Moto G73 5G daylight camera samples. Top to bottom: Primary camera, ultra-wide camera and macro mode (tap to see full size)
Daylight photos came out well with decent detail. Colour saturation was on the higher side, while dynamic range did not seem sufficient. Both rear cameras tended to overexpose a bit and ended up capturing clipped highlights and crushed shadows. The ultra-wide camera fell short on details and also showcased purple fringing around bright objects.
Selfies in daylight come out a bit oversharpened and showcase saturated colours. The front camera also tended to beautify faces, making them appear fairer than the actual skin tone. This was despite having all beautification features switched off. The camera app does have an AI optimisation mode which is enabled by default, but switching it off did not make any noticeable difference, when using both the front or the rear cameras. Edge detection in Portrait mode when using the selfie camera was fairly accurate.
Moto G73 5G low light camera samples. Top: Auto mode, bottom: Night mode (tap to see full size)
The camera’s problems with colour saturation and dynamic range make things worse when shooting in low light. Photos looked quite saturated and the shadows turned into black patches. I honestly expected better given that phone has an auto-night mode like most premium devices. Switching to the dedicated Night mode improved the dynamic range but was still not able to capture better details.
Macro photos came out quite well showing good detail. This is mainly because the phone uses its ultra-wide camera for shooting macro photos.
Video performance was decent at best. Footage shot at both 1080p 30fps and 60fps appeared a bit brighter than it should and also lacked details, even with objects that were close to the camera. Focusing was a problem as well as the primary camera’s autofocus system kept hopping making the video appear a bit jerky, even though stabilisation was decent.
The focussing issues only got worse when using the ultra-wide camera which was limited to 1080p 30fps. I also noticed skipped frames when panning the camera at 60fps which made the footage appear choppy. In low light, 30fps video shot using the primary camera looked noisy and lacked stabilisation. When shooting at 60fps using the same camera, video appeared more stable, but lacked detail in textures, making objects and people in the distance appear featureless and flat.
Verdict
With the Moto G73 5G, Motorola has focussed mainly on performance and security. The software experience is quite smooth and the gaming experience is also quite good, but it isn’t a big leap over what most smartphones at this price point already offer.
Motorola could have done a lot more to make the Moto G73 5G stand out. Its design, despite being modern, is not exactly unique or different. Battery life is average, and the lack of an AMOLED display is disappointing. To add to that, camera performance is also inadequate, and Motorola is gradually losing its near-stock software advantage, which the brand had built as a selling point over the past decade. In short, it’s hard to recommend the Moto G73 5G especially when the Moto G82 5G (Review) can be found for a similar price. It offers a camera with OIS and a larger battery, along with an AMOLED display, and is priced starting from Rs. 19,999.
While I would recommend spending a bit more and getting a Realme 9 Pro+ 5G (Review) instead, there’s also the OnePlus Nord CE 3 Lite 5G (Review), which offers better value
