The Motorola launches in early May Moto G6 Play, an entry-level smartphone honest by its performance but solid on the autonomy.
CHARACTERISTICS:
- Dimensions: 154.4 x 72.2 x 9 mm
- Weight: 175 g
- Screen: 5.7 inch diagonal
- Screen resolution: 1440x720
- DPI: 282
- Screen type: IPS
- Surface screen share: 75.55%
- Mobile Chip: Qualcomm Snapdragon 430
- Processor: ARM Cortex-A53 - 1.4 GHz
- Integrated GPU (iGPU): Adreno 505
- RAM: 3 GB
- Internal memory: 32GB
- Memory card: Yes
- Battery capacity: 4000 mAh
- Photo Sensor: 13 Mpx
- Front Photo Sensor: 8MP
- Full HD video capture
- Operating System (OS): Android
- OS version tested
- Connectivity: Micro USB
- Fingerprint sensor: Yes
- Wi-Fi type: 802.11a / b / g / n
- Bluetooth: 4.2 type
- NFC: No
- 4G (LTE): Yes
- Dual-sim: Yes
- SIM card format: Nano
- Exposure level (DAS)
- Seal type: No
- Gyroscope: Yes
- Removable battery: No
PRESENTATION
The Moto G range is an ambitious range with the marked desire to offer quality phone for reduced rates. An ambition reached with more or less success as the competition is tough, starting with the Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus, Honor 9 Lite or Wiko View. With his Moto G5, Lenovo had transformed the test. Now, Motorola has taken over the range and announced mid-April the successors of the Moto G5, namely the well-known Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play. It is the latter, a kind of "lite" version of the G6, that we are testing today.
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| The polymer glass back of the Moto G6 Play with its rear module and impression sensor. |
The Moto G6 Play will be launched in early May 2018 to about 200 € in all good shops. Is he able to compete with his competitors? Answer below.
ERGONOMICS AND DESIGN:
The Moto G6 Play does not shine by the originality of its design. With its 175 g, it trades the metal shell of the G5 for a back in polymer glass. Its 18: 9 ratio screen - a feature more and more common in the entry-level - occupies 76% of the front panel. A value slightly lower than the average, certainly, but this one gives a beautiful impression of solidity.
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| The front of the Moto G6 Play. |
Once in hand, the Moto G6 Play offers a confusing experience. Its unlock button falls under the finger, but you must really stretch your fingers to reach the volume buttons. Regarding the fingerprint sensor, it's exactly the opposite: it is positioned slightly too low and so we often find the finger wedged between the sensor and the photo module, having to grope to fall on it. It's a shot to take, but the sensor is rather responsive.
Finally, the Moto G6 Play is able to accommodate two nano SIM and a microSD card to expand its internal memory (limited to 32 GB). It is not waterproof (no IP certification), but sealing is still very rarely in the entry-level program.
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| The Moto G6 Play has a limited maximum brightness. |
SCREEN:
The Moto G6 Play is equipped with a 5.7-inch IPS panel with an 18: 9 aspect ratio in HD + (1440 x 720 px). Despite a limited resolution (282 dpi), the performance of this screen is far from bad. It will however be necessary to make a tour in the settings to adjust it better. By default, the screen is in "standard" color mode, much more pleasant than the "brilliant" mode; however, it is necessary to change the color temperature, from "neutral" to "hot" to optimize its experience.
Once this is done, we obtain a balanced color temperature with a ceiling of 7,027 K and finally quite close to the reference value (6,500 K). The average delta E is 3.8, which is good for a phone in this range and attests to a fairly faithful transcribing of colors, despite some muted tones less well returned.
COLORIMETRY
Unfortunately, when you look at the contrast ratio at 1173: 1, things go wrong. The maximum brightness at 443 cd / m² may be a bit too low for fans of using the phone in direct sunlight. On the other hand, night readers will be delighted with the minimum brightness down to 3.9 cd / m².
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| Moto G6 Delta E = 3.8 |
The Moto G6 Play screen finally offers a low reflectance of 11%. A result serving as compensation for the low persistence proposed, around 130 ms.
PERFORMANCE:
Equipped with a Snapdragon 430 chip, the Moto G6 Play runs Android without difficulty. The mobile quietly manages the various applications launched in the background and standard use should not be a problem.
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| Moto G6 Play heater after 10 minutes of photo and video solicitation (face and back). |
In addition, this model does not heat particularly. The 38 ° C will only be reached in case of strong stress and localized. If you want to play video games on your smartphone, know that the beast is able to provide you a rather fluid experience, at the price of some concessions on the graphics side. The Moto G6 Play will be more comfortable in the face of greedy titles.
AUDIO:
Unlike what we had used to Motorola, the Moto G6 Play headphone output is rather average. However, everything was announced well: the distortion is minimal, the dynamic range remains correct and the crosstalk more than honest. But this beautiful picture is marred by a disappointing level of release. If you have an energy-hungry headset, the headphone jack may give you a hard time. The Moto G6 Play is thus slightly less well endowed than its competitors such as the Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus slightly more powerful.
Unlike what is found on most entry-level smartphones, the quality of the speaker, positioned on the upper part of the phone, is rather the rendezvous. A sound far cry and the rather wide dynamic range will come out of the bowels of the phone. Unfortunately, as for the headphone output, the power is not at the rendezvous. A bit of distortion is also felt, but nothing dramatic.
PHOTO:
Offering a good quality camera on a smartphone at 200 € is a complex challenge, but very important. Alas, the Moto G6 Play is missing this little something to differentiate itself from others.
Unlike its twin, the Moto G6 Play has only one photo module on its back. Equipped with a 13 megapixel sensor and a lens opening at f / 2, this model offers a photo quality rather interesting for this price range. In terms of declutching, a manual mode allows users to set everything related to ISO, the presence or absence of HDR, the focus, but not much more. The application is also rather intuitive.
On clichés made in full light, the amount of detail is pleasing to the eye, as well as the colors and the contrast, but this is due to a treatment of slightly forced image which saturates slightly the tones and moves away reality. The electronic noise is not unacceptable and the loss of quality at the periphery remains minimal.
On the other hand, as too often unfortunately, it's a different story with low light. The amount of detail takes a hit, the electronic noise intensifies and the pictures lose in contrast. So much so that the blacks close up very quickly. The disappointment is however relative, because the direct competitors of the Moto G6 Play do not shine particularly in this exercise.
At the front, the Moto G6 Play is equipped with an 8 Mpx sensor. If the rendering is not very pale, this module nevertheless keeps track of the focus and the rather suitable exposure. The backlight is however to be avoided, the apparatus having difficulty to stop at the slightest movement.
Finally, on the video side, this phone also presents rather honest performances. Capable of shooting in 1080p at 30 fps, whether on its front or rear camera, the Moto G6 Play does not suffer too much focus or exposure problems. The whole is quite fluid.
AUTONOMY:
If there is one point on which the Moto G6 Play was expected at the turning point, it is of course the autonomy. And to say that he does not disappoint. The phone incorporates a 4000 mAh battery, a rare feature in this range. On our SmartViser protocol, which simulates normal use with texting, video playback, music and a little sleep, the Moto G6 Play takes about 19 hours before running out.
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| In real conditions, you can use your smartphone continuously for more than a whole day before having to recharge. |
OS & Interface:
At the time of writing, the Moto G6 Play is offering the Android version 8.0 Oreo and the latest security patches are dated March 1, 2018. In order to satisfy everyone, Motorola has opted for the fixed icon grid in the bottom of the screen, combined with the classic Android application drawer. We can customize its visual desks without overloading them, a more ergonomic non-negligible. Only shadow on the board, the floating menu and its big icons, far from being intuitive.
STRONG POINTS:
- Autonomy
- Screen rather honest.
- Android 8.0
- Security patches up to date.
WEAK POINTS:
- Improved ergonomics.
- Pictures in low light disappointing.
- Headphone output too weak.
CONCLUSION:
The Moto G6 Play offers a rather decent set considering its price. Everything is not perfect, that's for sure, but the G6 Play holds its main promise and offers excellent autonomy.
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