Moto G6 release date, price, news and features

[ad_1]

Motorola has announced three new handsets in its wildly popular G series to replace the Moto G5S and Moto G5S Plus.

The new handsets are the Moto G6, the Moto G6 Plus and the Moto G6 Play.

You’ll find out all about them in great detail below, but we also have hands on reviews for each of the three phones.

We’re live in Sao Paulo, Brazil during the launch of the three new phones and while you can’t watch the Moto G6 launch live, we’ll be updating this article with the latest information as soon as we have it so you’ll be the first to know the latest details.

Below we have a video to talk you through everything you need to know about the Moto G6 family.

Moto G6 price and release date

You’ll be able to buy the Moto G6, Moto G6 Plus and Moto G6 Play in the coming weeks, but Motorola has yet to announce an official release date.

We know the US will only get the Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play, missing out on the Moto G6 Plus, while the UK is set to get all three phones in the first week of May.

The Moto G6 price is $249 (£219, about AU$320) SIM-free, while the Moto G6 Play will cost $199 (£169, about AU$250). 

In the UK the Moto G6 Plus is set to cost £269 (about AU$360).

There’s also an Amazon exclusive version of the Moto G6 with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, which will set you back £239 in the UK. It’s unclear if it will come to either the US or Australia.

The Moto G6 price is $249 (£219, about AU$320)

The Moto G6 price is $249 (£219, about AU$320)

Moto G6 design

The design language of the Moto G6 series is relatively similar to the phones that have gone before it, so if you own a Moto G5 or Moto G5S you’ll recognize a lot of the look and feel of the handset.

Moto’s G6 Plus is the most premium of the three with the Moto G6 sitting in the middle and the G6 Play being an even more affordable handset that doesn’t feel quite as high-end as the other two phones in the series.

There’s 3D glass on both the Moto G6 and Moto G6 Plus, while the G6 Play has a polymer material on the back. 

Each phone has a 3.5mm headphone jack and a USB-C port at the bottom edge of the phone (except the G6 Play which sticks with microUSB). 

The edges on the rear of each are also curved to make it fit in your palm easily and still feel comfortable.

There’s no waterproofing technology here though, so don’t attempt to take your phone into the shower with you if you buy a Moto G6 handset.

Every Moto G6 device has a fingerprint sensor, but the normal handset and the Moto G6 Plus have them below the screen while the Moto G6 Play has it on the rear of the phone.

Exactly what colors will be available in each market are currently unclear, so we’ll be sure to update this article when we know more about the color choices for the entire Moto G6 series.

The Moto G6 Play has a less premium plastic body

The Moto G6 Play has a less premium plastic body

Moto G6 display

To keep up with current top-end trends, the Moto G6 family all sport an 18:9 ratio display much like the iPhone X or the Samsung Galaxy S9. The screen quality won’t be as good, but it looks similar with a longer design on each of the three handsets.

The Moto G6 comes with a 5.7-inch IPS LCD with Full HD resolution at 1080 x 2160. That’s 424 pixels per inch, and is a similar quality to what we saw on the Moto G5S albeit a different size.

Then there’s the Moto G6 Plus that sports a 5.93-inch IPS LCD display with the same resolution of 1080 x 2160 but a lower pixel per inch count of 407. It’s a touch larger though, so you may prefer it if you’re looking for a larger phone.

Lastly the Moto G6 Play is the same size as the Moto G6 with a 5.7-inch screen, but the resolution is lower at 720 x 1440, which equals 282 pixels per inch. Basically, don’t go for this one if you’re looking for gorgeous picture quality.

Moto G6 specs and performance 

Here’s another area where the three handsets are set to differ widely too. It’s important to remember the Moto G6 range is about getting as much spec in a phone for an affordable price, so this doesn’t feature any top notch processing power.

The most powerful is the Moto G6 Plus that comes with a mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 chipset inside and we’ve seen this chipset perform well in handsets like the Sony Xperia XA2

Some markets will have access to a 6GB of RAM version with 64GB of storage, but we don’t currently know where that’ll land.

It’s more likely you’ll be able to buy the 4GB RAM version with 64GB of storage or the 3GB RAM with 32GB of storage. We don’t expect you’ll need 6GB of RAM inside your Moto G6 Plus to get satisfactory power.

Next up is the Moto G6 with a Snapdragon 450 chipset inside, which is the same tech inside the newly announced Honor 7C. This won’t be as snappy as the Plus variant, but we hope it’ll still hold its ground.

That comes with the choice of 4GB RAM with 64GB of storage, or you can drop down to 3GB RAM with 32GB of storage for a slightly lower price.

Finally there’s the Moto G6 Play, which will be the weakest of the three handsets but we still expect to see some suitable performance from its Snapdragon 430 chipset. We liked how that performed on last year’s Nokia 6, so we’ve go high hopes for how it’ll work in the G6 Play.

You’re more limited in your choice of RAM and storage here though with the two options being 32GB internal with 3GB of RAM or a measly 16GB of storage with 2GB RAM.

All three phones have microSD support up to 256GB, so if you buy one that’s too small for your tastes you can always insert a card for a bit of extra storage.

There are dual cameras on the back of the G6 and G6 Plus

There are dual cameras on the back of the G6 and G6 Plus

Moto G6 camera

Both the Moto G6 and Moto G6 Plus come brandishing dual rear cameras, while the G6 Play isn’t as powerful on the rear.

First up is the Moto G6 with a 12MP main sensor and a 5MP secondary camera on the rear. That has an aperture of f/1.8 and it’s also capable of filming HD video.

The Moto G6 Plus is remarkably similar with 12MP and 5MP cameras working together to get shots, but the aperture is slightly stronger at f/1.7 and there’s the ability to film video in 4K as well.

Lastly is the Moto G6 Play that just has a singular camera on the rear with a 13MP sensor and an aperture of f/2.0. All three phones come packing the same 8MP front-facing camera, plus there’s a portrait mode on the rear camera too.

There are also added software features for each of these phones that include Snapchat-like filters to stick over your face or even the ability to point your phone at famous landmarks and be told directly by your phone what you’re looking at.

Moto G6 battery and OS

We don’t currently know how well the three phones will perform in terms of battery life, but we have reason to believe the Moto G6 Play will be remarkably good.

The Moto G6 has a 3000mAh cell while the G6 Plus is a 3200mAh cell. Then there’s the Moto G6 Plus that has a huge 4000mAh battery, which is particularly good considering it has the least amount to power.

We think this may mean the Moto G6 Play will be trying to replicate the battery life we’ve seen on handsets like the Moto E4 Plus where it can last up to two whole days from a single charge. We’ll have to wait until we get these handsets in for full review to know for sure.

All three of the new handsets are running Android 8 Oreo software straight out of the box. That’s in a stock capacity, so it looks exactly how Google intended it too and you’ll get much the same look and feel as on the Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL.

Motorola is also one of the better Android manufacturers when it comes to updating its phones with the latest software so that should mean you’ll get timely updates to the OS on your Moto G6 series phone if you’re set to buy one. It sounds likely that Android P will eventually arrive.

All three phones run stock Android Oreo (pictured: Moto G6 Play)

All three phones run stock Android Oreo (pictured: Moto G6 Play)

Moto G6 other features

Standout features are not to be found on the Moto G6 series – this is more about bringing elements like design, display and other top-end features down to a more affordable handset. 

That means there’s no Moto Mod integration, like you’d get on the Moto Z2 range.

[ad_2]

Source link