20% Performance Drop Makes Motorola Moto G87 a Hard Sell

The Motorola Moto G87 lost up to 20% of its predecessor’s performance in Notebookcheck’s testing, turning what should have been a routine generational update into a warning sign for Moto G buyers.

That drop is not just a benchmark footnote. The weaker showing appears in the places users actually feel most when a phone is pushed harder: demanding apps, multitasking, and benchmarks, according to Notebookcheck. For a value-focused phone line, the uncomfortable question is simple: if the new model is slower than the old one, what exactly is the upgrade?

Moto G87 turns a generational upgrade into a performance regression

The core issue, based on the available Notebookcheck finding, is narrower than a full teardown of the phone’s hardware choices. The supplied material does not establish a specific component as the confirmed cause of the slowdown. What it does establish is the result: the Moto G87 performs worse than the Moto G86 in a way that is large enough to matter.

“The Motorola Moto G87 shows a significant drop in performance in the benchmarks compared to its predecessor.”

That matters because this is not framed as a tiny measurement difference. Notebookcheck’s available finding points to a significant decline versus the prior model, especially when the phone is under heavier pressure.

This is also not a claim that the Moto G87 is unusable, overheats heavily, or fails at basic smartphone tasks. The supplied material does not support that kind of conclusion.

But it does mean the phone’s performance ceiling appears lower than expected for a successor. Notebookcheck says the weakness becomes especially visible in demanding applications, multitasking, and benchmarks. That is where “good enough” hardware starts to feel thin.

MLXIO analysis: this is the kind of regression that can damage a budget phone more than a missing premium feature. A cheaper camera mode or less luxurious finish may be expected. A slower successor cuts against the basic logic of annual hardware refreshes.

Benchmarks show a roughly 20% gap, but the real issue is consistency

Notebookcheck’s available findings point to a performance drop of up to 20% versus the Moto G86. The supported takeaway is not a component-by-component breakdown. It is the broader result: the newer model trails the phone it replaces.

That is enough to raise a practical concern. Benchmarks are not the whole phone experience, but they are useful when they line up with the kinds of workloads users notice in daily use. In this case, the available source material connects the decline to demanding apps, multitasking, and benchmark performance.

The reported weak spots include:

• Benchmarks: Notebookcheck reports a significant drop compared with the Moto G86.
• Demanding apps: The phone’s limits become more visible under heavier workloads.
• Multitasking: The source flags this as one of the areas where the performance gap matters.
• Upgrade expectations: The Moto G87 does not clearly clear the performance bar set by its predecessor.

That last point is important. A successor does not need to be a flagship, but buyers usually expect it to be at least as capable as the model before it. When the newer phone falls behind, the issue becomes less about one score and more about confidence in the product line.

Caveats remain. The available material does not provide enough detail to separate every possible factor behind the drop. Software tuning, configuration differences, and test context can all affect how a phone feels. Still, when the published finding points to a significant decline versus the predecessor, the signal is hard to ignore.

Demanding apps expose the Moto G87’s narrower comfort zone

The clearest warning is for users who regularly push their phones beyond casual use. Notebookcheck’s available finding specifically points to demanding applications and multitasking as areas where the Moto G87’s weaker performance becomes more relevant.

That distinction matters because mid-range phones often live or die on consistency. A device can feel fine in short bursts and still become frustrating when the workload stacks up. Messaging, browsing, maps, media, photos, downloads, and background activity can combine quickly, especially on a phone expected to last several years.

The supplied material does not provide a separate verdict that basic tasks are problem-free, and it does not directly characterize the phone as suitable only for light use. The safer conclusion is simpler: the Moto G87 appears less convincing when heavier performance demands are part of the buyer’s routine.

For users who do not care about pushing a phone hard, the decline may be less visible. But for buyers coming from the Moto G86, or for anyone expecting the newer model to bring a cleaner performance step forward, the Notebookcheck result is a warning.

MLXIO analysis: the practical concern is not only peak speed. It is whether the phone maintains responsiveness when the workload stacks up. A 20% benchmark loss becomes more serious when it aligns with the source’s concern around demanding apps and multitasking.

Moto G87 buyers expected a Moto G86 successor, not a lighter-duty phone

The Moto G line has long been associated with accessible Android hardware, and the supplied Notebookcheck material frames the G87 directly against the Moto G86. That comparison is the problem. The predecessor offered significantly higher computing power, according to the source, especially for demanding applications.

A simple comparison shows the tension:

That does not make the Moto G87 a failed product. It makes its positioning harder to explain if shoppers see it mainly as “the newer Moto G.”

MLXIO has separately covered other Motorola-related stories, including Motorola Phones Hijack Shopping Apps for Affiliate Cash and Four 50MP Cameras Make Motorola Edge 70 Pro+ a Threat. The Moto G87 issue is different: this is not about a headline feature or software behavior. It is about whether the successor clears the performance bar set by its own predecessor.

Motorola, buyers, and app makers face different versions of the same slowdown

The supplied material does not establish why the Moto G87 performs worse than the Moto G86. It also does not support broader conclusions about app makers or the wider Android ecosystem. The substantiated point is more direct: Notebookcheck’s tests challenge the assumption that the newer Moto G model is the faster one.

For buyers, that risk is concrete. Someone upgrading from an older Moto G may assume the newer number means a cleaner step forward. Notebookcheck’s tests challenge that assumption.

For performance-sensitive users, the warning is sharper:

• Demanding-app users: The source says the drop is especially relevant in heavier applications.
• Heavy multitaskers: Multitasking is one of the areas specifically called out in the available finding.
• Benchmark-conscious buyers: The Moto G87 trails the Moto G86 by up to 20% in the reported testing.
• Upgraders from Moto G86: The newer phone may not deliver the performance improvement they expect.

For Motorola, the immediate challenge is perception. Without a clearly supported explanation for the decline, the comparison to the Moto G86 becomes the story. For app makers, the available source material does not justify a separate conclusion. The issue here is the Moto G87’s measured regression, not a confirmed shift in development requirements.

Budget Android buyers should stop trusting model numbers alone

The Moto G87 is a reminder that a newer phone is not automatically a faster phone. In this case, the supplied tests say the successor trails the predecessor by up to 20%.

That should change how buyers evaluate budget Android devices. Brand familiarity and generation naming are not enough. Independent performance testing, review comparisons, and real-world workload reports matter more than the model number on the box.

The Moto G87 may still make sense for:

• Buyers who do not prioritize performance above all else.
• Occasional users who rarely push multitasking.
• Buyers prioritizing other traits over speed, assuming those traits meet their needs.
• Users who do not rely heavily on demanding applications.

Caution is warranted for anyone who expects smoother multitasking, stronger demanding-app performance, or better performance than the Moto G86. Notebookcheck’s available findings do not support that expectation.

Motorola’s next Moto G has a clear repair job

Future software updates could change how the Moto G87 feels in some situations. But the supplied findings do not show that an update is already available to erase the reported gap, and they do not identify one confirmed technical cause that can be cleanly fixed.

That is the unresolved tension. If the Moto G87 is meant to be read as the natural successor to the Moto G86, then a reported performance loss of up to 20% is difficult to dismiss.

The next signal to watch is whether Motorola’s following Moto G release restores a clearer performance advantage over the prior model. Evidence that would strengthen the concern: more reviews showing the same performance gap, user-visible slowdowns in demanding apps or multitasking, and limited improvement after updates. Evidence that would weaken it: later testing showing that the gap narrows materially without introducing new trade-offs.

For now, the Moto G87 looks less like a straightforward upgrade and more like a reminder: in budget Android, the spec sheet can move forward while performance moves backward.

Key Takeaways

• A successor phone performing worse than its predecessor raises questions about upgrade value.
• The drop could affect users who rely on demanding apps, multitasking, or sustained performance.
• Budget phone buyers may need to compare older and newer Moto G models more carefully before upgrading.