Mid-Range but Balanced the Motorola-manufactured Moto series has always managed to be upfront, thanks to its reliable and affordable smartphones, which guarantee good value for money. In the case of the Moto G42, too, Motorola follows this same principle, offering users a complete smartphone without bursting their piggy bank. Launched in mid-2022, the Moto G42 is placed as a sturdy mid-range device with a good balance between performance, battery life, and display quality for a budget price. For Moto G42, we go into the design, specification, performance, camera capabilities, and overall user experience. Design and Build Quality The design language of the Moto G42 is quite familiar; really Motorola has honed this well over the years. Sleek and modern in aspect with the plastic body, it keeps the weight down to a decent 175 grimes. Pretty sturdy in the hand, though feeling there’s plastic and yet a nice sheen to the back makes it a classier finish. At 8.3mm thick, the G42 strikes a fine balance between thin and chunky. The curved edges present a comfortable grip, thereby adding an ergonomic feel to the device. The fingerprint scanner is mounted on the rear embedded in the Motorola logo at the back to ensure a clean look with no compromise in functionality. The Moto G42 brings in IP52 water-repellent protection, thus being able to keep up with light splashes and moisture, though not waterproofed in the process. Display The Moto G42 is fitted with a 6.4-inch AMOLED display-a strong selling point, if not one of the best at this price. There have been very few budget phones with that technology, and big noise is being made by its inclusion here. With Full HD+ resolution-2400 x 1080 pixels-sharp visuals are aptly catered for. Characteristic of the intense colors, high contrast, and deep blacks, an AMOLED display makes watching video and playing games an even more desirable thing to do. Again, the refresh rate on this display with 60Hz doesn’t exactly give those increased rates that might be coming available from some competitors. But of course, it’s smooth enough and responsive for usual tasks like scrolling and browsing. For those users who give special emphasis to display quality in their budget phones, the Moto G42 screen is definitely going to be counted among the positives.  Performance and Hardware the Moto G42 runs on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 680 processor, allegedly quite a balanced processor when talking about performance against power efficiency. The chipset is coupled with 4GB of RAM together with 128GB internal storage that can further extend using a microSD card up to 1TB. This amount of hardware should keep things running properly, be it everyday tasks like social media, browsing, or even casual gaming. The Moto G42 is barely a powerhouse in terms of raw performance, but it manages its category pretty well. For casual to moderate use, multitasking works generally smoothly; more resource-heavy apps and games may have occasional minor slowdowns or stuttering. It is not designed for those hard-core gamers or power users who need the ultimate performance, yet it holds up quite nicely in general usage. The device has Android 12 with Motorola’s skin, My UX, which is near stock Android. This means that it promises a clean and bloatware-free experience with just a couple of added features like gesture controls Moto Actions and customization options that make it easier to use without weighing down the system. Camera Setup A triple-camera setup spearheads the rear of the Motorola Moto G42, featuring a 50MP primary sensor. Pixel binning on this primary camera means that it captures more than one pixel, combining to make one at 12.5MP for better light capture and detail, hence impressive results in good light conditions. Images from the main camera appear sharp and vibrant, although it struggles somewhat with low-light shots where grain comes through. Complementing the main sensor is an 8MP ultra-wide-angle camera with a 118-degree field-of-view, for users to take in wider scenes. While the ultra-wide camera does add some much-needed versatility to the photography skills of the phone, performance is merely average and tends to lose a number of details-especially along the edges of the frame. With a 2MP macro sensor, it’s useful for extremely close shots of small objects, but with such meager resolution, the macro camera does feel more of a novelty than anything to take seriously. The Moto G42 houses a 16MP front selfie camera for video calls and selfies. It does well in both departments. The front shooter does a decent job under good ambient lighting, capturing sharp and vivid images. Battery Life and Charging the Moto G42 sports a 5,000mAh battery, which these days has become pretty normal for any mid-budget smartphone and promises very good usage. The power-efficient Snapdragon 680 chipset and an AMOLED display will easily make this phone last a whole day without problems for both medium and heavy usage: browsing, streaming, and less frequent gaming. For those more conservative with use, the battery can even stretch into a second day. The phone supports 20W fast charging, which, while not the fastest on the market, is enough to get a reasonable charge in a short amount of time. Connectivity and Extras the Moto G42 offers 4G LTE, dual SIM support, Bluetooth 5.0, and Wi-Fi 802.11ac. Lack of 5G could be a disappointment for those looking for some future-proof connectivity, though it works well on 4G and is good enough for most users. The phone also retains a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is welcome news to users who prefer wired audio solutions. Additionally, the G42 is fitted with stereo speakers tuned by Dolby Atoms, providing crystal clear and immersive sound for media consumption. Conclusion The Motorola Moto G42 is an overall mid-range class phone that represents probably the most reasonable price one would get from. Considering that, along with its AMOLED display, decent battery life, and good camera performance, such features as 5G or a high refresh rate screen are missing, making this model incomparable with the competition. The target is toward easily meeting expectations from those who are interested in a good screen and decent performance combined with long battery life but at an affordable price. For those on a limited budget, though, the Moto G42 could be an interesting solution that promises an ideal compromise between features and price-not a too-expensive phone, but not too cheap either.