Little weird that, for such a simple article, they completely cut out phones between the Droid and new Razr. I thought the Moto X was iconic. Being able to customize it and buy it online was pretty big at the time.
The period when Google owned Motorola was very interesting. The Moto G was a great budget device that I think was killed by carriers who wanted to push $1000 phablets that required consumers to finance them.
The moto g's continue to be great budget(ish ~200 new) devices.
They're the last two phones I've bought, the first lasted ~3 years before I broke it, still good enough for the internet at large when I did. Replaced it with a G8 a couple years ago, still going strong.
Minimal fucking with android, microsd slot, magnetic compass, enough battery to last a weekend if you're careful.
Moto G Power lasts for days and costs $150 unlocked. I got one for one of my kids and it's been incredible. Thinking of getting one for myself. The difference in features between it and a $1000 flagship just aren't that noticeable anymore. And battery is the number one differentiator for any device now.
Camera is a bit shit (by 2020 standards) but that's my only complaint (my current phone is the g8 power) and that might be fixable with a different camera app.
They looked great on paper, but my wife managed to destroy 2 in a couple months. I gave up and replaced with a Samsung that she has had for 4 years (IIRC, I can't remember when she bought it).
