It seems every new smartphone tries to beat (on specs anyway) the previous generation and the byproduct of this competition is $800 smartphones. Today Motorola is trying a different approach by releasing an interesting mid-level device for $US180 off contract.

For the $US180, you get:

• 8GB of internal storage ($200 for 16GB)
• 4.5" 1280x720 (329PPI) display
• Snapdragon 400 processor (quad-core running at 1.2GHz)
• comes with the latest Android 4.4
• The trusted bluetooth feature from the MotoX is in the MotoG

No one expects a monster device for $180 so there are phone features you will be sacrificing like 

• No LTE (up to HSPA+ 21MBps)
• A 5 megapixel read camera 
• 720p video capture maximum (no 1080p)
• No always listening mode (like the Moto X)

Even with all of the above, I think this will become a huge hit for Motorola and hopefully other carriers will start making more affordable phones for the next 1 billion users that will get connected.

It seems the phone may be available in Canada, Latin America, Europe and Asia in the next couple of weeks. It is expected to hit US shelves early 2014.