New Moto G adds 4G LTE, 13-megapixel camera for $180

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That appears to be Motorola's stance with its budget-friendly Moto G smartphone. The newly announced third-generation model retains many of the qualities users loved in the older models, while adding a faster processor, an improved camera, and making the phone water-resistant up to 1M for 30 minutes.

Hardware, however, is only half of the story when it comes to the Moto G. A large part of what has made the phone so popular is the price, and that's not going to change. The third-generation Moto G will be available for $180 without a contract. That price converts to about £115 in the UK and AU$250 in Australia.

The Moto G is equipped with the same 5-inch 1,280 x 720-pixel resolution display as last year's model. That works out to about 293 pixels per inch, which is just shy of the iPhone 6 (326 ppi). While the design is largely the same, the phone has received a welcomed hardware boost.

The phone is powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor with Adreno 306 graphics. A major complaint with last year's model was the lack of 4G LTE support. This has been addressed in the new Moto G, which includes LTE support on all models.

Motorola

The rear camera has also received a boost from 8-megapixels to 13. While the front has been bumped up from 2- to 5-megapixels. Other features include a MicroSD card slot for extra storage and a battery that, according to Motorola, will last more than 24 hours with mixed usage.

Last year's Moto G featured a special nano-coating that helped the phone withstand water splashing, however it was never intended to be fully submerged. This third-generation model now carries a water-resistant rating of IPX7, which means it can be fully submerged in a meter of water for up 30 minutes.

The new Moto G will also be the first of Motorola's budget phones to be available from the company's MotoMaker website, which was previously only available for Moto X. This allows users to customize the phone's front, side and back colors, along with choosing storage capacity and special welcome greetings.

Two configurations will be available at launch. The base model is equipped with 8GB of internal storage and 1GB of RAM. If that's not enough storage for you, however, there is also a slightly more expensive model with 16GB of internal storage and 2GB of RAM.

The Moto G is available in over 60 countries starting today.

This story is developing and will be updated with additional information.