The Moto G5S Plus comes with a 5.5-inch display - that's the 'Plus' speaking. It's a FullHD panel, an IPS one, and has a conventional RGB arrangement. It also has a pixel density of 401ppi.
In our testing, the Moto G5S Plus did well to post a solid 616nits of maximum brightness - that's more than pretty much any of its competition. That's in auto mode, and if you toggle it off you'd be able to get up to 480-ish nits - not bad either. Add to that the reasonably dark blacks, and you're looking at contrast of above 1300:1 - a sign of a good LCD. Minimum brightness is around 6nits, so night-time viewing in complete darkness shouldn't be an issue either.
Display test
100% brightness
Black, cd/m2
White, cd/m2
Contrast ratio
Motorola Moto G5S Plus
0.352
483
1372
Motorola Moto G5S Plus (Max Auto)
0.455
616
1354
Motorola Moto G5S
0.266
415
1560
Motorola Moto G5S (Max Auto)
0.415
582
1402
Motorola Moto G4 Plus
0.33
478
1448
Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto)
0.43
587
1365
Motorola Moto X4
0.297
431
1451
Xiaomi Mi A1
0.351
551
1570
Nokia 6 (Global version)
0.364
484
1330
Huawei Honor 7X
0.236
458
1941
Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro
0
350
∞
Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro (Max Auto)
0
539
∞
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625)
0.322
484
1503
Oppo F5
0.192
422
2198
Oppo F5 (Max Auto)
0.214
462
2159
Huawei Mate 10 Lite
0.257
476
1852
LG Q6
0.288
510
1771
Our sunlight legibility test puts the G5S Plus in the 'average' bowl - the main competitors are in the same ballpark with both the Mi A1 and the Honor 7X marginally behind the Moto. The Nokia 6 (the old one) is a bit better, though we can't blindly attribute the same result to the 2018 model without testing it.
Sunlight contrast ratio
Apple iPhone X 5.013
OnePlus 5T 4.789
Samsung Galaxy S8 4.768
Samsung Galaxy S8+ 4.658
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ 4.615
Motorola Moto Z2 Play 4.459
Oppo R11 4.454
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge 4.439
OnePlus 3 4.424
Samsung Galaxy S7 4.376
HTC One A9 4.274
Samsung Galaxy Note7 4.247
Samsung Galaxy A3 4.241
Nokia 8 4.239
Google Pixel 2 XL (pre-update) 4.234
OnePlus 3T 4.232
Google Pixel XL 4.164
ZTE Axon 7 4.154
Samsung Galaxy Note8 4.148
Meizu Pro 7 Plus 4.147
Samsung Galaxy S6 edge 4.124
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017) 4.124
Huawei Mate 10 Pro (normal) 4.096
Samsung Galaxy Note5 4.09
Google Pixel 2 (pre-update) 4.023
LG V30 4.022
Huawei Nexus 6P 4.019
Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro 3.998
OnePlus X 3.983
Vivo Xplay5 Elite 3.983
Apple iPhone 7 3.964
Oppo R7s 3.964
Apple iPhone 8 (True Tone) 3.957
Huawei P9 Plus 3.956
Meizu Pro 6 Plus 3.935
Lenovo Moto Z 3.931
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) 3.918
OnePlus 5 3.914
Samsung Galaxy C5 3.911
Samsung Galaxy C7 3.896
Samsung Galaxy A5 3.895
Samsung Galaxy J7 outdoor 3.879
Samsung Galaxy J2 outdoor 3.873
Samsung Galaxy A8 3.859
Samsung Galaxy A8 (2018) 3.842
Sony Xperia XZs 3.818
Samsung Galaxy A9 (2016) 3.817
Motorola Moto X (2014) 3.816
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017) 3.812
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) 3.804
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) outdoor mode 3.802
Xiaomi Redmi Pro 3.798
LG V20 Max auto 3.798
Sony Xperia XZ 3.795
Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) 3.789
Apple iPhone 6s 3.783
Meizu Pro 5 3.781
Microsoft Lumia 650 3.772
Xiaomi Mi 6 3.767
Sony Xperia XZ1 3.765
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016) 3.756
Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact 3.729
Apple iPhone 8 Plus (True Tone) 3.725
Oppo F1 Plus 3.709
Vivo X5Pro 3.706
Samsung Galaxy A3 (2017) 3.688
Apple iPhone SE 3.681
Huawei Mate 9 3.68
Samsung Galaxy A7 3.679
Meizu PRO 6 3.659
BlackBerry Priv 3.645
Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra 3.597
Apple iPhone 7 Plus 3.588
LG G6 3.556
Apple iPhone 6s Plus 3.53
Motorola Moto Z Play 3.526
Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) 3.523
Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) outdoor mode 3.523
Acer Jade Primo 3.521
Microsoft Lumia 950 3.512
Oppo R7 Plus 3.499
nubia Z11 3.466
Huawei P10 Plus 3.456
HTC U Ultra 3.453
Samsung Galaxy J7 3.422
Meizu MX5 3.416
LG V20 3.402
Huawei P10 3.379
Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016) 3.378
Oppo R9s 3.352
Honor 8 Pro 3.341
Oppo R7 3.32
Lenovo P2 3.316
Archos Diamond Omega 3.305
Honor 9 3.289
Xiaomi Mi 5s 3.276
Nokia 5 3.261
Nokia 6 (Chinese version) 3.244
Nokia 6 (Global version) 3.238
Samsung Galaxy J2 3.235
Sony Xperia X Performance 3.234
Xiaomi Mi Note 2 3.228
Motorola Moto X Play 3.222
Oppo F3 Plus 3.218
Huawei Mate 9 Pro 3.206
Huawei P9 3.195
Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 3.19
ZTE Nubia Z17 3.159
Oppo R11s 3.153
Lenovo Vibe Shot 3.113
HTC U11 Life 3.108
Motorola Moto X Force 3.105
LG Nexus 5X 3.092
HTC U11 3.089
Huawei Mate S 3.073
Microsoft Lumia 640 XL 3.065
Sony Xperia XA1 3.012
Sony Xperia L1 2.994
Sony Xperia X 2.989
LG Q6 2.987
Huawei P10 Lite 2.974
Samsung Galaxy Note 2.97
Sony Xperia Z1 2.95
Huawei Mate 8 2.949
Xiaomi Redmi 4 2.92
Xiaomi Redmi 3S 2.913
Sony Xperia XA Ultra 2.906
LG G5 2.905
HTC One S 2.901
Xiaomi Redmi 3s Prime 2.893
Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus 2.884
Sony Xperia XZ Premium 2.877
Sony Xperia XZ Premium (sRGB) 2.877
Sony Xperia Z5 2.876
Nokia 3 2.871
Microsoft Lumia 550 2.851
Lenovo Moto M 2.813
Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro 2.803
Sony Xperia Z5 compact 2.784
Nokia 2 2.752
Meizu MX6 2.751
LG V10 2.744
Huawei Mate 10 (normal) 2.742
Motorola Moto G5S Plus 2.736
Xiaomi Redmi 3 2.735
Huawei Honor 7X 2.734
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (S625) 2.714
Meizu M5 2.71
Sony Xperia M5 2.69
Xiaomi Mi A1 2.689
Huawei P9 Lite 2.679
Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime 2.679
vivo V7+ 2.671
Vivo V3Max 2.659
Xiaomi Mi Mix 2.658
Huawei Mate 10 Lite 2.654
Oppo F5 2.653
Doogee Mix 2.642
Xiaomi Mi 4i 2.641
Xiaomi Redmi 4a 2.635
Xiaomi Mi 5X (Standard) 2.616
Sony Xperia XA 2.609
Motorola Moto G4 Plus 2.582
Motorola Moto G4 Plus (max auto) 2.582
Meizu M5s 2.58
Xiaomi Mi 4c 2.574
LeEco Le Max 2 2.567
Asus Zenfone 3 ZE552KL 2.563
Microsoft Lumia 640 2.563
Xiaomi Mi Max 2 2.561
HTC U11+ 2.556
Lenovo Moto G4 2.544
Lenovo K6 Note 2.544
Oppo F1 2.528
Sony Xperia Z5 Premium 2.525
Huawei Honor 7 Lite / Honor 5c 2.506
Sony Xperia M4 Aqua 2.503
Oppo F1s 2.481
Motorola Moto G 2.477
Lenovo Vibe K5 Plus 2.473
Huawei G8 2.471
Huawei nova 2.467
Sony Xperia Z 2.462
Lenovo Vibe K5 2.459
Meizu m3 max 2.447
Xiaomi Mi 5X (Auto) 2.417
HTC 10 evo 2.407
Huawei Honor 7 2.406
Vivo V7 2.404
Sony Xperia E5 2.386
ZUK Z1 by Lenovo 2.382
HTC 10 2.378
Oppo F3 2.376
vivo V5 Plus 2.371
Meizu m1 note 2.362
Huawei nova plus 2.329
Razer Phone 2.328
HTC One E9+ 2.305
Alcatel One Touch Hero 2.272
Apple iPhone 4S 2.269
Lenovo Vibe K4 Note 2.254
Sony Xperia C5 Ultra 2.253
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 (MediaTek) 2.249
Sony Xperia C4 Dual 2.235
Xiaomi Mi Note 2.234
Motorola Moto G (2014) 2.233
Huawei P8 2.196
Meizu M5 Note 2.189
Huawei Honor 6 2.169
Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 2.166
OnePlus Two 2.165
HTC One X 2.158
LG Aka 2.145
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (X20) 2.145
Archos 50 Diamond 2.134
Xiaomi Redmi Note 2.119
Xiaomi Mi 4S 2.095
Acer Liquid X2 2.084
Huawei P8lite 2.078
vivo V5 2.059
Moto G 3rd gen max manual 2.026
Xiaomi Mi 3 2.001
Xiaomi Mi Max 1.996
Sony Xperia E4g 1.972
OnePlus One 1.961
Meizu m3 note 1.923
BlackBerry Leap 1.892
Meizu m2 note 1.892
HTC Butterfly 1.873
Sony Xperia Z1 Compact 1.772
ZTE Nubia Z9 mini 1.759
Sony Xperia U 1.758
Asus Zenfone Selfie 1.68
Motorola Moto E (2nd Gen) 1.675
ZTE Nubia Z9 1.659
Jolla Jolla 1.605
Motorola Moto E 1.545
Sony Xperia M 1.473
Sony Xperia L 1.351
HTC Desire C 1.3
Meizu MX 1.221
Sony Xperia E 1.215
Color accuracy isn't spectacular and even if we're not ones to fret over it, the bluish whites/grays remain visible. We measured an average DeltaE of 4.8 (not bad, actually) in the Standard display mode, with whites off by about 9 units. Vibrant mode redistributed the individual deltas somewhat differently, but kept the average mostly the same and whites didn't lose their blue tint.
Motorola Moto G5S Plus battery life
The Moto G5S Plus has a Snapdragon 625 under the hood. Motorola figured that since the chip is mightily efficient, going overboard with battery capacity is unnecessary and fitted a reasonably-sized 3,000mAh cell.
This proved more than adequate in our testing where the Moto G5S Plus just missed the 10-hour mark in video playback by a minute and checked in an almost full 12 hours of web browsing before calling it quits. The phone excelled in 3G voice call endurance (close to 27 hours) and standby times were good too. That adds up to an overall endurance rating of 81 hours.
Our endurance rating denotes how long a single battery charge will last you if you use the Motorola Moto G5S Plus for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily. We've established this usage pattern so our battery results are comparable across devices in the most common day-to-day tasks. The battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you're interested in the nitty-gritties. You can also check out our complete battery test table, where you can see how all of the smartphones we've tested will compare under your own typical use.
The provided TurboPower charger will get you from flat to full in a quick 1:45h though the initial rate isn't all that great with the first 30 minutes only giving you about 25% of charge.
Audio output starts on the wrong foot, but quickly improves
The Motorola Moto G5S Plus had surprisingly poor output with an active external amplifier. Its signal to noise ratio and intermodulation distortion were so bad we would have suspected an issue with our test unit, but its smaller brother had the exact same behaviour so it appears Motorola did something wrong here. Loudness was impressively high, but that's not quite enough to make up for the sub-par quality of the output.
The good news is that the phone performed impressively well with headphones, which is probably the test most people care about. Loudness remained as impressive, while the clarity was among the best we've seen. Normally headphones tend to degrade the output, but with the Moto G5S Plus they improved it from mediocre to one of the best in the market.
Test
Frequency response
Noise level
Dynamic range
THD
IMD + Noise
Stereo crosstalk
Motorola Moto G5S Plus
+0.06, -0.40
-34.8
78.6
0.0012
5.895
-93.4
Motorola Moto G5S Plus (headphones)
+0.06, -0.02
-93.3
93.3
0.015
0.044
-82.6
Huawei Honor 7X
+0.03, -0.03
-89.5
89.4
0.0028
0.014
-86.6
Huawei Honor 7X (headphones)
+0.14, -0.05
-89.3
89.2
0.0086
0.089
-52.6
LG Q6
+0.03, -0.05
-85.0
88.8
0.0014
0.0065
-92.9
LG Q6 (headphones)
+0.14, -0.04
-91.8
91.8
0.0031
0.113
-56.8
Oppo F5
+0.06, -0.08
-93.5
93.3
0.0020
0.0071
-93.2
Oppo F5 (headphones)
+0.64, -0.07
-89.3
91.3
0.0093
0.361
-52.0
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017)
+0.01, -0.03
-92.8
92.8
0.0032
0.031
-92.3
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017) (headphones)
+0.23, -0.15
-92.1
91.8
0.013
0.223
-77.3
Huawei P10 Lite
+0.04, -0.02
-88.2
88.6
0.011
0.021
-84.3
Huawei P10 Lite (headphones)
+0.13, -0.05
-87.4
87.7
0.014
0.084
-75.9
Motorola Moto G5S Plus frequency response
You can learn more about the tested parameters and the whole testing process here.
Loudspeaker volume reaches new heights
The Moto G5S Plus has a single loudspeaker, a bottom-firing one, but boy, is it loud. It's the second loudest unit we've tested actually - a few decibels short of the HTC U11+, which claimed the crown recently. It's not amazing in the low end of the frequency range, but then few phones are.
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