“The Moto G6 brings the glass-sandwich design and 18:9 display this year”
Lenovo-owned Motorola’s Moto G series has always been about offering best features at an affordable price point. With 18:9 displays and dual cameras fast becoming a standard in the smartphone industry, it was about time Motorola embraced the same. While the brand has launched dual camera-toting smartphones in the past with the Moto G5s Plus (review), it was yet to embrace the taller display and bring a pair of rear snappers at a more affordable price. Now, with the launch of its next-generation Moto G6, G6 Plus, and Moto G6 Play, the brand is changing that. The Moto G6 and G6 Plus are both dual camera-toting smartphones with taller displays. Here we pit last year’s Moto G5s against the newly-launched Moto G6 to see if the new handset justifies the upgrade. Stay with us to find out.
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Moto G6 vs Moto G5s: what’s different
The primary difference in both smartphones is the design. The Moto G5s had the signature metal unibody design of the Moto G series, with rounded corners and thick bezels on the front. However, the Moto G6 is taking its design cues from the Moto X4 (review), as it flaunts a more premium glass-sandwich design with 3D curved glass back panel. Further, the front panel on the Moto G6 has slimmer bezels and sleek home button-cum-fingerprint scanner on the front. Therefore, as long as aesthetics are concerned, the new launch is a clear winner among the two.
Speaking of the design, the display on the G6 is a taller 18:9 screen, which measures 5.7-inches diagonally and offers FHD+ resolution. The Moto G5s on the other hand, comes with a smaller 5.2-inch display with full HD resolution and conventional 16:9 aspect ratio.
Now coming to the core of the handset, the Motorola Moto G6 comes powered by the octa-core Snapdragon 450 SoC compared with the Snapdragon 430 on the Moto G5s. When Qualcomm announced SD450, the company emphasised that the new SoC offers 25 percent performance improvement over its predecessor (SD435). So we can safely assume that the Moto G6 delivers a much better performance as compared to the Moto G5s. The latest from the brand comes with 3GB or 4GB RAM, while the G5s is only available with 4GB RAM.
Additionally, the SD450 brings support for dual cameras onboard, which is yet another differentiating feature between both smartphones. Motorola has equipped the Moto G6 with a 12-megapixel + 5-megapixel camera on the rear panel. For selfies, the smartphone features an 8-megapixel shooter on the front. In contrast, the Moto G5s has the single 16-megapixel camera on its back and 5-megapixel selfie camera. Once again, it is a no-brainer that if you prefer better cameras, the G6 is the way to go.
This brings us to the end of all the improvements, which the Moto G6 brings to the table. And by now, we are certain that you can tell that the G6 seems to be a definitive upgrade over its predecessor. But that doesn’t mean that everything has been changed from the G5s Plus.
Moto G6 vs Moto G5s: what’s similar
One of the key highlights of the Moto G series happens to be the stock Android operating system, and that hasn’t been changed with the sixth-gen Moto G.
Both the Moto G5s and G6 have 32GB onboard storage with support for 128GB microSD card. Both phones come with dedicated selfie LED flash and a fingerprint scanner on the front. However, Moto G6 also has face unlock for authentication purposes. In terms of the battery, the smartphones get a 3,000mAh battery with Turbo Charge support. The devices also offer identical connectivity options.
Closing thoughts
All in all, the Moto G6 is a clear improvement over the previous iteration in all key aspects. That said, the last year’s model is now available at a discounted price in the country, as compared to the starting price of Rs 13,999 for the Moto G6. So if you are looking for a worthy upgrade from the G5s / G5 then the Moto G6 is surely a good pick. That said, it must be noted that the Motorola’s latest will be facing an uphill battle to stand out from the competition.
