Motorola Moto G7 common issues and how to solve them

Motorola is the champion of the mid-range segment in more than a few countries, especially the USA. And for a good reason. This year, Motorola presented 4 different devices with slightly different quirks and for different price segments. The main device is the Moto G7, followed by the battery-oriented Moto G7 Power, the Moto G7 Play, and the Moto G7 Plus.

Now, these devices are usually sturdy and have a good build, reliable cameras, good battery life, and a close-to-stock Android experience. That’s why are they often recommended by various industry professionals. However, they are not without issues.

To help affected Moto G7 users, we decided to collect all major (and minor, too) common issues and present them below. With some applicable solutions, of course.

The majority of these issues and their respective solutions might be present in other devices in the G7 lineup, including Moto G7 Plus, Moto G7 Power, or Moto G7 Play.

Note: All the issues mentioned in this article are individually reported cases, which doesn’t mean any of the problems will occur on other devices. If you’re looking to buy this phone, DO NOT consider these problems.

Table of contents:

1. The Night mode keeps changing
2. Slow Wi-Fi
3. System UI not responding
4. Low in-call and Bluetooth volume
5. Battery drains fast
6. Random reboots
7. Can’t move photos and save media to an SD card
8. The phone can’t connect to car media
9. How to install Gcam on the Moto G7
10. Screen colors not calibrated
11. GPS and Mobile Data not working
12. No in-call and media sounds
13. Ghost touch
14. Can’t connect to a PC
15. Freezing issues
16. Can’t update or download apps from the Play Store
17. The Headphone jack not working
18. Netflix and other streaming apps not working
19. The phone won’t turn on
20. The phone vibrating or ringing for no reason
21. Stock camera won’t save location
22. The phone randomly disconnects while charging
23. Mic sound is muffled and low volume in calls
24. Important troubleshooting steps for the Moto G7

1. Night mode keeps changing

The Night mode on Android 9-powered the Moto G7 is a bit limited as it is based on stock Android. It’s not global (for that we need to wait for the Android 10 update), but it does change the appearance of the notification shade.

Some users reported that the Night mode keeps changing on its own. Both ways. From Light to Dark theme and vice versa. If you have that problem, you can force one or another into the Developer options.

Here’s how to do it with ease:

1. Open Developer options from Settings. (explained at the bottom how to enable it).
2. Navigate to Dark Mode.
3. Select Always on.

2. Slow Wi-Fi

Users are not satisfied with the lack of 5 GHz-band support but that’s even a lesser problem. It seems that Wireless is slow for some while there are numerous threads about Access Point issues (especially on the Moto G7 Power).

Here are some things you can do to address Wi-Fi issues:

• Forget the network and connect again.
• Reboot your phone and router.
• Boot into safe mode and look for improvements.
• Disable Bluetooth and Mobile Data.
• Reset Network Settings.
• Reset the device to factory settings.

3. System UI not responding

Certain System UI errors lead to crashes and even system failure and reboot. Some users experienced crashes while on the Home screen, while others had issues in the Settings menu. To make things worse, Motorola Update Services crashed for some during the firmware update.

Here are some ways to fix these rather serious issues on the Moto G7:

• Reboot the device.
• Limit the number of apps working in the background. You can do so in the Developer options, under the Background process limit.
• Lower the Animations in Developer options.
• Boot into Safe Mode and, if the device performs better, uninstall recently installed apps.
• Reset your Moto G7 to factory settings.

4. Low in-call and Bluetooth volume

One of the most important things about a cellphone (smart or classic) is calling and receiving calls. And that’s what’s been the problem for more than a few Moto G7 users who experienced muffled and low sound while talking on the phone. This seems to be a long-time issue on these devices and we don’t have any adequate recommendations or fix.

To add injury to insult, the Bluetooth audio output is not all that great as well, being too low even on the maximum setting. For this, there might be a solution and it’s hidden in the Developer options. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Open Developer options (explained how to enable Developer options at the bottom).
2. Navigate to Absolute Bluetooth volume.
3. Disable this option and reboot your device.

5. Battery drains fast

The Moto G7 is on the lower side when it comes to battery. 3000 mAh is, by all means, not bad. But the 6.2-inch LCD screen is a big enough consumer to deplete it fast. Allegedly, the moderate (tolerable) Screen-on Time went down for some users, as the battery started draining faster than usual.

There are many reasons why that’s the case, so here are some tips to improve battery life on your Moto G7:

• Disable background apps. You can use a third-party app to do so.
• Make sure your signal is stable. We encourage all our readers to check available bands before purchasing devices. Bad network coverage leads to constant signal-hunting which leads to battery depletion.
• Disable Auto-brightness and set preferred brightness manually.
• Disable Location Services and Bluetooth when you are not actively using them.
• Reset your device to factory settings.

6. Random reboots

Random reboots are never a good sign. These can be caused by various hardware issues, but the system might be the culprit as well. If you are constantly bothered by random reboots on the Moto G7, we suggest resetting the handset to factory settings.

If that doesn’t help, make sure to take your device to the responsible service and ask for a replacement.

7. Can’t move photos and save media to SD card

This is a major Moto G7 issue, based on community reports. Users seemingly can’t move photos and supported apps to the SD card or save media from streaming services. For some, the SD card is accessible but it disappears after they reboot the device.

To fix the SD card issues, the only way is to format it with your device. What you need to do is back up all your data to your PC or internal storage. Once you’ve done that, format the SD card and add it as external storage, not an extension to the internal one. The latter causes issues and leads to SD card corruption.

• How to move apps to an SD card

8. The phone can’t connect to car media

Bluetooth connectivity is essential for folks that play their music via the car media (or use navigation) while driving.

That’s why the failing Bluetooth pairing issue on the Moto G7 might be a dealbreaker for some. One recommended solution if you can’t seem to find the car media is to enable the “Show Bluetooth devices without names” in the Developer options.

We wrote an article a while ago about phone-to-car media connectivity issues. Just make sure to try it out on other Bluetooth devices. If the issue persists and the Bluetooth won’t work at all, take your device for repair or replace it.

9. How to install Gcam on the Moto G7

This modern smartphone race brought a lot of good for the end-user, as we all got formidable camera setups on mid-range or even low-end devices. However, software optimization is still behind and we can say that many are quite far behind Google (and Huawei, to some extent), when it comes to processing.

The best thing is that there are ports of Google Camera for many devices. This includes the Moto G7. If you were wondering how to install Gcam on the Moto G7, here are the exact steps:

1. In Google Chrome on your handset, navigate to the Gcam Hub and download one of the versions by tapping on it. The HDR Plus one works great on the Moto G7. Alternatively, try a different Gcam version.
2. Allow installation of apps from third-party sources when prompted.
3. Install Gcam and that’s it. You can tweak some options in Settings to your liking. Enjoy.

For more info about Gcam ports and how they work, check out this article.

10. Screen colors not calibrated

The issue with colors being off was earlier addressed by tweaking certain Display settings. However, that option is (for no apparent reason), missing from the Moto G7. So, that’s a dead-end. If you are having either extremely cold (blueish) or warm (reddish) color representation, there’s nothing you can do without rooting your device.

You can just confirm that the Night Light is disabled, but don’t hold your hopes high as it depends on the LCD panels Motorola decided to place on their mid-range devices.

11. GPS and Mobile Data not working

When it comes to reports about Moto G7 issues, we run into a couple of them concerning bad GPS services. For some, there are no satellites available (which is strange), while others have issues with location precision that are abysmal on their devices.

Here are some steps you can try to fix this:

• Enable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth scanning in Location settings. Open Settings > Security & Location > Location > Advanced.
• Also, enable Improve Location accuracy.
• Reset your device to factory settings.

Moving on, mobile data is also an issue for some users. This can be rather isolated as it concerns certain carriers, but if your mobile data is slow or your Moto G7 won’t connect, try these troubleshooting steps to fix it:

• Enable the Airplane mode and disable it after a minute or so.
• Reset Network Settings.
• Check whether the SIM card is properly set in the compartment.
• Reset SIM card settings.

12. No in-call and media sounds

There’s hardly anything worse than the device speaker not working at all. Both Moto G7 speakers are not working (down-firing speaker and call speaker) for some users. There are some things you can try and, if they fail, make sure to ask for a replacement since we are probably looking at the hardware issue.

Follow these instructions to troubleshoot sound issues on the Moto G7:

• Update the firmware.
• Run diagnostics in the Device Help app. Open Diagnosis > Hardware Test > Receiver and run the test. If it fails, move to the next step.
• Try with the Factory reset.
• Ask for the replacement, the speaker is probably down.

13. Ghost touch

Ghost touch is, among some other entries from the list, far from a small bug. Some users reported that the problem with the display prevents them from accessing Settings which is a big issue.

If you have issues with the ghost touch on the Moto G7, try these steps to fix it:

• Remove the screen protector.
• Clean your screen with a wet cloth and then dry it with the dry one.
• Reset the device to factory settings.

14. Can’t connect to a PC

In case you are not able to connect your Moto G7 to a PC, the problem is probably in the drivers. We recommend installing proper drivers and enabling File Transfer when prompted.

If the issue persists and you are unable to connect to a PC, try rebooting the device or switching to an alternative USB port.

15. Freezing issues

Users also reported freezing and slowdowns on Moto G7, especially when coming out of the sleep idle mode. This is a major issue and some weren’t able to address it even after the factory reset.

If the factory reset won’t help, there’s barely anything else that you can do.

16. Can’t update or download apps from the Play Store

One user had issues with updating and downloading apps on their Moto G7. The problem lies in the outdated Play Store that, for some reason, won’t update. If you have similar issues, just force an update with the latest APK of Google Play Services.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Open Settings > Apps > All apps.
2. Tap on the 3-dot menu and choose to show all apps (system apps as well).
3. Clear cache and data from the Play Store and Google Play Services and reboot your device.
4. If the issue persists, navigate to any APK aggregate website, like APK Mirror.
5. Download the latest version of Google Play Services.
6. Run the APK and allow installation from third-party sources.
7. Install the APK and reboot your device.
8. Try accessing the Play Store again.

17. Headphone jack not working

Another problem that some users have with Moto G7 is the inconsistent headphone jack. It seems that it suddenly stops working for some and the audio output goes directly to the main speaker.

If you’ve tried it with different headphones and the problem persists, contact your retailer. The problem is in the hardware.

18. Netflix and other streaming apps not working

Multiple users reported issues with Netflix and similar streaming services that just won’t work on the wireless network for some reason. It seems that apps load without any issues while on Mobile Data.

If you are stuck with this issue as well, try fixing it with the steps below:

• Uninstall Netflix and try installing Netflix APK.
• Reboot your router and device.
• Reset Network Settings.

19. The phone won’t turn on

The worst problem of them all. In case your Moto G7 won’t boot at all (no signs of life), we can recommend nothing but taking it directly for a repair. The hardware is failing.

On the other hand, if it just won’t boot the system, you can try and start the device in the Safe Mode from the Recovery menu. The explanation is at the bottom of the article.

20. The phone vibrating or ringing for no reason

In regards to vibration, this is a feature, believe it or not. It can be disabled with ease and you can do it by navigating to Settings > Apps > Moto > Features > Moto Actions > Flip for Do Not Disturb. Once there, disable Flip for Do Not Disturb.

Ringing for no reason, on the other hand, is usually caused by a rogue app that took a ringtone (longer than the notification ones) as a default notification tone. Check all apps that might have changeable tones to disable them.

21. Stock camera won’t save location

This is closely related to the GPS issues entry we already covered. It seems that GPS reading and the overall precision of location services on this device are often sub-par.

What you can do is troubleshoot GPS and just disable and re-enable the Save location option in the camera. Also, make sure that the Camera has permission to access the Location. Rebooting your device might help, as well.

22. The phone randomly disconnects while charging

This is probably a factory defect causing the problem so we recommend replacing the cable or replacing the device itself. Of course, this stands if you can confirm that your cable is the original 15W Turbo Charger.

Alternatively, before contacting your retailer, we highly suggest resetting your device to factory settings. Although the software bug can rarely cause issues like this.

23. Mic sound is muffled and has low volume in calls

We already covered the problem with the complete absence of sound, but there’s a slightly less serious problem with the in-call sound. Some users stated on the official support forum that the sound during calls is muffled so the other side can barely hear them.

First, make sure that the mic is clean and remove debris and dust. After that, try restarting your device and look for improvements. You should also try and remove the protective case and screen protector, as they might be covering one or both mics on the G7.

24. Important troubleshooting steps for the Moto G7

Enter Developer Options

1. Open Settings.
2. Select System.
3. Open About phone.
4. Tap on Build number 7 times. You should get a message informing you that you are now a developer.
5. Get back to the main menu of Settings and, at the bottom, you should see Developer options,

Boot into Safe Mode

1. Press and hold the Power button to bring out the Power menu.
2. Tap and hold on to the Power off icon until you are prompted to enter Safe mode.
3. Tap OK.
4. To get out of Safe mode, just reboot your device again.

Reset Network settings

1. Open Settings.
2. Choose the Network & Internet.
3. Tap on the 3-dot menu and choose Network settings reset.
4. Choose to reset your Network settings.
5. Confirm when prompted.

Reset the device to factory settings

1. First, navigate to Settings > System > Backup and back up all your settings and app data. Besides that, make sure to connect your device to a PC and back up all your media. You can also use Google Photos to back up all your photos from the device. You’ll need your Google Account password later.
2. Once you are certain that everything can be safely deleted, in Settings > System > Advanced, choose Reset options.
3. Select Erase all data (factory reset).
4. Confirm the selection. Your device will reboot and after some time, you’ll start from scratch.

With that, we can conclude this lengthy article about Moto G7 issues. Thank you for reading, in case you have additional issues to report, please do so in the comments section below. We or other readers might help you resolve the issue at hand.

Editor’s note: This article was initially published in January 2020. We made sure to revamp it for freshness and accuracy.