The Moto G96 5G continues Motorola’s winning design formula — a vegan leather back that feels incredibly soft and premium in the hand, combined with a polycarbonate frame that mimics the feel of Motorola’s expensive Edge series. When you hold this phone, it genuinely feels like a phone that costs double its price.

The design is familiar if you’ve used the G85, but Motorola has added four new Pantone-curated colours — Ashle Blue, Dress in Blue, Cattleya Orchid, and Greener Pastures. Each colour has a distinct personality that makes the phone stand out in the under-₹20,000 segment.

At just 7.93mm thin and 174–178 grams, this is exceptionally light for a phone with a 5500mAh battery. The 3D curved back adds to the comfortable grip and makes the phone easy to use one-handed despite the 6.67-inch screen size. For people — especially women — who prefer slim, lightweight phones, this is one of the best options in this price range.

The display is where Moto G96 truly shines and separates itself from every competitor. This is a 6.67-inch FHD+ 3D Curved pOLED panel running at 144Hz — and Motorola claims this is the first time in the G-series that 144Hz has been offered. The previous G85 had a 120Hz AMOLED display, so the bump to 144Hz is a meaningful upgrade.

The 1600 nits peak brightness makes this screen usable in direct outdoor sunlight. Colours are vivid and punchy thanks to the 10-bit DCI-P3 colour panel and Motorola’s Display Colour Boost technology. If you love watching movies and YouTube on your phone, the combination of a curved pOLED display with stereo speakers creates a genuinely immersive experience.

The display also supports Smart Water Touch 2.0, meaning it works even when your hands or the screen are slightly wet — very useful during India’s monsoon season. The 300Hz touch sampling rate ensures the screen feels responsive and crisp at all times.

Motorola has made a significant camera upgrade in the G96. The main sensor is now the 50MP Sony LYT-700C (upgraded from Sony LYT-600 in the G85), and it makes a real difference — especially in low-light photography where the new sensor captures noticeably brighter and sharper photos.

The portrait mode offers three focal lengths — 24mm, 35mm, and 50mm — giving photographers more creative control. Edge detection in portraits is accurate, skin tones are natural and warm, and the bokeh, while slightly aggressive sometimes, looks pleasing in most shots. The 1x and 2x zoom shots are sharp with good dynamic range.

The 8MP ultrawide camera doubles as a macro and depth sensor, which is clever — Motorola has extracted more value from a single sensor rather than adding a low-quality dedicated macro lens. Both rear cameras and the front camera support 4K 30fps video recording, which is genuinely rare in phones under ₹20,000.

AI features in camera: AI Photo Enhancement automatically improves every shot, AI Super Zoom enhances clarity at 10x, AI Auto Smile Capture, Night Vision mode, Panorama, Dual Capture Video (front + rear simultaneously), Tilt Shift, and Time Lapse. Google Photos integration brings Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur, and Magic Editor as additional editing tools.

The Moto G96 5G runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 — a 4nm processor that is a clear step up from the Snapdragon 6s Gen 3 in the G85. The AnTuTu score sits at approximately 6,29,000 (compared to ~4,80,000 for the G85), confirming a genuine performance upgrade.

For day-to-day use — app switching, multitasking, social media, web browsing — the phone is smooth and lag-free. RAM Boost 3.0 allows virtual RAM expansion up to 24GB combined (8GB physical + 16GB virtual), which helps keep more apps active in memory.

For gaming, the phone handles BGMI at HDR + Extreme settings at a consistent 60fps. Call of Duty supports Ultra FPS mode. Zoro sensor is also supported for competitive players. CPU throttle test shows 87–92% sustained performance with an almost entirely green graph, which is impressive for this price range.

Storage type is UFS 2.2 with LPDDR4X RAM — write speeds around 62,000+ are decent for this segment. Thermal management is good — the phone warms up slightly during extended gaming but does not throttle aggressively.

One of the biggest upgrades from G85 to G96 is the battery. Motorola has increased the battery from 5000mAh to 5500mAh, yet somehow made the phone lighter. At 174–178 grams, the G96 is one of the lightest phones at this battery capacity. Motorola claims approximately 42 hours of runtime.

In real-world usage, the phone comfortably delivers 7+ hours of screen-on time with a mix of gaming, photos, 5G browsing, and social media — with battery still remaining at end of day. Normal mixed usage gives 1 to 1.5 days of battery backup easily. Heavy users (lots of gaming + 4K video) will still comfortably get through a full day.

Charging speed is 33W TurboPower with a charger included in the box. Full charge takes approximately 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes. While 45W would have been better for 2025, 33W is acceptable given the large battery capacity and efficient processor.

The Moto G96 5G runs Android 15 with Motorola’s Hello UI — one of the cleanest Android skins available. It feels close to stock Android with Motorola’s useful additions layered on top. There is minimal bloatware — a few pre-installed apps like Facebook and LinkedIn can be uninstalled or disabled easily.

Motorola-exclusive features include: Smart Connect 2.0 (wirelessly mirror and control your phone from a laptop), Family Space (parental controls), Moto Secure (enhanced security), and all the classic Moto gestures — chop twice for torch, twist for camera, flip to silence, etc. Google Gemini is the default AI assistant, but you can switch to Copilot or Bixby alternatives.

• Android 15 out of box → Android 16 update promised
• 3 years security patches
• Glance on lock screen (can be disabled)
• Smart Connect 2.0 — phone as PC companion
• Dual Apps — run two WhatsApp accounts
• App Lock, Moto Secure
• AI features: Translation, Generative Wallpapers, Smart Reply
• Google Dialer — call recording with beep alert