Motorola's Moto G series is one of the best budget smartphone ranges around. Since its launch in 2013, it has continued to improve over the years, offering exceptional value for money in the budget and mid-range smartphone markets.

Just under a year after the arrival of the Moto G8 Plus, Motorola has officially announced the Moto G9 Plus. This is everything you need to know.

Release date and price

  • Confirmed to exist 11 September 2020
  • Released in UK 15 September 2020 
  • Available for £259 in the UK

Motorola officially announced the Moto G9 Plus on 11 September, followed by the UK availability on 15 September.

The Moto G9 Plus costs £259 in the UK, which is slightly more expensive than what the G8 Plus launched at. It is available to buy now through Amazon, Argos and John Lewis.

For reference, the Moto G8 Plus cost £239 or €269 when it first arrived - it isn't available in the US.

Motorola G9 Plus 128 GB 4 GB RAM - Navy Blue

Amazon

Design 

  • Plastic design
  • Side-mounted fingerprint scanner
  • Punch hole front camera
  • 169.98 x 78.1 x 9.69mm, 223g

The Moto G9 Plus is an evolution of the Moto G8 Plus design, with the rounded corners and curves to the rear of the phone staying in place, while the cameras move into a retangular block, a little like we've seen from Samsung and others in 2020.

There's no fingerprint scanner on the rear anymore, this instead moves to the side of the phone in the Moto G9 Plus and the new device moves to a punch hole design for a more modern look.

There's a Google Assistant button on the left-hand side of the device and the Moto G9 Plus follows the previous handsets in the series, offering a plastic build to preserve that aggressive price point.

The Moto G9 Plus has a water repellant design and comes in Navy Blue and Blush Gold.

Display

  • 6.8-inch Max Vision
  • Full HD+
  • HDR10 support

The Moto G9 Plus comes with the biggest display on a Moto G device so far, offering a huge 6.8-inch Max Vision screen with a 20:9 aspect ratio. 

It offers a 2400 x 1080 pixel resolution for a pixel density of 387ppi and it comes with HDR10 support. As mentioned above, there is a punch hole front camera in the top left corner, offering a design closer in line with many other 2020 smartphones.

Hardware and display

  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G
  • 4GB RAM/128GB storage

The Moto G9 Plus runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G processor - meaning it is 4G - supported by 4GB of RAM, which is the same as the Moto G8 Plus. There's 128GB of storage though, which is double that of the G8 Plus, and there's microSD support for storage expansion up to 512GB. 

We'd have loved to see the Snapdragon 690 on board, which offers built-in 5G, but sadly that's not the case and instead the Moto G 5G remains the only device with 5G capabilities in the Moto G range for now.

In terms of battery, the Moto G9 Plus has a huge 5000mAh capacity with 30W fast charging.

Cameras

  • Front punch hole camera
  • Rear quad camera
  • 64MP main sensor

The Motorola Moto G9 Plus features a quad camera on the rear in a rectagular block.

It's made up of a 64-megapixel Quad Pixel main sensor (f/1.8, 1.6µm) with Night Vision, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle sensor with a 118-degree field of view (f/2.2, 1.12µm), a 2-megapixel macro sensor (f/2.2, 1.75µm) and a 2-megapixel depth sensor (f/2.2, 1.75µm).

On the front, there's a 16-megapixel Quad Pixel sensor with an aperture of f/2.0. 

Motorola Moto G9 Plus rumours: What happened?

Here are all the rumours surrounding the Moto G9 Plus so far.

11 September 2020: Motorola shows off chunky new Moto G9 Plus

Motorola confirms design and specifications for the Moto G9 Plus.

8 September 2020: Moto G9 Plus leaks, confirming specs for this affordable Android

A comprehensive leak from Orange Slovakia details a number of specifications for the Moto G9 Plus.

19 August 2020: Moto G9 Plus revealed in high quality images

Photos showing the Moto G9 Plus have been shared by a reliable leaker, Evan Blass. These show exactly what to expect from the forthcoming device.

27 July 2020: Moto G9 Plus listing shows 4700mAh battery and 30W fast charging

The Motorola Moto G9 Plus appeared on the TUV Rheinland Certification Authority website with the model numbers XT2087-1 and XT2087-2. The device was listed with a 4700mAh battery and 30W fast charging capabilities.

14 July 2020: Motorola Moto G9 Plus appears on EEC certification website

A device with the model number Motorola XT2087-2 has appeared on the EEC certification website. Though the Moto G9 Plus isn't mentioned by name in the certification, the model number listed has been associated with the G9 Plus in the past on spanish retailer site Paratupc.

13 July 2020: Motorola Moto G9 Plus price appears on Spanish site

Twitter user @Sudhanshu1414 shared a screenshot of a spanish retailer site Paratupc with the Motorola Moto G9 Plus, model number XT2087-2, listed with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for €277.15.