Motorola Officially Unveils the Insanely Affordable Moto G

Motorola today announced the Moto G, its latest Moto handset, with hopes it will dominate the mid-range smartphone market. The the Moto G's screen was described as "the hero feature" of the phone, you can't talk about the Moto G without first talking about its incredible price. The Moto G comes in both 8 GB and 16 GB variations and 8 GB model will be available unlocked, SIM-free and off contract for $179. The 16 GB model will cost just $199. Again, that's SIM-free, off contract pricing, and the phone is unlocked when purchased straight from Motorola.

The Moto G packs Qualcomm's quad-core Snapdragon 400 CPU and 1 GB of RAM as well as a 4.5-inch 720p display (329 ppi), 5-megapixel camera in the back, a 1.3-megapixel lens up front, 2700 2070 mAh battery and Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. Motorola, a Google-owned company, is promising an upgrade to Android 4.4 KitKat in January. [UPDATE: due to a miscommunication, the battery capacity of the Moto G is a more down-to-earth 2070 mAh.]

In line with the Moto X and its customization options, the Moto G is also a highly customizable phone. Motorola is offering numerous snap on covers that customers can use to jazz up their phone. Unlike the Moto X, it seems customers won't have the ability to customize the color of the phone ahead of its manufacture, so the covers are something you'll have to buy separately after you get your phone.

The Moto G is launching in Brazil today (Motorola's event was held in Sao Paulo) and in parts of Europe as well. Canada will get it within the month on Telus and its Koodo brand, while the U.S. won't get it until January. 

Check out our hands-on video here of the Moto G.

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