Budget phones have come a long way in recent years. Take the Galaxy A16 5G, for example — it promises a whopping six years of OS updates, something unimaginable for a $200 phone not long ago. Meanwhile, the similarly priced Moto G Power 5G (2025) surprises with support for wireless charging. Yup, you read that right.
These two phones are among the most popular budget devices right now. But which one gives you the best bang for your buck in 2025? Let’s break it down.
Samsung Galaxy A16 5G vs Motorola Moto G Power 5G (2025): Detailed comparison
Design and Durability
The Galaxy A16 5G sports a clean, minimalist look with a flat display and a waterdrop-style selfie camera. Its bezels are fairly slim, except for the chin, which feels a bit outdated. Around the back, you’ll find a plastic finish with three vertically stacked cameras.
In contrast, the Moto G Power 5G (2025) goes for a more modern design with uniform slim bezels and a punch-hole selfie camera — a premium feature at this price point. Its camera bump looks sleek, housing two sensors and an LED flash, and the rear features a leather-like finish that adds grip, resists fingerprints, and stands out among cheaper models.
When it comes to durability, the Motorola phone is in a different league. It’s IP68/IP69 rated and even has MIL-STD-810H military-grade protection, making it far more rugged. The A16 5G is only IP54-rated and lacks Gorilla Glass, while the Moto G Power features Gorilla Glass 5 on the front.
Display
The Galaxy A16 5G features a 1080p Super AMOLED display with vivid colors and up to 800 nits of brightness — not bad at all for a budget device.
On the other hand, the Moto G Power still uses an LCD panel, which feels outdated in 2025. It lacks the rich contrast of AMOLED and has less punchy colors. While it gets slightly brighter at 1000 nits, its minimum brightness of 2.5 nits may still feel harsh in dark environments like nighttime use in bed.
The Moto’s display is marginally larger and offers a higher refresh rate for smoother scrolling. It’s also protected by Gorilla Glass 5, which the Galaxy A16 5G lacks.
Camera
The Galaxy A16 5G includes three rear cameras: a 50MP main sensor, a 5MP ultrawide, and a 2MP macro. That macro camera is pretty useless, effectively leaving you with two rear cameras.
The main sensor captures solid photos in daylight, offering good detail and dynamic range. However, the ultrawide camera delivers soft, less-detailed images with poor dynamic range. The 13MP front camera is fine — skin tones are natural, but overall it’s not particularly impressive. In low light, the camera maintains color and detail, though noise creeps in.
The Moto G Power 5G (2025) doesn’t wow with its camera. It takes decent shots in good light but struggles in low-light settings. However, thanks to OIS (which Samsung lacks), video stabilization is better. The phone also supports up to 6x digital zoom, and the quality is usable.
Notably, the Moto doesn’t let you switch between the main and ultrawide lenses mid-shoot. The Galaxy A16 does. Also, Samsung’s phone supports 4K video, while the Motorola is capped at 1080p.
In short, the Galaxy A16 5G has better cameras that produce more detailed shots with good colors and dynamic range. The Motorola phone has pretty average cameras.
Performance
Both phones offer smooth everyday performance, but the Motorola device has a slight edge in gaming and graphics tasks.
AnTuTu comparison
| Galaxy A16 5G | Moto G Power 5G (2025) | |
|---|---|---|
| AnTuTu score | 435,926 | 447,351 |
| CPU | 152,349 | 143,232 |
| GPU | 62,976 | 69,041 |
| Memory | 98,149 | 111,693 |
| UX | 122,451 | 123,385 |
In AnTuTu benchmark tests, the Moto G Power 5G (2025) slightly edges out the Galaxy A16 5G, scoring 447,351 compared to 435,926. While the Galaxy A16 5G has a better CPU score, the Moto G Power pulls ahead in GPU, memory, and UX categories. The GPU score is notably higher on the Moto, suggesting it may perform a bit better in graphics-heavy tasks like gaming. However, the overall performance gap is minor. So, don’t expect a significant performance difference between these devices.
Geekbench comparison
| Galaxy A16 5G | Moto G Power 5G (2025) | |
| Single core | 968 | 782 |
| Multi core | 2,031 | 2,056 |
In Geekbench tests, the Galaxy A16 5G scores higher in single-core performance with 968 points, compared to 782 on the Moto G Stylus 5G (2025). This means the A16 5G may feel slightly snappier in day-to-day tasks. However, the Moto G Stylus pulls slightly ahead in multi-core performance with a score of 2,056 versus 2,031, making it a bit more efficient in multitasking or running heavier apps.
3DMark WildLife Extreme Stress Test comparison
| Galaxy A16 5G | Moto G Power 5G (2025) | |
| High score | 366 | 386 |
| Low score | 359 | 381 |
In the 3DMark Wild Life Extreme Stress Test, both the Galaxy A16 5G and Moto G Stylus 5G (2025) show consistent GPU performance, indicating good thermal management and stability during extended workloads. However, the Moto G Stylus 5G pulls slightly ahead, suggesting it may handle gaming and graphics-heavy apps a bit more smoothly.
Software
The Galaxy A16 5G crushes the Moto when it comes to software support. Samsung promises six years of OS and security updates — the best you’ll get in any mid-range phone.
The Moto G Power (2025) only gets two OS upgrades and three years of security patches. While the Motorola ships with Android 15 out of the box and the Galaxy runs Android 14, the long-term support from Samsung makes a huge difference.
Battery and charging
Both phones come with a 5,000mAh battery and easily last more than a day with normal use.
The Moto G Power edges ahead in charging: it supports 30W wired charging (vs. 25W on Galaxy A16 5G). More impressive than that is the 15W wireless charging support, something very rare in this price range. The Samsung phone lacks wireless charging.
Galaxy A16 5G vs Moto G Power 5G (2025): Which one should you buy?
The Galaxy A16 5G and Moto G Power 5G (2025) are both strong contenders in the budget smartphone space, but they shine in different areas. If you care about long-term software support, a better display, and a more capable camera setup, the Galaxy A16 5G is the clear winner. It offers an impressive six years of updates, a vibrant AMOLED screen, and reliable camera performance — all at a budget price.
However, the Moto G Power 5G (2025) fights back with its modern design, superior durability, and rare features like wireless charging and military-grade protection — things you hardly find in this price range. It also offers a slightly better gaming experience and faster charging. In the end, it comes down to your priorities.
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