Motorola unveils the Moto G, its new colorful and affordable Android phone

For the sum-total of 13 days, Google's Nexus 5 has been without doubt the best value Android phone on offer. Today, Motorola -- famously part of Google -- has potentially stolen that title with the official reveal of the Motorola Moto G Android smartphone. A quick tour of the specifications -- the 4.5-inch/720p screen, Android 4.3, 1.2 GHz quad-core processor, 8GB of storage and a 5-megapixel camera -- might initially suggest it's no threat to the Nexus' universally superior artillery. Until you learn that the Moto G costs around $179 SIM-free ($199 if you'd prefer 16GB of storage). That's nearly half the price of the Nexus 5, and much lower than many other competing handsets out there right now.

There are, as you can imagine, a couple of significant trade-offs to factor in. There's no mention of support for 4G/LTE so far, making HSPA+ your fastest data option. Which will be a deal-breaker for some, even with the low price considered (the similarly priced Lumia 625 manages to squeeze it in). It also isn't fully customizable like its elder, and US-only sibling, the Moto X. Though you can still make it your own with a range of 19 options, and seven color choices for changeable back covers.

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