Lenovo-owned Motorola launched its fifth generation Moto G smartphone, along with its G5 Plus sibling, aimed at customers looking for high-grade features at a mid-range price point.

It also provided a taste of forthcoming features for its flagship Moto Z, including Amazon Alexa integration.

The latest Moto G handsets are said to offer all-day battery life, advanced camera capabilities, fingerprint reader and metal body. The company said the two new devices would give customers premium features “without breaking the bank”.

Moto G5 will be available in grey or gold, with 2,800mAh battery, 1.4 GHz octacore processor and 13MP camera. The Moto G Plus comes with a 12MP camera but features a range of picture enhancement technologies, 2.0 GHz octacore chip and 3000mAh battery.

Devices will go on sale in March in selected markets in Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and North America.

Moto G will be available at $199 for 2GB RAM/16GB storage. Moto G5 Plus will start at $229 for 2GB RAM/32GB storage and $279 for 3GB RAM/32GB storage.

Looking to the future
Aymar de Lencquesaing, chairman and president of Motorola Mobility, praised the performance of the Moto G range and flagship Moto Z, adding the company was seeing 20 per cent quarterly growth and had now overtaken LG to become the world’s fourth largest manufacturer – a statistic that excludes China.

The company also announced a number of add-ons for its Moto Z handset, including a game pad with built in storage, battery packs and wireless charging extension. It confirmed it is also working on a number of new additions, including Amazon Alexa integration, a printer that fits to the bottom of the handset, robot kit and VR equipment.