Moto G6, G6 Plus, and G6 Play hands-on review

Motorola Moto G6 hands-on

Like we already mentioned, while the regular Moto G6 naturally constitutes a downgrade, compared to its bigger Plus sibling, it's not really that extreme. Well, the bump down from a Snapdragon 630, to a Snapdragon 450 has its clear consequences. Most notably, the lack of 4K video capture.

Motorola Moto G6

However, the most apparent hardware traits and aspects of the more expensive model are present here as well. The attractive build, with a shiny Gorilla Glass 3 layer on both sides is here. So is the trendy, 18:9, Max Vision display. Even it's sharp, FullHD+ resolution managed to survive the market segmentation treatment. The dual camera setup is also accounted for. Minus a few minor details.

Since we already did a rather extensive hardware tour of the G6 Plus, you can check the previous page for more details. You will find that the G6 practically looks and feels the same. That is to say, way more premium than its price segment suggests.

Motorola Moto G6

Hardware nitty-gritties aside, that allows the average users to pick a Moto purely on size preference. That sounds like a very well thought-out product lineup in our books.

For the sake of thoroughness, besides the smaller 5.7-inch display, the lower-end Snapdragon 450 chipset and its FullHD video capture cap, other downgrades the G6 has compared to the G6 Plus include an older Bluetooth 4.2 radio and lack of ac channels on the Dual-Band Wi-Fi.

Motorola Moto G6

Also on the list is a smaller 3,000 mAh battery. It does still have the benefit of 15W TurboPower charging, though. And since the battery will be driving a smaller display and an equally battery efficient 14nm Qualcomm chipset, the endurance difference could be surprisingly small. There'll be more info about that in the full review.

The same goes for an in-depth camera evaluation for the new Moto G phones. But in the meantime, we did manage to take the Moto G6 out on a photo shoot for some early samples. Say what you want about Brazil, but it definitely doesn't lack color!

Motorola Moto G6 samples

Motorola Moto G6 samples

The Moto G6 has a 12MP main snapper at its disposal, which, upon first inspection, captures vibrant photos, with decent detail and few outstanding issues. The secondary 5MP camera isn't a telephoto, wide-angle or monochrome. Nothing too fancy. It's just there to provide the additional depth information and help in some more challenging conditions.

Motorola Moto G6 samples

Motorola Moto G6 samples

We were a bit disappointed to only find a single LED flash on the regular Moto G6 while its bigger sibling gets the benefit of a Dual-Tone setup.

Motorola Moto G6 samples

In lower light the Moto G6 photos have some noticeable noise. Still, it's nothing too severe.

Motorola Moto G6 darker samples

HDR seems to also do a fairly good job and saving some details in shadows and highlights. Of course, we'll reserve final judgment for the full review.

Motorola Moto G6 samples: HDR Off • HDR On • HDR Off • HDR On

1080p video recording seem decent as well.

In keeping with tradition, the Moto G6 runs an almost Vanilla version of Android 8.0 Oreo. Motorola only adds a few extra features on top, like the Moto assistant, which objectively offer added value, pretty much universally.

We experienced no slow-downs or major hiccups while using the UI and still stand by our belief that a Snapdragon 450 has plenty of horsepower for most average users. But if you prefer some raw figures over first-hand experience, we also ran a few benchmarks. Here is how the Moto G6 stacks up against some of its viable market competitors.

GeekBench 4.1 (multi-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro
  4696
• Motorola Moto G5S Plus
  4331
• Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
  4309
• Moto G5 Plus
  4255
• Motorola Moto X4
  4136
• Xiaomi Redmi 5
  4018
• Motorola Moto G6 (event)
  3795
• Huawei P Smart
  3736
• Nokia 5
  2851
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  2841
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A (Y1)
  2610
• Moto G5
  2580
• Motorola Moto G5S
  2277
• Sony Xperia L2
  1932

GeekBench 4.1 (single-core)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro
  1327
• Huawei P Smart
  939
• Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
  874
• Motorola Moto X4
  866
• Motorola Moto G5S Plus
  848
• Moto G5 Plus
  847
• Xiaomi Redmi 5
  766
• Motorola Moto G6 (event)
  735
• Sony Xperia L2
  679
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A (Y1)
  678
• Nokia 5
  672
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  665
• Motorola Moto G5S
  635
• Moto G5
  618

AnTuTu 7

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro
  107737
• Huawei P Smart
  87156
• Motorola Moto G6 (event)
  74571
• Sony Xperia L2
  45023

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)

Higher is better

• Motorola Moto X4
  14
• Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
  9.9
• Motorola Moto G5S Plus
  9.8
• Moto G5 Plus
  9.7
• Xiaomi Redmi 5
  9.4
• Motorola Moto G6 (event)
  9.3
• Huawei P Smart
  8.7
• Moto G5
  7.1
• Motorola Moto G5S
  7.1
• Nokia 5
  7.1
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  7.1
• Meizu M5 Note
  5.5
• Meizu M5
  5.2
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A (Y1)
  4.6
• Sony Xperia L2
  4.1

GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)

Higher is better

• Xiaomi Redmi 5
  18
• Motorola Moto X4
  15
• Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A (Y1)
  15
• Nokia 5
  14
• Motorola Moto G5S Plus
  10
• Meizu M5
  10
• Moto G5 Plus
  9.7
• Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus
  9.4
• Motorola Moto G6 (event)
  8.8
• Sony Xperia L2
  8.8
• Huawei P Smart
  8.3
• Motorola Moto G5S
  7.5
• Moto G5
  7.1
• Nokia 6 (Global version)
  7
• Meizu M5 Note
  5.5