I Tested the Moto G Power 5G's Cameras at Trader Vic's in Oakland

Motorola made gave the new $300 Moto G Power 5G (2024) several significant camera upgrades.

I took the Moto G Power around San Francisco and Oakland to test its cameras, including to the restaurant Trader Vic's. This photo was taken with the main camera as the sun was setting.

This was a tricky shot to get with the Moto G Power. I had to time it so that my friend wasn't moving the meat skewer to help keep motion blur in check.

I really like Motorola's color science on these cameras. Colors are true to life and a tad punchy, even in lighting with different color temperatures.

The main camera has a 50-megapixel sensor and optical image stabilization (OIS), which allows for longer shutter speeds when taking photos in mixed and low-light situations. Did I mention that Trader Vic's has an eclectic menu featuring dishes from the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Asia and Japan?

You have the option to take photos at full resolution or, by default, use pixel binning to combine four pixels together into a single "big" pixel for 12.5-megapixel photos with less image noise and brighter details.

For a $300 phone, the main camera has decent dynamic range. Notice the darker interior of the restaurant contrasted by the brightly lit door and entrance.

Phones, even expensive ones, struggle trying to get a good shot of my cat, Maisie. I'm impressed with the HDR on the Moto G Power.

The lens flare on the main wide-angle camera looks natural.

Again the cameras do a great job at color accuracy.

This was taken with the default photo mode, and despite the low light, it came out pretty good.

The Moto G Power has a night mode called Night Vision. In dimly lit places, Night Vision works well. Check out photo and the next one of a door wreath. This image was taken with the default photo mode.

And this photo was taken with Night Vision. Not only is this image brighter, but it captures more of the detail and texture in the wreath and ornaments.

But Night Vision is nothing compared with the night mode you get on a high-end phone like the iPhone 15 Pro Max, which is four times the price. This photo and the next are of the same marina scene. This image was captured with the Moto G Power's Night Vision.

Here's a photo of the same scene taken with night mode on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Night Vision works best when there's contrasting bight and dark areas in a scene.

A 50-megapixel shot of the bar at Monk's Kettle in San Francisco.

And here's a 50-megapixel photo of some yummy ice cream.

Action shots of fast-moving subjects are impossible for most phones, including the Moto G Power.

Zoomed in photos, like this one taken at 3.5x digital zoom, don't look great. Notice the weird halo and aliasing on the bird.

The phone's main camera leans on long shutter speeds to gather more light. As a consequence, it can be hard to time when to take a photo of a flashing neon movie theater sign.

But lets take a look at some photos from the Power's 8-megapixel ultrawide camera.

The ultrawide camera doubles as a macro lens. The chopped pecans are in focus, but in general I'm not a fan of how flat macro images look from the Moto G Power.

This macro shot was taken in a dimly lit restaurant. It took a couple of tries to get a photo I was happy with.

This photo shows the limits of the ultrawide/macro camera. There is a lot of over sharpening.

Enjoy the next eight photos all from the Moto G Power's main camera.

For more on the phone, check out my Moto G Power 5G review.