @ 391ppi) which is super bright and clear once turned on. Whilst bright inside, outside its another thing where even on the highest display settings can struggle to be seen in very bright sunlight.
The front display also holds the 8MP camera located in a punch hole in the centre middle at the top of the display screen. There are some bezels around the device which is pretty much expected on budget devices but they are minimal and really do not affect the overall user experience.
The sides of the Moto G15 are made from a matte looking plastic with all the controls located on the right hand side of the device. For example, the standby combined fingerprint sensor button, which is slightly indented and not sticking out like the volume rockers above it, is quite good but very sensitive to touch.
The left hand side of the Moto G15 towards the bottom houses the combined dual nano sim tray which also doubles as the MicroSD card slot. The only thing to note here is that the Moto G15 doesn’t support eSIM’s so you will need a physical nano SIM card to be placed in the device.
The top side of the Moto G15 houses the 3.5mm audio jack towards the left hand side corner of the device and is a good inclusion for those that do prefer to utilise wired earbuds and headphones.
The bottom side of the Moto G15 has the speaker grills located on the right hand side whilst the USB-C charging port is located in the middle and to the left hand side is model information.
The rear of the Moto G15 is made from vegan leather and whilst I am a fan of it I know there are some that might not like it. Motorola did send us the sunrise orange colour, which I must admit I do like, but I can see over time this definitely attracts quite a bit of dirt easily.
In terms of camera, the Moto G15 comes with a triple rear camera set-up made up of a combined 50MP camera lens and a 5MP ultrawide lens, whilst next to the camera lens is a single LED flashlight.
What is further interesting is that the Moto G15 comes with what Motorola is calling water repellent – as to what that exactly means is a bit mid boggling but something that most budget phones either come with or a least a low IP water rating. As such, the Moto G15 doesn’t really have an IP water rating.
Light’s, Camera, Action!
The Moto G15 comes with a triple rear camera set-up made up of a combined 50MP camera lens and a 5MP ultrawide lens, which on paper seems like a great combination.
In the perfect light setting the camera does a good job, not something that would blow me away but still its quite good. However in low light, things do get disappointing with detail, clarity and grainy texture.
I will let the pictures show what I mean:
he selfie camera also being an 8MP camera, which is located on the middle front of the display again is great but nothing to sing home about. It also suffers from overexposure in very sunny conditions. In low light clarity and sharpness do suffer as well.
Software and Performance
The Moto G15 is powered by an Octa-core MediaTek Helio G81 Extreme processor, 4GB RAM which is expandable up to 12GB with RAM Boost, 128GB onboard storage which can be expanded to 1TB via MicroSD card.
This combination sadly did mean that there were times the device lagged and had trouble going between apps. Granted if you’re not a power user like myself then that won’t be an issue but for me I found that sometimes apps would crash or needed to be reloaded in order for them to open and work.
The Moto G15 also comes with Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac | 2.4GHz & 5GHz | Wi-Fi hotspot, NFC, Bluetooth version 5.4, Fingerprint reader, Face unlock and Dual SIM (2 Nano SIMs + 1 microSD) capability.
The other caveat here is that the Moto G15 only supports 4G connectivity, so if you’re after both 4G and 5G connectivity in a mobile device, then you might want to look elsewhere. Granted, 4G is still fine. There are times I did have issues, but that was relating to network issues around where I live (near Marsden Park in the North West of Sydney) due to a combination of factors, which relate to the big three having reception and speed issues, which are known.
The Moto G15 also runs the latest version of Android 15 right out of the box, however Motorola have stated that it will not receive any major OS updates but will receive security updates until December 2026.
Honestly I do feel this is a major oversight given we are starting to see at least for similar devices 2 to 5 or even 7 years worth of major OS updates and security updates. Having just under 2 years worth of security updates, it would have been expected to at least receive one if not two major OS updates. I am hoping that Motorola does change this decision but I doubt it will happen.
Battery Life
The Moto G15 comes with a 5,200mAh battery, which is for a budget phone something surprised me as normally with budget phones you do get a smaller battery.
In terms of lasting a full day, I found that taking the device off charge at about 7-7:30 am in the morning and putting it back on charge at about 9 pm still gave me between 20-40% battery life, depending on how much I used the device.
With light usage at time I could easily have more battery life left at the end of the day at about 50% or more but with more usage yes the battery did drain a bit and there was some heat towards the bottom of the device when using the device quite a bit.
Motorola seems to now be following other device manufacturers in only supplying a 1 metre USB-C to USB-C cable. Granted, it’s not an issue if you have a charger around that will support the required wattage and a page.
Yes, you can easily and cheaply find USB-C wall chargers from places such as Kmart (which is where I have bought a few from for both myself and family and friends), but I would have liked for Motorola to continue its rebellious streak and include a wall charging brick. But sadly the times they are a changing.
Should you consider buying one?
Honestly, I found it hard to try and become attached to this device. There are some positives on paper regarding the camera and battery life, but the issues with software updates and the camera in real life, alongside the lack of an IP water rating (instead, it is merely water repellent), make it hard to say yes and go out and buy one today.
If you’re after a budget phone for say as a work device or in the need for a dual SIM device or if you’re not a power users or looking for your first android device, yes I can see this being a potential option but honestly, I just don’t see this device being more over time, becoming a paper weight and needing to upgrade in say 12 months or so.
Yes, budget devices are meant to be easily replaceable, but it would have been nice to break this mould, but beggars can’t be choosers.
The Moto G15 is available to purchase from Motorola directly alongside retail partners JB Hi Fi, The Good Guys, Officeworks, Big W, Harvey Norman, Amazon, MobileCit in either Gravity Grey, Sunrise Orange and Iguana Green colours for $229.
