Moto G37 Power Review: Covers All the Bases and More

Motorola recently launched a plethora of products in India. From the new Edge 70 series to the tech firm’s first book-style foldable, all have made their way to the country, signalling its commitment to the ever-growing Indian smartphone market. The company’s Moto G series, known for offering strong value in the budget segment, has also seen plenty of additions. However, the under Rs. 20,000 price segment is having a rather disappointing year, as manufacturing costs are shooting through the roof, forcing OEMs to focus more on aesthetics than on substantially upgrading the hardware.

This seems to be an industry-wide trend, as the Moto G37 Power, which was recently launched in India at under Rs. 20,000, has also adopted a few cost-saving measures, especially in the camera department. However, the company has still managed to equip the Moto G series smartphone with a few hardware upgrades. But does it still retain its high-value, low-cost nature?

Moto G37 Power has a rubberised back panel

Moto G37 Power Design: The ‘Signature’ Motorola Design

• Dimensions – 166.23 x 76.50 x 8.89mm
• Weight – 215g
• Ingress protection – IP64 rating for dust and splash resistance
• Colours – Pantone Capri, Pantone Impenetrable, and Pantone Nautical Blue

Talking about the design of the Moto G37 Power, the rear camera module has been redesigned drastically compared to the Moto G35 series. It now gets the signature Motorola square-shaped deco, featuring the iconic four cutouts for the lenses, giving the impression that it has more cameras than it actually does. The first obviously belongs to the primary rear camera sensor, the other has an LED flash, while the third cutout houses a 2-in-1 light sensor, leaving the last one empty.

Moto G37 Power now comes with the iconic Motorola design

Much has been talked about this particular design philosophy, which has now become synonymous with the word “Motorola”. You see it on the flagship Motorola Fold, Motorola Signature, and the Motorola Edge 70 series. Bringing it to the budget Moto G37 Power further underscores the brand’s decision to throw all its weight behind this design, which, in my opinion, looks decent.

It works the same way as it does for Apple’s iconic horizontally laid triangle. Whenever you see it, you know which brand’s phone you are holding in your hand. However, it also causes a certain level of cognitive dissonance as one can barely distinguish between a Rs. 60,000 Motorola phone and a Rs. 20,000 Motorola handset, at least visually.

Moving on, the textured rare panel of Moto G37 Power is great to hold. The back is grippy, thanks to the rubberised texture. Generally, rubberised panels can catch dust easily. I was relieved to find out that it is not the case with the Moto G37 Power, which remains in pristine condition.

Moto G37 Power has decent button placement

The Moto G37 Power’s competitors usually feature a plastic frame, and the case is no different here. The hard plastics are obviously cheap to the touch. But it is acceptable considering its price point. The frame features a power button and volume rockers on the right side, ergonomically placed. My thumb sits perfectly on the power button when I hold it in my right hand. However, I do have to stretch it a bit to reach the volume controls.

Three of the four display corners are also within reach, making it quite comfortable for one-handed use. But I did have to do hand gymnastics to tap the top-left corner of the screen, often using the second hand. At the bottom, a USB Type-C port, a speaker grille, and a 3.5mm audio jack are placed. The intuitive placement of the three is appreciated. And the addition of the 3.5mm headphone jack in 2026 is a great add-on for people who still prefer wired earphones over TWS.

Moto G37 Power ships in three colourways

Like most Motorola phones, the Moto G37 Power also ships in multiple Pantone-curated colour options, namely Pantone Capri, Pantone Impenetrable, and Pantone Nautical Blue. I got to test the Blue shade, which is a bit too loud for my taste. However, if you prefer solid colours, it might be the best pick for you. On the other hand, the Pantone Impenetrable, in images at least, looks much more subtle and pleasing to the eye.

Compared to other phones in its price segment, the Moto G37 Power is quite thin and pocketable at 8.89mm. However, it is chunkier than its predecessor. The weight balancing is quite good, so your hand does not tire easily. Weighing 215g, it is on the heavier side, which means discomfort starts to set in after long hours of single-handed use.

However, the IP64-rated dust and splash resistance is a bit disappointing, especially when others in the market are focusing more on durability. But that is a trade-off for having a 3.5mm headphone jack. Overall, the build, design, and in-hand feel of the Moto G37 Power are great for its price, but not without specific hiccups.

Moto G37 Power Display: Could Have Been Better

• Screen size – 6.7-inch HD+ (720 × 1,604 pixels) LCD
• Refresh rate – Up to 120Hz

The display on the Moto G37 Power is a downgrade from last year’s G35 5G. Seemingly part of a cost-saving exercise, the display resolution has been reduced from Full-HD+ (1080 x 2,400 pixels) to HD+, with 720 pixels laid out horizontally and 1,604 pixels vertically. But, since the screen size is a tad smaller than its predecessor, one could argue that the pixel density is not hampered by a big margin.

Moto G37 Power has a bright-enough display for outdoor viewing

For day-to-day usage, the Moto G37 Power’s display is good enough. Casual users might not be able to tell that the screen is of a relatively lower resolution. However, the same does reflect in specific scenarios. Videos are often noisy, with blunt margins that blend into the background.

Nevertheless, the 8-bit display on the Moto G37 Power is quite vibrant and colourful, which uplifts the overall viewing experience. But, there’s a big catch here. Sometimes the visuals appear undersaturated, detracting from natural colour reproduction. While I only caught this behaviour while watching specific videos with darker backgrounds, it is still worth mentioning.

Hence, the colours, which should otherwise appear punchier, fall flat and miss that extra pop needed for an enhanced user experience. While I do not expect an LCD panel to deliver deeper blacks, like a conventional LED screen, we have seen some OEMs optimising their displays to bring the same. However, it seems to be missing on the Moto G37 Power, which I would have definitely appreciated.

Moto G37 Power feels smooth enough while scrolling through the app drawer

To initially test Moto G37 Power’s screen, I played the 8K HDR test video on the phone, and most of the findings mentioned above were noted during this test. Moving on to real-life scenarios, its display is still decent for regular content consumption. I watched the Saif Ali Khan-starrer Kartavya on Netflix, the last season of Ashton Kutcher-starrer Two and a Half Men on Prime Video, and the Rajnikant-starrer Sivaji: The Boss on YouTube.

Throughout my testing, I never felt that the Moto G37 Power is out of its depth, except for the specific scenarios highlighted above. For casual viewing, it remains a good device, with passable colour production. And the 120Hz refresh rate ensures that the display remains smooth at all times, whether you are scrolling through a website or from one UI screen to another. Similarly, the screen is bright enough for outdoor viewing, owing to its 1,050 nits peak brightness.

Moto G37 Power Software: The Near-Vanilla Android Experience

• Software – Hello UI
• Version – Android 16

The Moto G37 Power ships with the latest Android 16, featuring all the bells and whistles the OS offers. For years, Motorola promised a clean Android experience. However, now, Motorola phones ship with a layer of Hello UI on top of Android. But the metaphorical layer is quite thin. It’s as close to a clean Android experience as it can be with a skin on top. The OS remains true to its nature.

It is never overburdened with unnecessary animations while still offering decent customisation options, which is a good place to be. But, unlike Pixel phones, the Moto G37 Power is not free from bloatware. There are several native Motorola apps pre-loaded on the phone. The Games folder, for example, houses all the games your phone has in one place.

Moto G37 Power ships with the latest Android 16 version

But the apps you haven’t even downloaded just sit in the folder for some reason, with a download sign next to them. There are even games labelled “Play without downloading”, which redirects you to the Moto Games app, with even more games just present there. Apart from games, other questionable apps, like Delta Exchange India, just sit in the app drawer, constantly asking you to download them.

The secondary Indus Appstore, in addition to the Google Play Store, is also pre-loaded with Adobe Scan, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, MakeMyTrip, Meesho, and Moneyview. While you can uninstall most of these apps, you can only disable the Indus Appstore.

Moto G37 Power Performance: Better Than the Competition

• Chipset – MediaTek Dimensity 6400 (6nm)
• RAM – Up to 8GB of LPDDR4x
• Storage – 128GB of UFS 2.2

Among all the downgrades over its predecessor, one major upgrade is the chipset. Moving away from Unisoc, the Moto G37 Power is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Dimensity 6400 SoC built on a 3nm process. This particular chipset is generally found on budget smartphones. However, with the rising component costs, some Rs. 30,000 handsets are also equipped with this SoC, or even its less-powerful sibling, the Dimensity 6300.

In the sub-Rs. In the 20,000 price range, the Dimensity 6400 provides decent performance. This is reflected in the day-to-day use of the Moto G37 Power, which barely stutters. While an 8GB RAM model is available, I got the base 4GB RAM configuration. This seriously hampers its multitasking capabilities, as the handset struggles to keep up when you switch between Google Chrome, YouTube, Instagram, and the Google Photos app.

Moto G37 Power is decent for light gaming

I even noticed that the phone lags when you try to move between the app drawer and the Newsfeed section, and the App drawer doesn’t even load at times. However, everything goes smoothly once it has loaded for a good 15 seconds. Some apps, like the Google Chrome browser, also take longer than usual to boot up, which could get annoying after a point.

Editing images and videos is not a problem for the Moto G37 Power either, if you have enough patience to let it do its thing. This is expected from a budget handset, and one should rather opt for the 8GB model if they are inevitably multitasking.

Coming to the performance figures, I put the Moto G37 Power through our usual benchmarking tests and compared the numbers with its predecessor and the Oppo K14x 5G, its direct competitor in the segment. While the Moto G37 Power outperformed both handsets on most of the tests, it was left behind in some by a small margin.

In terms of gaming, I started with lighter titles, including Subway Surfers and Temple Run 2. The games ran smoothly for about 30 minutes each, and the Moto G37 Power was never left wanting for breath, making it almost perfect for arcade games. The store changes slightly when you move over to heavier titles.

I played two full games of Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI) at the default low graphics setting, and the game ran just fine. However, while playing Asphalt Legends, I noticed several frame drops at medium graphics and a few stutters at default low presets. But at lower graphics, the game loses all its visual appeal.

Moto G37 Power Cameras: Surprisingly Well-Rounded

• Rear camera – 50-megapixel (f/1.8)
• Selfie camera – 8-megapixel (f/2.0)

The Moto G37 Power omits the 8-megapixel ultrawide camera found on the Moto G35 5G, a disappointing downgrade. On top of this, the selfie camera has also been downgraded to an 8-megapixel shooter from a 16-megapixel sensor. While this massive cost-cutting solution does get you one less camera on the back, at least the primary rear shooter remains the same.

Motorola’s Moto G37 Power is a capable photography device, definitely better than other Rs. 16,000 phones on the market. The 50-megapixel primary shooter captures most details. While it can be slow for professionals, autofocus still adjusts quickly enough for most users.

Moto G37 Power daytime camera performance

The skin tones appear almost natural, with a few complexion tones missed here and there. However, it struggles in harsh sunlight, as most budget phones do. During the day, it can give you Instagram-ready photos, which most people would be okay with. But these pictures are not meant for pixel peeping.

Moto G37 Power portrait mode

If you decide to enlarge them, you can clearly see pixel tears, and even large subjects lose clarity. In the portrait mode, while you can get passable images, there is no definition at the borders. This means that the edges of the subject appear extremely blurred, almost as blurred as the background.

With a white or a bright subject in focus, the camera feels out of its depth, and photos appear noisy and undersaturated. The lack of a telephoto lens is also regretted. The main rear camera offers up to 8x digital zoom, which is best used for reading signboards. It offers little purpose and works best up to 2x digital zoom.

Moto G37 Power zooming capabilities

The Moto G37 Power delivers similar performance in low-light scenarios with night mode off. While it is the best way to get quick photos at night, the images lose detail and appear noisy. However, with the night mode turned on, you can get decent shots at night, given there are enough artificial light sources. Clicking pictures in the night mode takes about 5 to 10 seconds, which is acceptable.

Moto G37 Power night-time camera performance

Coming to the Moto G37 Power’s selfie camera, the 8-megapixel shooter has all the upsides as the rear camera setup. It captures decent shots, regardless of the lighting conditions. One thing I noticed was that it handled subject edges better in portrait mode than the 50-megapixel rear camera.

Moto G37 Power selfie camera performance

Overall, the Moto G37 Power offers a well-rounded camera experience for its price.

Moto G37 Power Battery: Dominates the Rest

• Capacity – 7,000mAh
• Fast charging – 30W (wired)
• Charging Adapter – Included

The Moto G37 Power has been aptly named, as its 7,000 mAh battery is a beast. It easily offers multiple days of casual usage and would even last more than a day for power users. The handset lasted a whopping 22 hours 24 minutes in the PC Mark battery performance test, which is a lot more than its competitors. Here, the phone competes with more expensive phones and gives them a run for their money.

Moto G37 Power offers relatively slow charging support

However, the story is different when it comes to charging. The Moto G37 Power charged from 0 to 21 percent in about 30 minutes and to about 42 percent in an hour. However, to charge from 0 to 100 percent, the phone took about 2 hours and 30 minutes, which is definitely longer than other handsets that support 45W wired fast charging.

Moto G37 Power Verdict

Coming in at a starting price of Rs. 15,999, I was happy to find that the Moto G37 Power still offers great value for its price. While Motorola had to take a few cost-saving measures, like the missing ultrawide camera on its predecessor, it remains true to its high-value, low-cost nature. The long battery life, which is more than enough for even power users, really helps it stand out in a crowded space and even gives more expensive phones a decent challenge.

But the Moto G37 Power is certainly not for people looking to capture professional-looking photos or videos with their phones or for competitive gaming. Rather, you would want to buy the Moto G37 Power if you are looking for a near-clean Android experience, decent performance, and a no-nonsense handset under Rs. 20,000. I recommend increasing your budget and checking out the OnePlus Nord CE 6 Lite or the Infinix Note 60 Pro, which offer a more well-rounded user experience.