Motorola’s Moto G lineup has a strong presence in the cheap smartphone segment in the US. It has been offering excellent value for the bucks, with the latest model, the Moto G Power 5G (2024), going a step further. It’s obviously better than last year’s model but more importantly adds several features that have been missing in the lineup, making it the best Moto G phone the company has ever made.
Samsung is not unknown in this territory, with plenty of options from the Galaxy A series. The Galaxy A15 5G is one of the best cheap phones from the brand, going neck-to-neck with the Moto G Power 5G (2024) in both pricing and hardware. It’s difficult to pick the right one that suits your needs. So, to make it simpler, here are four reasons to buy the Moto G Power 5G (2024) over the Galaxy A15 5G and two reasons to avoid it.
Four reasons to buy the Motorola Moto G Power 5G (2024)
1. A delight to hold
This year’s Moto G Power has a textured vegan leather back, not the shiny and slippery plastic back you see on most budget phones. It does a great job of resisting fingerprints and provides enough grip that you won’t feel like it’s getting off your hands. Also, the Moto G Power 5G (2024) boasts a water-repellant design but lacks an IP rating for water and dust protection.
The Galaxy A15 5G is all-plastic, from top to bottom. It isn’t made from premium materials, yet feels good in hand with a matte finish on the back. And it also doesn’t pick up fingerprints.
2. Larger, smoother display
Motorola’s Moto G Power 5G (2024) boasts a bright 6.7-inch screen that’s good for content consumption. The Galaxy A15 5G has a slightly smaller 6.5-inch screen, but it has an OLED panel instead of an LCD panel like the Motorola phone.
Both have 1080p resolutions, but the Moto G Power 5G feels a lot smoother, thanks to its 120Hz refresh rate (vs. 90Hz on the Galaxy A15 5G). I’d give this Motorola phone an extra point for the hole-punch selfie camera, which looks and feels more premium than a waterdrop-style cutout on the Galaxy A15 5G, which is mostly seen on cheaper phones.
Another difference between the two is the size of the bezels. They are a lot thicker at the bottom than at the top, but the side ones are significantly slimmer on the Motorola phone, thus making the screen more usable.
3. Speedy performance
At the heart of the Moto G Power 5G (2024) is the MediaTek’s Dimensity 7020 chipset, which isn’t a great chipset, to be honest. But for a $200 phone, it satisfies the purpose. You may notice occasional stutters, such as when switching between apps, but overall, it feels fairly snappy and smooth.
On the Galaxy A15 5G, you get the Dimensity 6100+ chipset. While it’s slightly less powerful than Dimensity 7020, the performance is good except for slowdowns when opening apps. The Samsung phone comes with 4GB RAM only, which feels less when there are plenty of options with 8GB RAM at a similar price point, including the Moto G Power 5G.
4. Quicker charging, less waiting
While they have the same 5,000mAh battery capacity, there’s a big gap in charging capabilities. The Moto G Power 5G (2024) supports 30W charging over a USB-C cable, which is capped at 25W on the Galaxy A15 5G.
The surprising addition to the Motorola phone is its wireless charging capability, which is rarely seen on cheaper phones. The maximum speed for the wireless charging is 15W. The Galaxy A15 5G only supports wired charging, though.
The Moto G Power 5G (2024) doesn’t tick all the right boxes, as the Galaxy A15 5G is stronger in some important areas, including camera performance and software support, as discussed below.
Two reasons to avoid the Motorola Moto G Power 5G (2024)
1. Mediocre camera output
Although the Moto G Power 5G (2024) camera has improved from last year, it isn’t as impressive as the Galaxy A15 5G. It has a 50-megapixel primary sensor, joined by an 8-megapixel ultrawide sensor that doubles as a macro camera.
The Motorola phone captures decent details and colors in bright lighting scenarios, while zoom capability still remains a weak point. The output is fine at up to 2x, but beyond that shots are grainy with a lot of details missing. The ultrawide shots are fine, though.
The Galaxy A15 also has a 50-megapixel primary sensor, joined by a 5-megapixel ultrawide and a 2-megapixel macro camera. It takes nice, detailed shots using the primary camera with good color retention. The output is definitely better than the Moto G Power 5G in various lighting conditions.
Despite many upgrades, both phones do not support 4K video recording. The maximum they record is 1080p.
2. Limited software support
One of the biggest drawbacks of owning the Moto G Power 5G (2024) is limited software support. This phone will only get one Android upgrade. Since it was launched with Android 14, it’s eligible for Android 15, which will roll out sometime in 2025, and that’s all — no more major upgrades after that.
Samsung, on the other hand, is very generous with software support. The Galaxy A15 5G in question will get four major OS updates. That means the device will still be eligible for three more Android updates when the Moto G Power 5G becomes outdated.
Motorola, however, has learned from its mistakes and is now promising longer software support for newer models. The Edge 50 Neo, launched in August, was Motorola’s first phone to be eligible for five Android updates, and then the Moto G75 and ThinkPhone 25 joined the party. The upcoming Moto G Power models will also have better software promise, hopefully.
So, which one would you pick? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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