Moto G Power returns for 2026 with promises of long battery life — but will it be Motorola’s longest-lasting phone?

In the past, if you've wanted a long-lasting budget phone, you turned to the Moto G Power, the longevity-focused model in Motorola's low-cost Moto G lineup. Recently, though, the Power has found itself playing second fiddle to other Moto G devices when it comes to lasting a long time on a charge. It sounds like the 2026 edition of the Moto G Power aims to restore order to the Moto G lineup.

Motorola took the wraps off the Moto G Power (2026) today (December 2026), and boosting battery life certainly seems to be the name of the game for this model. There aren't many changes from the Moto G Power (2025), but one of the bigger ones is a slightly larger battery in the new model.

The 2025 edition of the Moto G Power lasted long enough on a charge to land on our best phone battery life list. But on our battery test, it finished more than hour behind the Moto G (2025), which topped the 18.5 hour mark when we had it surf the web continuously. And the Moto G Power (2026) will be hard-pressed to top the 2026 Moto G, as that recently released phone held out for more than 19 hours when we tested it.

Here's what the Moto G Power (2026) has to offer budget-conscious users, including what you get besides a long-lasting battery.

Moto G Power (2026) specs

Moto G Power (2026) price and availability

The Moto G Power (2026) keeps the $299 starting price of that model. Like the 2025 version, the new Moto G Power features 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, with the ability to expand to 1TB with a microSD card. A RAM Boost feature lets you allocate untapped storage to increase memory to 24GB.

Of the recent Moto G releases, the Power is the most expensive model. The Moto G (2026) starts at $199, while the Moto G Play (2026) is Motorola's bargain-basement model at $179.

The Moto G Power (2026) goes on sale January 8 in the U.S., with Amazon and Best Buy offering unlocked models of the phone along with Motorola's own website. Verizon will sell the Moto G Power on that date, too; later on, the phone will come to Cricket Wireless, Tracfone, Visible, Total Wireless, Straight Talk, Simple Mobile and AT&T.

Moto G Power (2026) top features

Any discussion of the Moto G Power is going to focus on the phone's battery. The 2026 edition has a 5,200 mAh power pack, an upgrade from the 5,000 mAh cell in the 2025 model.

With its 5,000 mAh battery, the Moto G Power (2025) posted a time of 17 hours and 13 minutes on our battery test. We'd expect a slight improvement from the new model thanks to that bigger battery, as Motorola continues to use a MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chipset for its latest Moto G phones, the Power included.

The Moto G Power (2026) does have a noticeable difference from last year's model on the power front — it's dropped wireless charging support. You can still count on 30W wired charging with this phone, though.

The other noticeable change from the 2025 edition is the Moto G Power (2026)'s 32MP selfie cam, which offers double the megapixels from its predecessor. Cameras are unchanged otherwise, with the Moto G Power (2026) turning to a 50MP main camera and 8MP ultrawide shooter for its rear camera array.

Motorola does tout more AI-powered image editing tools in this year's model, though most are available through Google Photos in the form of Magic Eraser, Reimagine, Auto Frame and Photo Unblur features.

Otherwise, the 2026 edition of the Moto G Power offers few changes from the 2025 edition. That's good in some areas — the new phone continues to offer the IP68 / IP69 water resistance introduced in the 2025. Gorilla Glass 7i materials boost the durability by resisting damage to the Moto G Power's display.

That display sounds like it hasn't changed either and therein lies the disappointment. Certainly, the panel is plenty big with the Moto G (2026) continuing to offer a 6.8-inch screen. But peak brightness hasn't changed from last year's promised 1,000 nits. The Moto G (2025) fell well short of that mark in our testing, leaving a very dim display. Hopefully, the 2026 model fares better when we test it.

The Moto G (2026) ships with Android 16, and you can expect two additional major Android updates plus another year of security support. That's standard for Moto G models these days.

Moto G Power (2026) outlook

Power in the form of extended battery life continues to be the main selling point of this particular Moto G model. And while the Moto G Power remains affordable, it's not Motorola's cheapest offering. Considering the Moto G (2026) is even cheaper and lasts a very long time in its own right, our lab testing will ultimately determine the Motorola phone to turn to if a multi-day battery life is what you're after.

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