The Motorola Moto G34 is a budget 5G phone. Motorola announced it in China on December 22, 2023, and sales there began on December 28. Brazil, India, Europe and the UK followed in January 2024. It was never sold in the US. In India, prices started at Rs. 10,999 for the 4GB + 128GB model. Motorola has since removed it from its European websites. Its Indian store lists every version as out of stock.
Design and display
The Moto G34 has a 6.5-inch LCD with a 1600 x 720 resolution, or about 269 pixels per inch. The refresh rate goes up to 120Hz. Motorola rates peak brightness at 500 nits, and a punch-hole cutout holds the selfie camera.
The phone measures 162.7 x 74.6 x 8.0 mm and weighs about 179 grams. Charcoal Black and Ice Blue use a matte acrylic (PMMA) back. Ocean Green has a vegan leather finish, and Brazil also got a Vanilla Cream vegan leather version. Motorola describes the design as water-repellent, and the Indian model carries an IP52 rating. The fingerprint reader sits in the side power button.
Performance
Inside is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695, a 6nm chip. It pairs two 2.2GHz Cortex-A78 cores with six Cortex-A55 cores. An Adreno 619 GPU handles graphics. Versions came with 4GB or 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB of storage. Brazil also sold an 8GB + 256GB model. A microSD slot supports cards up to 1TB.
In Notebookcheck’s testing, the phone scored 907 points single-core and 2,020 points multi-core in Geekbench 6. Connectivity includes 5G, Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.1 and USB-C 2.0. European units add NFC and eSIM support. The Indian model lacks NFC and uses a hybrid dual-SIM tray instead.
Cameras
The rear has two cameras. The main sensor has 50 megapixels, an f/1.8 lens and phase-detection autofocus. It combines four pixels into one to produce 12.5MP photos by default. A 2MP macro camera with an f/2.4 lens completes the setup. There is no ultrawide or telephoto lens.
The front camera has 16 megapixels and an f/2.4 lens. Both the main and front cameras record video at up to 1080p and 30 frames per second.
Battery and charging
A 5,000mAh battery powers the phone. It charges at up to 18W over USB-C, and a 20W charger comes in the box. There is no wireless charging. In Tech Advisor’s test, a full charge took about 1 hour and 50 minutes.
Software and updates
The Moto G34 launched with Android 14 and Motorola’s lightly customized interface. Motorola promised one Android upgrade and three years of security updates. According to Notebookcheck, European units get patches every two months until January 2027. Other features include stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos tuning, a 3.5mm headphone jack and an FM radio.
Should you buy the Moto G34?
The Moto G34 suits buyers on a tight budget who want 5G, a 120Hz screen and a large battery. The headphone jack, microSD slot and stereo speakers add value at this price. However, the HD+ resolution, 18W charging and single Android upgrade are clear trade-offs. Motorola has released the Moto G35 as its successor, and new G34 stock is now hard to find.
