Earlier this month, news dropped that Motorola had launched the first smart device range where the whole interface could be set to Te Reo Māori.
Not knowing more than a few Māori words myself, I took up the challenge to try out the new MotoG24 with the home screen, settings and everything else only in Te Reo.
My first issue arose when an error message popped up on screen, as I just couldn’t understand it, but I did start to see the benefits of picking up new words pretty quickly. I know now torch = rama, mobile data = raraunga pūkoro and search apps = rapu taupānga, for example. It also seriously helped me brush up on the days of the week and months of the year.
Low battery notification (left) and settings page.
But its most obvious use is still the best: Any and all Te Reo speakers can have a phone interface in their spoken language, and it moves us one step closer to normalising Māori language as a default option in technology and beyond.
Beyond the language capabilities, the phone’s $239 price tag also adds to its accessibility. The price difference is noticeable in how slow some of the processing is - it’s not too painful, but definitely slower than my iPhone.
App page (left) and pull down buttons.
In all other areas, it worked great. I had no connectivity issues with WiFi or Bluetooth, the audio and picture quality are great - I even felt that music sounded clearer through headphones connected to the Moto compared to my iPhone - and the battery life is incredible, easily lasting two days. It’s also very light and has a larger screen than heaps of other smartphones.
It is a great budget phone with a bonus factor if you can speak Te Reo, or are keen to learn. If you’re ready to trust your kid with a mobile phone and they're already learning the reo, I think this would be an awesome option for them.
Motorola provided Seth with a MotoG24 for the purposes of this review.
