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The Moto G 5G Plus is Motorola’s first midrange 5G phone, but it’s skipping the US

The Moto G 5G Plus is Motorola’s first midrange 5G phone, but it’s skipping the US

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It’ll only be launching in Europe

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Image: Motorola

Motorola is bringing 5G connectivity to its midrange Moto G lineup with a new Moto G 5G Plus model — but it won’t be releasing in the US.

The Moto G 5G Plus features a 6.7-inch FHD+ display with a 90Hz refresh rate and two hole-punch cameras in it (a 16-megapixel selfie camera and an 8-megapixel ultrawide, a first for Motorola). There’s also a quadruple rear camera system: a 48-megapixel main lens, a 5-megapixel macro camera, an 8-megapixel ultrawide, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor.

Rounding out the spec sheet is a 5,000mAh battery, 20W USB-C TurboPower fast-charging, NFC support, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. (Notable absences include a fingerprint reader, wireless charging, and waterproofing, all of which have been absent from other midrange Motorola phones.)

Image: Motorola

But the key spec here is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 processor, which features an integrated X52 5G modem, making the Moto G 5G Plus the cheapest 5G phone Motorola has sold yet. The Moto G 5G Plus only supports sub-6GHz 5G (even though the Snapdragon 765 can technically support mmWave, too) so you won’t be able to use it with mmWave networks, but it’s still a big step forward in making 5G more accessible, so you won’t be able to use it with mmWave networks, but it’s still a big step forward in making 5G more accessible

Motorola has been making 5G devices for longer than nearly anyone else in the mobile phone business. Thanks to the 5G Moto Mod for the Moto Z lineup, it arguably released the first “5G” phone on the market. But all of its 5G devices have been expensive: the Moto Mod cost $349.99 when it launched (in addition to the cost of a Moto Z3 or Z4 phone). And its other 5G phones, the Motorola Edge and Edge Plus, cost $699 and $999, respectively.

The Moto G 5G Plus looks to change that by offering 5G phones for under $500. It’ll come in two versions: a €349 (roughly $392.27) model with 4GB RAM and 64GB of storage, and a €399 (around $448.47) version with 6GB RAM and 128GB of storage. That’s far less than any other 5G phone the company has sold so far.

Image: Motorola

The Moto G 5G Plus is set to launch on July 8th “across Europe,” with additional launches in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates planned “in the coming months.”

US customers won’t be left completely out, though. Motorola says that it’s “committing to launch a sub-$500 5G device in North America this fall,” although the company isn’t saying whether that will be a US version of the Moto G 5G Plus or an entirely different phone.

Correction: The Snapdragon 765 chipset can support both mmWave and sub-6GHz 5G networks; the Moto G 5G Plus, however, can only support sub-6GHz. This article originally and incorrectly noted that the Snapdragon 765 lacked mmWave support.