The right-hand edge is home to the volume and power buttons – the latter of which doubles as a fingerprint reader – while the left holds the SIM tray, which can either take two nano-SIMs or one alongside a microSD card up to 1TB in capacity. The bottom of the phone is where you’ll find the USB-C and 3.5mm ports, located next to the speaker grille. To put it to the test, I loaded up an 11-hour long YouTube video of various nature scenes, with resolution set to automatic – 720p in this case – and screen brightness set to 50%. I left the video playing on a loop in TechRadar's Sydney office, where lighting conditions were constant, so that the display wouldn’t keep adjusting its brightness level. Results taken on the front camera aren't overly terrible, although I did find I could look pale and overexposed in some instances. I also found that when I came to view the selfie I'd taken, some processing appears to take place on the image, which makes it look more blurred. I toggled the automatic HDR setting on and off, assuming this was the culprit, but the same effect was applied each time.

Motorola has equipped the Moto G53 with a dual camera system, comprising a 50MP f/1.8 main sensor and a 2MP f/2.4 macro sensor. While 50 megapixels may sound like an enticing number, it doesn’t tell the whole story and it doesn’t necessarily equate to high-quality images. The G62 5G has the best display, with both a 2,400 x 1,080 resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, as well as a stronger selection of cameras and more powerful CPU. The screen doesn’t get as bright as the G53 5G, however, and it feels cheaper than its newer siblings. The G23, meanwhile, gets 30W fast charging and 8GB of RAM, but performance is weaker and storage can only be expanded up to 512GB, where the other two accept microSD cards up to 1TB.

The Moto G53 5G uses a 5,000mAh battery, just like the G23 and G62 5G. The Snapdragon chipset is clearly more power-efficient than the MediaTek here, as the G23 has the weakest overall battery life, but the G53 5G even manages to outpace the G62 5G. The Moto G50 remains the best by a couple of hours, but 23hrs 20mins is still a deeply impressive result for the G53 5G. Continuing the frustrating grab bag nature of the Motos’ feature distribution, the G53 5G greatly outperforms the MediaTek Helio G85-powered Moto G23, with leads of 57% in the single-core results and 18% in multicore. The rest of the test group was mostly on a par, with the exception of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 11, which fell 45% behind the G53 5G in the single-core portion of the test. I experimented using both modes and found Natural to be the better of the two. Saturated was just a little too ‘in your face’ and fake-looking for my liking. Looking at both the Moto G53 5G and Moto G23, I can’t help but feel that Motorola has taken an excellent phone and cleaved it in two, leaving a pair of devices that feel frustratingly close to exceeding the value offered by the Moto G62 5G but ultimately fall short.

There’s no mention of Gorilla Glass being used on the front panel in Motorola’s official specs list, so you’ll definitely want to invest in a tempered glass screen protector, and while an official IP rating is not offered, the company says it has a “water-repellant” design that can survive the odd splash or spill, but you’ll want to refrain from submerging it in water at all costs. The screen has an HD+ 1600 x 720 resolution with 269ppi. It’s a bit upsetting that Motorola hasn’t fitted the G53 with a 1080p display, especially since you do get one with the Moto G62 (along with an extra camera sensor) without having to spend too much more money.In the gallery below, I've included images taken on the Moto G53 in good lighting, in low-lighting and some comparison shots of a leaf taken using the standard camera and macro camera. The sensor used by Motorola is a Samsung JN1, which is a relatively small sensor with small pixels and, as such, has a harder time drawing in light. This not only affects how vibrant and detailed images appear, but also means the G53 has a hard time autofocusing well on whatever or whoever your subject is. Motorola has fitted a 5,000mAh battery into the Moto G53 5G, which is something we’ve now pretty much come to expect in the G series. It’s a solid offering and one that should comfortably last you a day with moderate use, and with some battery life to spare. The 50MP main camera definitely puts in a better showing than the macro sensor, but it’s not without its own issues. Colour reproduction is comfortably neutral at times, keeping everything feeling realistic in the image, but contrast is often dialled up in places, giving everything a somewhat stylised pop-filter aesthetic. A 6.5-inch LCD display dominates the front of the Moto G53, with a small punch-hole cutout at the top to house the front camera. Bezels around the sides and at the top are kept relatively slim, but there is a slightly larger one at the bottom. I don’t think this detracts from the overall viewing experience because, since the screen is so large, my eyes were never really drawn to the chin at the bottom.

Which is good news, because it takes a fairly long time to fully recharge the G53’s battery. The phone only supports up to 10 watts of maximum throughput from a wired charge, which meant it took just over two hours to top up to 100% from seven. Compared to the G62 5G, the Moto G53 5G is quite a design departure, replacing the slightly curved, glossy rear panel with a flat, frosted number that runs fairly bluntly into the plastic edges. Our excellent collection of Motorola Moto G53 covers all offer durable protection at a cheap price without compromising on style or usability. Whether you are looking for a tough heavy duty case to protect your device, or something more stylish that complements your phone we have a full range of sleek and stylish Motorola Moto G53 covers that are sure to suit your preference. Our range of Motorola Moto G53 are available in a huge variety of colours and designs making them a perfect present for any mobile phone aficionado.The Moto G53 isn’t a bad-looking phone by any means, but it doesn’t quite have the wow factor of some other devices on the market. Having said that, I did let out a discernible gasp when I first took it out the box when I realized just how light it was.