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

Motorola Moto G6 Play hands-on

After a rather odd absence from the Moto G5 lineup, the "Play" variant is back once again in this generation. To be fair, we aren't complaining that there aren't enough Moto G5 modifications already. Quite the contrary. But at least with the "Play" version, you know where you stand. In this case, you get the same basic design and the same rough feature set of the regular Moto G6, while saving a few bucks on things which an entry-level user might consider non-essential.

At least not as important as having a trendy new, extra-tall Max Vision display, that is. To Motorola's credit, they managed to keep this feature intact all the way down to the entry-level Moto G6 Play. Better still, the panel is the same size as the one on the regular G6, spanning a diagonal of 5.7 inches. Only the resolution has suffered a bump down to HD+. But even so, it looks perfectly sharp in person. Plus, like its siblings, it faired well under the strong light outside.

While on the subject of downgrades, Motorola understandably cut some of its bottom line from the bill of materials. While the G6 Play still feels just as solid as its siblings, its back is made of plastic, instead of Gorilla Glass 3. This means it is likely more susceptible to scratching, but on the other hand, it looks almost identically shiny and eye-catching, while retaining relatively fewer fingerprint smudges.

Motorola Moto G6 Play

Unlike the G6 and G6 Plus, the G6 Play does have a recognizable "dimple" around its logo on the back. Its purpose is more than aesthetic since it also houses the fingerprint reader. That is around back, so you probably already guessed that there is no "touch-sensitive area" on the front, to double as a home button. The Moto G6 Play only has on-screen controls to rely on, just like older Moto G models.

The lack of Gorilla Glass on the back, also raises a few questions about the protective surface on the front of the unit. Motorola put something graded on the G6 Play, but it's not sharing its grade or origin. We guess that's somewhat of a downgrade as well. So is the apparent lack of P2i nano coating for the G6 Play in some markets. As per preliminary info, only US units will get the treatment, while Moto will skip it elsewhere. The regular G and G Plus seem to get it regardless of market. Dual-band Wi-Fi might be a G6 Play US exclusive as well.

Motorola Moto G6 Play

Another downgrade is the single main camera. Again, we had little time to spend with the G6 Play, so you just have to check back for camera findings, once the full review drops. The same goes for performance metrics. Again, we feel pretty confident in stating that even the Snapdragon 430 will be enough for most entry and likely average smartphone users. And the vanilla Android ROM feels pretty comfortable stretching its legs, even on this hardware.

Still, you do only get 1080p video recording out of the chip. But that is rather expected at this price point. The more unfortunate part of the story is the 28nm development process for the Snapdragon 430 chip. The Snapdragon 450, inside the regular Moto G5 might not offer many performance gains, but it is a lot more power efficient. A real shame, since Moto threw a hefty 4,000 mAh battery pack inside the G6 Play.

Motorola Moto G6 Play

And just to end on a positive note, despite all the omissions the Moto G6 Play still has a few goodies to offer. Even if the chipset doesn't make the best use out of that 4,000 mAh battery pack, at least it can be topped off quickly, thanks to TurboPower fast charging support. Better still, Motorola is including the required 15W wall charger in the box. And even though the connector it uses is the older microUSB style, the 3.5mm audio jack, sitting right next to it is enough of a treat to compensate.

The front-facing selfie camera seems to be the same 8MP unit, shared with the rest of the G6 lineup, all down to the selfie flash. So even though it's a fixed focus unit, there is still some low-light quality bonus to enjoy.