Motorola really shook things up with the Moto G8 smartphone lineup – at least in terms of launch pattern. The phone-maker unveiled and released the Moto G8 Plus in late 2019, months before we expected to see the new series of smartphones, but the standard Moto G8 is still yet to arrive.
The Moto G8 Play was at least launched in some regions (though not many), but that still leaves the rumored Moto G8 and Moto G8 Power left to land.
The good news is that they're almost certainly on the way, and thanks to leaks and rumors we now have a very good idea of what to expect from them. The bad news, at least for nomenclature: phones we thought would come in the G8 line have been renamed. Motorola has officially announced the Moto G Stylus and Moto G Power, which seem like G8 phones in all but name.
You'll find everything we've heard below, covering the specs, design, features, and likely release date. Then, further down, you'll find a list of the things we'd like to see from the Moto G8 range. And make sure to check back regularly, as we'll be updating this article whenever we hear anything new.
Update: Motorola has announced the Moto G Stylus and Moto G Power – which leaves the standard Moto G8 unaccounted for…
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The next incarnation in the Moto G range of budget phones
- When is it out? Possibly February, maybe MWC
- How much will it cost? A range of prices, but all probably sub-$300 / £300 / AU$500
Moto G8 release date and price
In terms of release date, we were pretty certain of the early 2020 release of the Moto G8 series, as many previous G-series units had launched early in their respective years. Certain, that is, until Motorola jumped the gun and released the Moto G8 Plus in late 2019.
If the non-Plus devices launch in early 2020, as we still imagine they will, it's likely that they will land in late February, at or in the build up to MWC 2020, the yearly phones and tech show in Barcelona, Spain.
It was just ahead of MWC 2019 that we saw the Moto G7 range launch, and the show itself is a fitting stage for a new suite of affordable smartphones.
The Moto G phones typically launch in a range of options – the 2019 devices consisted of the Moto G7, G7 Play, G7 Power and G7 Plus, and there will likely be similar versions in 2020. Indeed, we've already had the Moto G8 Plus and Moto G8 Play, while the Moto G8 and Moto G8 Power are both rumored to be in the works.
When the Moto G8 Plus launched, it cost £239 / AU$499 (roughly $310), and we'd expect the Moto G8 to be more affordable than that. It could even be cheaper than the Moto G Power, which will retail for $249 / £219 (about AU$370), and the Moto G Stylus, which will cost $299 (around £230, AU$440).
Exact prices are currently unknown, but for reference the Moto G7 was $299 / £239 / AU$399, and the Moto G7 Power was $249 / £179 / AU$350, so their successors may be similarly priced.
Moto G8 leaks, rumors and news
There have only been a few Moto G8 leaks but between them they’ve revealed almost everything about the main phone.
Before we get to the specs, below you’ll see a leaked render supposedly showing the base handset. As you can see, it has a triple-lens rear camera, a single-lens punch-hole camera on the front, a large bezel below the screen, a 3.5mm headphone port on the top edge, and likely a fingerprint scanner built into the Motorola logo on the back.
The source of this image also claims that the Moto G8 will come in both blue and white shades (possibly alongside other colors) and that both of these will have a textured finish.
As for the specs, according to a “trusted source” of XDA Developers, the Moto G8 will have a 6.39-inch 720 x 1560 screen (likely an LCD one). It’s also said to have a mid-range Snapdragon 665 chipset, a choice of 2,3, or 4GB of RAM, 32GB or 64GB of storage, a 4,000mAh battery with 10W charging, and no NFC.
The source also says to expect a triple-lens rear camera with a 16MP f/1.7 main lens, a 2MP f/2.2 macro lens and an 8MP f/2.2 118-degree wide-angle lens.
The front-facing camera meanwhile is said to be an 8MP f/2.0 one, and the dimensions are apparently 160 x 74mm.
The source adds that the Moto G8 will have a punch-hole camera, a fingerprint scanner embedded into the Motorola logo, and vertically aligned cameras on the top left corner of the rear – details which line up with the leaked image above.
The same source has also shared details about the Moto G8 Power, which is likely to land alongside the Moto G8. This apparently has a near identical design, and – as you’ll see below – the specs also sound similar, albeit slightly higher-end.
It apparently has a 6.36-inch 1080 x 2300 screen, a Snapdragon 665 chipset, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and a 5,000mAh battery with 18W charging. The rear camera configuration is apparently the same as the standard Moto G8’s, but with the addition of an 8MP f/2.4 sensor, making for a quad-lens snapper overall.
The Moto G8 Power also apparently has a 25MP f/2.0 front-facing camera, and dimensions of 167.99 x 75.8mm.
We’d previously heard that the standard Moto G8 would have a triple-lens rear camera and a Snapdragon 665 chipset, lining up with the leaks above, so those details in particular seem very likely, though we’d still take all of these leaks with a pinch of salt for now.
It's also possible that at least one of these phones could come with a stylus. Recently we saw a leaked image showing an unannounced Motorola phone with a stylus, and while this might be the rumored Motorola Edge Plus, the design is in line with the Moto G8 and Moto G8 Power.
All three of those rumored handsets have now been spotted in the above render that was shared by Evleaks.
According to the source, the Moto G8 is on the left with the G8 Power in the middle and G8 Stylus on the right hand side. That said, it's difficult to tell the three phones apart in this image, but given the officially-announced Moto G Stylus and Moto G Power have nearly identical specs and camera layouts, it's likely the standard G8 could also be pictured there.
What we want to see
While we wait for the rest of the Moto G8 range of smartphones to launch, we’ve made a list of what features we’d like to see them pack.
1. NFC on all devices
NFC is a really useful feature of modern smartphones, used for functions like contactless card payments and easy pairing of Bluetooth devices. Yet not all the Moto G7 phones have NFC compatibility, which can be a nuisance for people who love using the tech.
We’d like to see NFC functions available on all Moto G8 phones, from the Plus model to the most affordable devices, and in all regions, as the presence of NFC on Motorola handsets sometimes varies by area.
Unfortunately, current rumors suggest the standard Moto G8 won't have NFC, so we might be out of luck.
2. Improved camera arrays
Save for the Moto G7 Power, each of the Moto G7 phones has two rear cameras – that’s okay for a budget phone, but you can now pick up affordable devices with three or even four rear snappers, so Motorola’s going to have to upgrade its cameras to keep the devices competitive.
The second camera on the G7 is a depth sensor for improved background blur on portrait pictures, but we’d like to see perhaps a telephoto lens (used for optical zoom) or an ultra-wide angle lens (with a bigger field of view for great selfies or panoramic shots), as these can be really useful in taking a great picture.
The good news is that the Moto G8 Plus has now launched with camera upgrades, and rumors suggest the rest of the Moto G8 range will also have camera improvements.
3. More specialized devices
The Moto G7 Power was a distinct member of the G7 family because of what it did ‘different’: it had a much bigger battery than the others. This specialization made the phone distinct, so if a big battery pack was a tempting draw in a smartphone, you knew which model to pick up..
We’d like to see more phones that are designed for various distinct purposes, to give the G8 line even more variation. Perhaps we could see a device with a camera array that’s much better than the competition (think four lenses) or even a 21:9 device, which is an aspect ratio some phones (including the Motorola One Vision) use because it’s great for viewing movies.
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