Motorola is certainly in a precarious position, both in India and abroad. After an extended hiatus, the iconic brand is now back in action with the launch of a couple new phones in India – the Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play – that will be crucial to its journey ahead. (हिंदी में पढ़े)
The G-series has always worked well for the brand in spite of being under-specced by the contemporary Redmi-standards. This year too, the G6 and G6 Play have been modelled to serve as Redmi Note 5-series alternatives, ones that run the lighter stock Android software. But do they justify their price tag? Does Moto still retain its mojo?
We went up close with the new Moto Phones and sized them up. Read on to know our finds in our Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play first impressions.
Moto G6 Play and G6 Specifications
| Model | Moto G6 Play | Moto G6 |
| Display | 5.7-inch display with HD+, 18:9 screen aspect ratio | 5.7-inch display with Full HD+, 18:9 screen aspect ratio |
| Processor | 1.4GHz octa-core Snapdragon 430 chipset | 1.8GHz octa-core Snapdragon 450 SoC |
| RAM | 3GB | 3GB/4GB |
| Internal Storage | 32GB, expandable to 256GB | 32GB/64GB, expandable to 256GB |
| Software | Android Oreo | Android Oreo |
| Primary Camera | 13MP, f/2.0 aperture, LED flash | 12MP+5MP, f/1.7, f/2.2, dual tone LED flash |
| Secondary Camera | 8MP | 16MP with selfie flash |
| Battery | 4000mAh battery with turbo-charge support | 3000mAh battery with turbo-charge support |
| Dimension | 154.4×72.2×8.95mm; weighs 173 grams | 153.7×72.3×8.3mm; 167g |
| Others | Dual-SIM, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C, 3.5mm audio jack, fingerprint sensor | Dual-SIM, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C, 3.5mm audio jack, fingerprint sensor |
| Price | Rs. 11,999 | Rs 13,999/ Rs. 15,999 |
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Design and Display
With a cursory glance, the Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play don’t look all that different. Both phones have glass finish and the same size screen. You could think of them as Moto X4, but with 18:9 panels.
The Moto G6 has actual glass body, whereas the Moto G6 Play is primarily made of polycarbonate and also attracts a lot more smudges in comparison. The Moto G6 Play redeems itself by placing the fingerprint sensor in the Moto dimple – something fans have been clamouring to see for a while. For the same reason, the dimple is now flat. Which is to say, it isn’t a dimple anymore.
The Moto G6 places the fingerprint sensor on the front below the screen. It also has a USB Type-C port and positions audio jack at the bottom. The G6 Play has a regular Type-A micro USB port and places the headphone jack up top.
- Both phones have glass finish, but only the G6 has an actual glass back.
- The phones feel premium and look unique compared to other phones in this budget. The design is similar to what we saw on Moto X4.
- The 5.7-inch screen size makes them more compact and easier to handle than phones like Redmi Note 5 Pro and Zenfone Max Pro m1. This should play to their advantage.
- The Moto G6 Play also makes room for a bigger 4000mAh battery.
- The quality of the display on both phones felt average. We will have to examine the screens in our own space before we pass on any verdict.
- Other prominent design differences include different positioning of the fingerprint sensor and audio jack. And the different types of charging port.
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Performance and Software
The performance hardware used on the Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play is a tad underwhelming for their prices. The Moto G6 Play is powered by Snapdragon 430 and the Moto G6 is powered by Snapdragon 450. Consumers wouldn’t be out of place to demand at least a series 600 SoC on the phones.
The software running on both devices is almost stock Android 8.0 Oreo. Motorola is no longer good with updates as it used to be and, in our experience, its grip over smooth optimized Android experience has also slipped over the years.
The 4GB RAM and 64GB option of Moto G6 should be comfortable to live with, but it’s also the most expensive one. It’s tough to recommend the 3GB RAM and 32GB storage options of the two phone at their prices. We are reserving our final judgement till we have experienced these phones more thoroughly. But as far the first impression goes, the performance-price equations seems a bit disappointing.
- The 3GB RAM and 32GB storage options of both phones feel a tad expensive, and should be tough to recommend.
- The 4GB RAM and 64GB storage option of Moto G6 feels more expensive too, but we feel it makes relatively more sense.
- Motorola’s grip over software has slipped over the years, but the close-to-stock-Android should still lend new Moto phones an edge over competitors.
- Traditional enhancements like Moto Display, Moto Actions, etc. are present on the phone.
- Both phones bundle a 15W Turbo Chargers in the box.
Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play Camera Performance
The Moto G6 Play has a 12MP+ 5MP rear camera, where the extra sensor is used for depth sensing or to add bokeh effect to clicked images. On the front, the handset has a 16MP selfie camera with LED flash.
The Moto G6 Play, on the other hand, has a single 13MP rear camera and an 8MP selfie camera. Once again, we didn’t thoroughly test the camera in our hands-on time but we did play around with it to know that the low light performance isn’t going to be groundbreaking on either of the two.
Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play Quick Review – Should you buy?
The Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play feel a tad overpriced for the hardware they offer. But keeping the price aside, they are also better looking than most other phones in their budget and have the advantage of light Android software in their favour.
The 4GB RAM and 64GB storage option of Moto G6 is a tad expensive at 15,999 INR, but it feels good enough to serve as an alternative to Redmi Note 5 Pro. We aren’t very excited about the other models on offer, but we’ll hold our horses till we are in a position to confirm our first experience, suspicions, and intuitions in our full review.
I think your writers and reviewers are not up to speed with the changes around them because one of them, I think Dream, has mentioned in the dual volte dual sim feature to be one that cannot come without a hardware update which is wrong and there are many examples I can quote to prove it. I an typing this on a Xiaomi Note 5 Pro 6gb 64gb variant and it did not allow me to use 2 jio Sims together. I downloaded a glob update of the phone from and after installing it have dual volte support and j can switch to the other sim without making the Jio sim useless which is the way it was earlier.
It can not. The Redmi Note 5 Pro already has the required hardware (SD 636). Phones that are running older SoCs can’t get Dual SIM dual VoLTE with a software update.