Moto G7 release date, price, news and leaks

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Update: New Moto G7 leaks include renders of the whole range, plus specs and pricing information.

The Moto G6 has been out for a while and budget hawks now have their eyes fixed firmly on the horizon, in anticipation of the release of the Moto G7.

First released back in 2013, the Moto G series has become one of parent company Lenovo’s most popular, certainly under the ‘Moto’ brand. It is known for redefining the expectations of those shopping at around the $250/£200/AU$400 mark, offering more bang for your buck than almost any of the competition.

The Moto G6 family, with Plus and Play in tow, has been a particularly well-received addition to the clan – offering a tantalizing blend of premium design and reasonable price tags.

But what will the Moto G7 offer, and what will it need to succeed in what will likely be an even more difficult and saturated market?

News and rumors are starting to roll in and it might not be long until we get an official look at the next budget champion from Motorola. But in the meantime we'll be updating this page with everything we hear, and have come up with a wish list for what we want from it.

• Everything we know about the Moto G7 Plus

Cut to the chase

• What is it? The next numbered phone in the Moto G series
• When is it out? Probably March 2019 at the earliest
• What will it cost? Probably at least $250/£219/AU$399

Moto G7 release date and price

If recent years are anything to go by, the earliest that the Moto G7 will be announced is the period of March to April 2019, but there aren't any release date rumors yes.

As for price, the original device sold for around $180/£150, however it can be expected that the Moto G7 will launch with a price of roughly £250, £219, AU$399, given that this is what the Moto G6 started at.

There are some rumors there, but only about the Moto G7 Play, which is said to cost €149 (around $170/£130/AU$235), and the Moto G7 Power, which is rumored to sell for €209 (roughly $240/£185/AU$330). These two models are thought to be lower-end than the standard Moto G7, so expect to pay more for the main model.

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Don't expect to see the Moto G7 for a while yet

Moto G7 news and rumors

A Moto G7 specs list has leaked on HowToTechNaija, revealing that the phone will apparently have a 6.4-inch Full HD+ screen, a 3,500mAh battery, a dual-lens rear camera with 16MP and 5MP lenses, a 12MP front-facing camera, an octa-core chipset, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a fingerprint scanner and Android 9 Pie.

If accurate, that means a bigger screen and battery than the Moto G6, different cameras and a newer version of Android.

Elsewhere we've heard that it might have a Snapdragon 660 chipset, while the Moto G7 Play could have a lower-end Snapdragon 632, and the Moto G7 Power may slot in at the bottom with a Snapdragon 625 chipset, along with a 5,000mAh battery and fast charging.

The same source also says that the Moto G7 will be sold in black and white, the G7 Play in gold and blue, and the Moto G7 Power in black and lilac. They've also shared renders seemingly showing the range, which you can see below.

As you can see, the standard Moto G7 is shown with a teardrop notch, a bezel below the screen, a dual-lens rear camera and what's likely a fingerprint scanner on the back.

The Moto G7 Play and Power meanwhile have a larger notch and seemingly just a single-lens rear camera.

We'd previously seen other renders supposedly showing the Moto G7. You can see them below and they're sourced by reputable leaker @OnLeaks for MySmartPrice and are apparently based on factory CADs (computer-aided designs).

Other than possibly larger bezels these renders look much like the ones further up in this article. Leaks of the Moto G7 Play hint at an overall notch design for the G7 family. However, as you can see in the images further up, seemingly not every model will have a teardrop notch design.

Moving back to the renders immediately above, the back is apparently made of curved glass and you can see the dual-lens camera and dual-LED flash. There's also a fingerprint scanner on the rear (rather than the front-facing one on the Moto G6), while a 3.5mm headphone jack sits on the bottom edge. 

Finally, dimensions are said to be 157 x 75.3 x 8mm, rising to 9.5mm at the camera bump. Of course, this is all just rumors and leaks for now, so take it with a pinch of salt.

In other news, a source claims that the Moto G7 Power has - in addition to the previously mentioned 5,000mAh battery - a Snapdragon 632 chipset, 2GB, 3GB or 4GB of RAM, and 32GB or 64GB of storage.

It also apparently has a 12MP f/2.0 rear camera and an 8MP f/2.2 front-facing one, while the screen is apparently a 6.22-inch HD+ one, and the phone apparently comes in indigo, blush, silver and black shades, which is a different selection of colors to those listed above.

We've also seen a Geekbench benchmark for one of the Moto G7 handsets. It's listed as having a Snapdragon 625 chipset and 3GB of RAM, which suggests this is probably the Play or the Power. Its multi-core score of 4,759 is reasonably impressive though if this is one of the lower-end models.

What we want to see

We don’t know anything for certain about the Moto G7 at the moment, but based on our usage of the Moto G6 family, we’ve put together a few thoughts on what we feel the future should hold for the next main incarnation of the handset.

1. An AMOLED screen

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For the G7 we'd like to see AMOLED over LCD

The LCD vs AMOLED wars have raged on for some time now – but for pure crowd-pleasing color nothing can beat AMOLED. Typically reserved for more expensive devices, if Lenovo were able to bring a good panel – with infinite blacks and excellent contrast and sunlight legibility – to the G7 it would be a considerable coup.

Having increased contrast and color is not only more pleasing to the eye, it also makes content more immersive, which would seriously benefit the earlier move in 2018 to a larger display size. 

Having AMOLED also allows for a ‘glance’ screen to be implemented and more, overall it is a very nice value add-on.

2. Front-firing speakers

For reasons unknown to science or common sense, in their early days phone speakers played music away from the person listening to it. Since that point, there have been various permutations, but it is usually those which fire towards the users that prove to be the best in both quality and utility.

With large bezels both top and bottom, if Lenovo were to move the fingerprint sensor to the rear and embrace a good pair of clear and bassy front-firing speakers, the Moto G7 could become the ultimate media machine for those on a budget.

While we did find the speaker on the G6 to be adequate in our review, its placement on the bottom of the device allows it to be all too easily muffled, and the single driver can’t manage much in the way of stereo separation. An upgrade here would be a real treat for the video-focused consumer.

3. A different second camera sensor

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There's plenty that could be done with the camera

The two camera craze has brought with it a wide and wacky range of options for budding mobile photographers. From black and white sensors, to telephoto zooms and wide-angle lenses, manufacturers have a fun bag of tricks to play with.

So it’s a slight shame that in the Moto G6, this second sensor is used merely for ‘depth’ – i.e. it is used for the Portrait mode so beloved at the moment. 

We would like to see Lenovo push the boat out slightly – offering a wide-angle effort such as that on the Moto X4, or a telephoto option to allow you to get closer to the action.

The big tech of last year is trickling down to the budget end, and the time is right to include it.

4. Better photo skills

The Moto G line has never been the home of those expecting the absolute utmost in photographic quality from their mobile snappers. Instead, it has offered respectable output and performance in most situations.

However the competition from the likes of Xiaomi is really heating up in this regard, and the time has come to really make a break and produce something interesting.

What does this mean? Better processing, a more refined camera app which works as quickly as those of the competition, better low light performance through the introduction of optical image stabilisation, all within Lenovo’s grasp and all to the benefit of the consumer, whether it is one or all of these chosen.

5. Better battery life

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The Moto G6 does okay, but we want 2 days of life from the G7

When it comes to battery life, the standard Moto G6 is no slouch, generally being able to make it through the day. However, when we saw the huge 4,000mAh battery included with the lesser model, the Moto G6 Play, we couldn’t help but feel slightly conflicted.

By including a larger battery with the new model, perhaps even removing the camera hump in the process by thickening up the phone a bit, Lenovo could really embrace the extra space included by having such a large screen.

Two days of battery life should be no problem with such a large pack included as standard across the line – and would really give owners something to brag about down the pub.

6. A more powerful chipset

The Moto G name is almost synonymous with the Snapdragon 400 series of chips, which has been used in most models since its inception. As the price has crept up however, so have the demands of the market and the consumer, leaving the Snapdragon 450 included with the G6 feeling slightly weedy in comparison to some rivals.

For example, the Nokia 6.1 (2018) includes the now-popular Snapdragon 630 chipset, which offers increased energy efficiency and power over the 450 included in the G6. 

Moving to a slightly more powerful option would boost the premium fast feel of the handset, improve its longevity and benefit the overall experience of using it.

7. More color options

It is an old refrain – smartphone design has become boring. Everything released comes in white or black, or perhaps in muted gold, grey or blue.

This is the result of market testing, of knowing what sells, however injecting a little personality into the Moto G line could help open it up to previously unknown markets.

Much like the banana-colored Lumias of days past, it would be pleasant to see the maker of ThinkPad laptops transcend its heritage – let’s see a hot pink, a baby blue, or even better, a Huawei P20 Pro-style ‘Twilight’ option. 

To really stick out from the competition, Lenovo could do little better than to splash out on a few spiffy paint jobs.

• See what we think of the Moto Z3

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