Technologies
Moto G Play (2023) Review: Low Price, Lots of Compromises
The essentials-only Motorola phone cuts to the bone in order to hit its $170 price.

The Moto G Play for 2023 costs $170 (or even less at Amazon), making it one of the cheapest new phones you can get right now, and without the bloatware or wireless carrier restrictions we sometimes see on lower-priced devices. With a decent set of specs for the price — including a triple camera system with a 16-megapixel main camera, a 6.5-inch display with a 90Hz refresh rate and a 5,000-mAh battery that provides nearly three days of battery life — this should have been an attractive option for anyone looking for a decent, no-frills phone.
However, this phone has a number of performance issues that make it frustrating to use. And on top of that, Motorola chose to drop one of its best Moto gestures: twisting the phone to quickly open its camera. While some might consider these gestures a gimmick, they have been a signature element of Motorola’s phones for nearly a decade. Other gestures like «chop to turn on flashlight» are still here, making the absence of the camera gesture even more glaring.
Despite these important drawbacks, the 2023 Moto G Play does have some positive attributes. The battery life is great, the software is a fairly clean version of Android 12 and you’ll find rare ports like a headphone jack and microSD card slot for storage expansion. But the phone will only get one major software update to Android 13, which is less than I’d like to see but typical for this price range, as well as three years of security updates.
Yet every perk I list comes with another problem, which is important to consider if you’re tempted by the Moto G Play because of its low price.
Like
- Long battery life
- Clean version of Android 12
- Three years of security updates
Don’t Like
- Frequent lag, issues loading software
- Questionable refresh rate
- No «twist to open camera» gesture
Moto G Play design and performance
The Moto G Play looks nice for a phone that costs just $170. The Navy Blue color of its plastic body provides a hint of personality, while the phone’s low-resolution 720p display includes a screen cutout for the 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The fingerprint sensor is located in my favorite spot on an Android phone — the back.
But the problems begin once you start using the phone. The phone’s MediaTek Helio G37 processor and 3GB of RAM weren’t powerful enough to juggle multiple apps easily. In some cases, it wouldn’t even load certain apps. This was particularly bizarre considering it loaded a 3D game like Crazy Taxi (admittedly an oldie but still a goodie), but couldn’t run other modern 2D games like Exploding Kittens. With the phone’s tiny 32GB of storage, I’m lucky to even fit a couple games onto the Moto G Play, although there is a microSD card slot for storage expansion.
Geekbench V.5.0 single-core
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
Geekbench V.5.0 multicore
Note:
Longer bars indicate better performance
Email, news and video-streaming apps fared better in terms of performance, but not by much. Even though the Moto G Play touts a 90Hz refresh rate, which should smooth out animations, there is a lot of noticeable lag. I couldn’t even tell when the refresh rate reached 90Hz. The Settings menu lets you choose between «Auto» and «60 Hz,» with the former dynamically changing the refresh rate based on what you are doing. Having an auto setting does make sense, but a lot of the cheaper Android phones I’ve used also include the option to set the phone to a consistent 90Hz, alongside a 60Hz option for preserving battery life.
This brings me back to the phone’s 5,000-mAh battery — a bright spot considering it easily lasted two days on a full charge during my testing. I think it’s possible for the battery to make it to a third day, mostly because of how underpowered this device is. I typically got around three hours of screen time per day on the device during my testing, which included streaming, shooting photos and trying to play games for this review.
During a more active session on the phone, in which I streamed 22 minutes of a TV show at 100% brightness and then took a 24-minute video call, the battery dropped from 59% to 46%. On less active days, in which the phone was used primarily for listening to music while commuting, reading news articles and light texting, I could end the day with just over 50% remaining.
Charging times for the phone are generally less impressive than battery life. With the included 10-watt charger, it typically took just over an hour to charge from zero to 50%. Getting to 100% would take just over 2 hours, 30 minutes. When I tested charging speeds with my 18-watt charger, the results were slightly faster. The phone would get from zero to 66% after an hour and finish charging just past the two-hour mark.


The Moto G Play has three cameras, anchored by a 16-megapixel main camera.
Mike Sorrentino/CNETMoto G Play cameras
The Moto G Play has a triple-camera system anchored by a main 16-megapixel camera, which is accompanied by a 2-megapixel macro camera and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. But photos are consistently fuzzy, whether I took them indoors, outdoors, in bright environments or in the dark.


A foggy day in New York, taken on the Moto G Play.
Mike Sorrentino/CNETWhile it was nice to see Portrait mode on a phone at this price, I can barely see much of a bokeh effect in my photos. This is especially true when using the 5-megapixel front-facing camera, in which my photos looked consistently muddy.


My friend took a photo of me at the Taco Bell in Times Square using Portrait Mode, but it’s challenging to see if it made a difference.
Mike Sorrentino/CNET

The Moto G Play’s front-facing camera had a tough time keeping me in focus, even in a restaurant with decent lighting.
Mike Sorrentino/CNETI took the Moto G Play with me to Taco Bell — because yes, I’m going to go eat cheap food while reviewing a cheap phone. I had my friend take photos of me using the phone’s Portrait setting. You can sort of see a light blurring effect in the background, but it’s hard to perceive.
In another selfie taken at a restaurant with better lighting than the Taco Bell, I found the selfie camera to have a tough time keeping me in focus.
And when taking photos of my friend’s dog Daisy, the rear cameras struggled to capture much detail of her fur, even when she sat still. In the best of conditions, the phone’s cameras struggle to take sharp photos.


Daisy the dog sat relatively still for this photo, but the Moto G Play’s camera captures minimal detail.
Mike Sorrentino/CNETI compared the photos taken on the Moto G Play against the same images taken on the $160 Samsung Galaxy A03S, and found the picture quality to be roughly comparable for simple static shots. When shooting a bookshelf at CNET’s office, the Moto G Play got slightly more detail of the book covers than the Galaxy A03S, with the latter phone’s image appearing a bit darker.
However, when it comes to a photo with lots of detail and color, such as with this plant wall, the Moto G Play struggles to discern between the different shades of green. Meanwhile the Galaxy A03S performs much better with discerning the darker green shades from the lighter ones, making for a dramatically different photo.
Neither phone’s camera performs especially well, which is a common theme among phones that cost under $200. For me, this places the Moto G Play’s camera photos squarely into the category of being acceptable for group chats, but not much else. It’s going to take a lot of really good lighting and steady hands in order to make the most of these cameras, and that’s more effort than most people are going to want to make.
There are better options, even when you want to save money
Even when you’re looking for the cheapest possible phone, your device still needs to run most apps without issue and take decent-looking photos. I wouldn’t expect a phone that costs less than $200 to run Fortnite at the highest graphics settings, but I am expecting to use apps with minimal lag. While phones at this price are also typically lighter on features, the perks that are available should bring noticeable value to the experience. The Moto G Play’s Portrait mode and high refresh rate don’t succeed in this regard.
Instead of buying the Moto G Play at $170, you’re probably better off saving $10 and getting the $160 Samsung Galaxy A03S. While that phone also has unimpressive cameras, it was at least able to multitask more easily.
Although I haven’t reviewed it yet, you might also consider the $199 Samsung Galaxy A14 5G, since it has 64GB of storage and 5G connectivity. Later this year, a number of TCL 40 phones will arrive in the US, which will include 5G and 128GB of storage for under $200. Those devices might be worth waiting for if you aren’t in dire need of a cheap phone right now.
Moto G Play (2023) vs. Samsung Galaxy A03S, TCL Stylus 5G, OnePlus Nord N300 5G
Moto G Play (2023) | Samsung Galaxy A03S | TCL Stylus 5G | OnePlus Nord N300 5G | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Display size, type resolution, refresh rate | 6.5-inch IPS TFT LCD; 1,600×720 pixels; 90Hz refresh rate | 6.5-inch LCD; 1,600×720 pixels | 6.81-inch; 2,400×1,080 pixels | 6.56-inch IPS LCD display; 720p resolution; 90Hz refresh rate |
Pixel density | 269ppi | 269ppi | 395ppi | 269ppi |
Dimensions (inches) | 6.58 x 2.95 x 0.36 in | 6.5 x 2.9 x 0.3 in | 6.67 x 3.01 x 0.35 in | 6.4 x 2.9 x 0.3 in |
Dimensions (millimeters) | 167 x 77 x 9.4 mm | 165.8 x 75.9 x 9.1 mm | 169.6 x 76.5 x 8.9 mm | 163.8 x 75.1 x 7.99 mm |
Weight (ounces, grams) | 203 g (7.16 oz) | 202g (7.13 oz) | 213g (7.51 oz) | 190g (6.7 oz) |
Mobile software | Android 12 | Android 11 | Android 12 | Android 12 |
Camera | 16-megapixel (main), 2-megapixel (macro), 2-megapixel (depth sensor) | 13-megapixel (main), 2-megapixel (depth), 2-megapixel (macro) | 50-megapixel (main), 5-megapixel (wide), 2-megapixel (macro), 2-megapixel (depth sensor) | 48-megapixel (main), 2-megapixel (depth lens) |
Front-facing camera | 5-megapixel | 5-megapixel | 13-megapixel | 16-megapixel |
Video capture | 720p at 30 fps | 1080p at 30fps | 1080p at 30fps | 1080p at 30fps |
Processor | MediaTek Helio G37 | Octa-core processor | MediaTek Dimensity 700 5G | MediaTek Dimensity 810 |
RAM, storage | 3GB + 32GB | 3GB/32GB | 4GB/128GB | 4GB/64GB |
Expandable storage | Up to 512GB | Up to 1TB | Up to 2TB | Up to 1TB |
Battery, charger | 5,000 mAh; 10W charging | 5,000mAh; charger not included, does not support wireless charging | 4,000mAh; 18W charging | 5,000mAh; 33W charging |
Fingerprint sensor | Rear | Side | Side | Side |
Connector | USB-C | USB-C | USB-C | USB-C |
Headphone jack | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Special features | 3-day battery life, Moto Gestures, Auto Smile Capture, Portait Mode | Stylus with built-in storage, producitivity software, NxtVision HDR mode | Dual speakers, NFC, Face Unlock, HDR, Portrait, Face retouching | |
Price off-contract (USD) | $170 | $160 | $258 | $228 |
Technologies
I Made Google Translate My Default on iPhone Before a Trip and It Saved Me More Than Once
Google Translate supports far more languages than Apple’s app, and it’s easy to make the switch.

If you’re traveling overseas this summer, the Google Translate app can come in handy to quickly translate a road sign or conversation. The latest Google Translate update allows you to pick the app as your default translation app for Apple iPhones and iPads running iOS and iPadOS 18.4 and later. Previously, you were limited to the built-in Apple option.
Google began leveraging AI to boost Google Translate’s offerings, adding 110 languages last year to increase its total support for 249 languages. Compare that to Apple Translate, which supports 19 languages. Neither Google nor Apple responded to a request for comment.
Both apps offer voice and text translation, including a camera feature that lets you instantly translate by pointing your camera at text. Both also allow you to use translation features without an internet connection, which can come in particularly handy when traveling to more remote locations.
After using both, I found that the Google Translate picked up speech a little quicker so I didn’t have to constantly repeat myself, and the audio pronunciations were a little easier to understand than on Apple Translate. I switched to Google Translate as the default on my iPhone, and here’s how you can, too.
How to set Google Translate as the default on an iPhone or iPad
Setting Google Translate as your default app is simple on an iPhone or iPad, so long as it’s running iOS and iPadOS 18.4 or later.
- Download the Google Translate app or update it to the latest version.
- Go to the Settings on your iPhone or iPad.
- Scroll down to the bottom then select Apps.
- Click Default Apps at the top of the screen.
- Then choose Translation.
- Select Google Translate.
Technologies
The 20 Best PC Games Right Now
Put your gaming computer to the test with the best PC games out right now, including AAA hits like Elden Ring and Black Myth: Wukong as well as indie darlings.

PC gaming gives you the best of most worlds. With a decent budget and some gumption, you can build a solid desktop rig — or you can invest in one of CNET’s best gaming PCs and gain access to a wide world of PC exclusives, indie games and even some titles that were previously exclusive to Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox.
There’s a truly unlimited amount of tags, store queues and interactive recommendations to browse through, and it can get overwhelming trying to find the next best metroidvania, boomer shooter, collectathon or whatever your cup of tea is. PC gamers aren’t lacking for choice.
In fact, between Steam, the Epic Games Store, Game Pass and more, there are thousands upon thousands of games to choose from. One of the biggest issues you can run into with a massive backlog is choice paralysis. Just which are the best PC games out there?
We’re here to help. To narrow your game choices, CNET curated this list of the best PC games you can play right now.
Read more: Best Gaming PC Deals Right Now
TL;DR? These are the 20 best PC games for June 2025
- Balatro
- Warframe
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Overwatch 2
- Valorant
- Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
- Elden Ring
- Cassette Beasts
- Dread Delusion
- Celeste
- Total War: Pharaoh
- Stardew Valley
- Lunacid
- Black Myth: Wukong
- Neon White
- Helldivers 2
- Risk of Rain 2
- Soulstone Survivors
- Terraria
- Haste
PC gaming FAQs
Recent updates to the list
February 2025: While no new games have been added to the list so far this year, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is an early frontrunner. A spate of stellar seasonal events, maps and new heroes has also put Marvel Rivals in contention for the PC hero shooter crown.
Read more: The Best Heroes to Play in Marvel Rivals
June 2025: Added Helldivers 2, Risk of Rain 2, Soulstone Survivors, Terraria and Haste to the list in order to represent both games industry behemoths and indie gaming hidden gems.
How we determined CNET’s best PC games
When creating this list of the best PC games, we factored in how unique and enjoyable these games are for most players. We evaluated criteria including graphical quality, innovative gameplay mechanics and compelling narratives. The picks we made cover a variety of genres from fantasy to retro platformers to shooters to strategy games, and while we favored PC-exclusive games and indie titles you won’t find on Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo Switch, we also included some can’t-miss games that appear on multiple platforms. If you’re looking for help choosing your next game, CNET’s top PC list is a good place to start narrowing your choices.
Technologies
How to Add These Hidden Music and Apple Intelligence Controls to Your iPhone
One control can Apple’s Visual Intelligence to more devices besides the iPhone 16 lineup.

Apple released iOS 18.4 on March 31, and the update brought bug fixes, new emoji and a new recipes section in Apple News to all iPhones. The update also brought a handful of new controls to the iPhone Control Center, including one that brings Visual Intelligence to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
When Apple released iOS 18 in September, the update remodeled the Control Center to give you more control over how the feature functions. With iOS 18, you can resize controls, assign some controls to their own dedicated page and adjust the placement of controls to your liking. Apple also introduced more controls to the feature, making it a central hub for all your most-used iPhone features.
Read more: Everything You Need to Know About iOS 18
With iOS 18.4, Apple continues to expand the number of controls you can add to the Control Center. If you have the update on your iPhone, you can add ambient music controls, and Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones get a few AI controls in the menu, too. Here’s what you need to know about the new controls and how to add them to your Control Center.
Ambient Music controls
Apple gave everyone four new controls in the Control Center library under the Ambient Music category. These controls are Sleep, Chill, Productivity and Wellbeing. Each of these controls can activate a playlist filled with music that corresponds to the specific control. Sleep, for instance, plays ambient music to help lull you to bed.
Some studies suggest white noise could help adults learn words and improve learning in environments full of distractions. According to the mental health company Calm, certain kinds of music can help you fall asleep faster and improve the quality of your sleep. So these new controls can help you learn, fall asleep and more.
Here’s how to find these controls.
1. Swipe down from the top-right corner of your Home Screen to open your Control Center.
2. Tap the plus (+) sign in the top-left corner of your screen.
3. Tap Add a Control.
You’ll see a section of controls called Ambient Music. You can also search for «Ambient Music» in the search bar at the top of the control library. Under Ambient Music, you’ll see all four controls. Tap one (or all) of them to add them to your Control Center. Once you’ve added one or all the controls to your Control Center, go back to your Control Center and tap one to start playing music.
Here’s how to change the playlist for each control.
1. Swipe down from the top-right corner of your Home Screen to open your Control Center.
2. Tap the plus (+) sign in the top-left corner of your screen.
3. Tap the Ambient Music control you want to edit.
4. Tap the playlist to the right of Playlist.
A dropdown menu will appear with additional playlists for each control. If you’re in the Sleep control, you’ll see playlists like Restful Notes and Lo-Fi Snooze. If you have playlists in your Music app, then you’ll also see an option From Library, which pulls music from your library. Tap whichever playlist you want and it will be assigned to that control.
Apple already lets you transform your iPhone into a white noise machine with Background Sounds, like ocean and rain. But Ambient Music is actual music as opposed to more static sounds like in that feature.
Both of these features feel like a way for Apple to present itself as the first option for whenever you want some background music to help you fall asleep or be productive. Other services, like Spotify and YouTube, already have ambient music playlists like these, so this could be Apple’s way of taking some of those service’s audience.
Apple Intelligence controls
Only people with an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max or the iPhone 16 lineup can access Apple Intelligence features for now, and those people got three new dedicated Apple Intelligence controls with iOS 18.4. Those controls are Talk to Siri, Type to Siri and Visual Intelligence.
Here’s how to find these controls.
1. Swipe down from the top-right corner of your Home Screen to open your Control Center.
2. Tap the plus (+) sign in the top-left corner of your screen.
3. Tap Add a Control.
Then you can use the search bar near the top of the screen to search for «Apple Intelligence» or you can scroll through the menu to find the Apple Intelligence & Siri section. Tap any (or all) of these controls to add them to your Control Center. While Talk to Siri and Type to Siri controls can be helpful if you have trouble accessing the digital assistant, the Visual Intelligence control is important because it brings the Apple Intelligence feature to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.
Visual Intelligence was originally only accessible on the iPhone 16 lineup because those devices have the Camera Control button. With iOS 18.4, Visual Intelligence is now accessible on more devices and people thanks to the titular control in Control Center. But remember, Visual Intelligence is like any other AI tool so it won’t always be accurate. You should double check results and important information it shows you.
For more on iOS 18, here are all the new emoji you can use now and everything you should to know about the recipes section in Apple News. You can also check out all the features included in iOS 18.5 and our iOS 18 cheat sheet.
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