Hands-On

Moto G6 hands-on: Skin-deep goodness

Premium build, entry-level performance

Published

July 7, 2018

Marvin Velasco

Of all the smartphone segments, the most cut-throat has to be the budget to midrange market. Each brand has its own specialties but with little room for error (unless they want to hear a mouthful from consumers).

While Xiaomi continues to cram as much power as it can into its smartphones and ASUS confidently creates budget-friendly battery kings, Moto is pushing something a little different: premium design with an affordable price.

That’s what the Moto G6 is all about. Although the specifications sheet doesn’t scream high-end (or barely even midrange), gripping it feels like you have something more.

As soon as the G6 lands in your hands, you know it’s a rock-solid device. The all-glass construction curves smoothly from back to front, delivering a fluid feel like it’s meant for human hands and not tables. The 5.7-inch 1080p display is also fun to view thanks to the slimmer 18:9 ratio.

And yet, it’s admittedly on the almost-too-thick side. I first thought that there’d be a massive battery inside, but the capacity is only 3000mAh. For comparison, phones this thick have batteries as large as 4000mAh, offering 33 percent more without the added bulk.

Strangely enough, there’s even a significant camera bulge on the back, meaning the phone can’t lie flat on a surface. It’s a head-scratching design, although I appreciate the fingerprint scanner’s front-facing placement — where it should belong.

Unfortunately, the fingerprint reading isn’t that fast; there’s a slight pause between the vibration feedback and screen turning on. On the flip side, the scanner serves an additional purpose of being an all-in-one navigation key.

By entering the Moto Actions menu and turning on “One button nav,” you can tap the capacitive button to go home, swipe right to bring up recent apps, swipe left to go back, or hold to turn the screen off. Enabling this frees up some screen space since the on-display navigation bar isn’t needed anymore.

Another useful feature is Moto Display, which works a lot like the Always On tricks of Samsung and Huawei’s own implementation on the P20 Pro. It gives you a glimpse at the time, date, and battery percentage while the phone is on standby; it’ll also light up when a notification arrives or you wave a hand over the phone.

Aside from those, this is simply a solidly built, pure Android smartphone. It comes with Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box with no bloatware whatsoever. Sadly, it isn’t part of the Android One platform, meaning the G6 isn’t guaranteed to get timely updates from Google, and Moto isn’t known to push newer versions of the OS on time.

Running the show is a Snapdragon 450 processor, which slots into the lower-midrange speed realm, but is certainly efficient. Despite the smallish battery, the G6 can last through a day of moderate usage on a single charge with mobile data or Wi-Fi constantly on.

I tried playing a few games, but wasn’t too impressed by the performance. A couple of rounds of Dragon Ball Legends and Asphalt Xtreme didn’t show off the smoothest gameplay or fastest loading times. While the chipset isn’t too bad, the 3GB of memory is lacking, and there’s not much room for all my games and videos on the 32GB of internal storage — though you can expand that using the hybrid SIM and microSD tray.

Our creative director Chay also experienced some hiccups while using the G6’s cameras. Although they look good on paper — a 12- and 5-megapixel rear setup (one with a better f/1.8 lens) — the quality isn’t great and moving from one mode to another can get slow at times.

Here are some of the best photos she took:

The 8-megapixel front camera isn’t too impressive, either. You’d think it’s good when taking selfies in broad daylight, but it gets grainy even with indoor lighting. Overall, I wouldn’t recommend buying the G6 for its cameras or speed. Neither stand out as much as the build quality.

And that sort of sums up my experience with the Moto G6. As pretty as it looks, there’s not much going on inside. For this phone’s price of US$ 250 (INR 13,999 in India), you can find more powerful devices in the market.

We have two great lists for that, but one advantage the G6 has is its design. I can confidently say it’s the most well-built in its price range.

Accessories

Here are two Fancy iPhone 14 cases for the Full-on Fab

Moshi never disappoints!

Published

June 6, 2023

Vincenz

Already rocking the new iPhone 14 series but looking for cases that are fab and fancy? Well, Moshi is here to save you!

As of this writing, it’s Pride Month — and GadgetMatch is celebrating all genders in the spectrum.

These cases are perfect regardless of how you identify yourself. And even if you’re a guy, you could rock these too.

Heck it’s 2023! Stop putting stereotypes on case designs and colors. Be confident and BE YOU!

Swift unboxing

While Moshi’s set of accessories aren’t limited to the new iPhone 14 series, what we have here are cases that are specially-meant for the new iPhones.

With its clear packaging, you can clearly see the case details including the leather texture as well as the golden touch of its logo.

Right out of the box, it already entices you with its 10-year warranty.

Unlike the previous Moshi iPhone 13 case collection I’ve held last year, the new Moshi cases for the iPhone 14 series now have MagSafe built-in instead of their in-house SnapTo technology which is limited to Moshi cases and accessories only.

For product authenticity, no need to worry as these have ready-to-scratch seals for serial code activation. All you have to do is to grab your iPhone, open the camera app, scan the QR code, and fill-in your necessary details to activate the product.

And if the photos above did not satisfy you at all, here’s the unboxing of the two fab cases caught on video.

@gadgetmatch Shut up and take my money 😭 #iphone14 #iphonecase #moshi ♬ original sound – GadgetMatch

Moshi Napa Slim in Lavender Purple

Most of you were probably looking at that golden camera cutout. Well, it’s not just painted in gold as this camera cover is an aircraft-grade aluminum for better durability when laid out flat on tables or put in rugged pockets.

And as already shown earlier, the back of the Moshi Napa Slim is crafted with a vegan premium leather for that added grip and better texture when held. Speaking of better texture, the inside of the case has a microfiber inner lining to avoid unwanted scratches when putting the phone in.

The Moshi Napa Slim case is lightweight at just 94 grams (or 0.2 pounds). Durability-wise, it features a hybrid shock-absorbing frame that resists shocks when dropped all throughout.

The power button and volume rockers are also made out of aluminum-grade aluminum for that tactile response.

Setting up a pretty lockscreen wallpaper and an #OOTD that adds complement to the case and completes that fab and fancy look.

The Moshi Napa Slim is also available in three more colors including Serene Gray, Midnight Black, and Juniper Green. The regular iPhone 14 and 14 Pro cases retail at US$ 45.95 while the bigger cases meant for the iPhone 14 Plus and Pro Max siblings sells for US$ 49.95.

Moshi Overture with Detachable Wallet in Serene Gray

On the outside, the Moshi Overture isn’t any different from its Napa Slim case sibling.

It features that strong anodized aluminum camera cover that is also raised — also for unwanted camera scratches.

The same can be said with its power and volume buttons — irresistibly tactile to the touch.

Et voilà! With MagSafe built-in onto the case itself, the wallet stand attachment perfectly snaps into place.

Like previously mentioned, this case also has a built-in wallet with up to three (3) slots for your debit, credit, and even transit cards.

And as already teased earlier, the Moshi Overture features this golden circular element when you completely cover your iPhone that blends well to its premium vegan leather skin as well as its microfiber lining and the same shock-absorbing frame.

And just like that, it looks classy and fabulous too — even if you’re a heterosexual male without an ounce of fragile masculinity 🤩

Moshi’s Overture case with Detachable Wallet is also available in a Midnight Black colorway. It retails for US$ 65.95 for the smaller-sized iPhone 14 and 14 Pro while a dollar more (US$ 66.95) for the larger iPhone 14 Plus and Pro Max variants.

Hands-On

moto razr+ Hands-on: Flip Phone Done Right!

Or moto razr 40 ultra globally

Published

June 2, 2023

GadgetMatch

Meet the newest moto razr+ — or moto razr 40 ultra globally. It has all the flagship-grade hardware in a thin and compact form.

But its biggest upgrade has got to be its new full-on cover screen — and it might just be the best one yet!

Can’t wait to see how the new razr looks and feels?

Here’s our hands-on with the new moto razr+.

If you haven’t kept track of the record, motorola released two razr flip phones globally. Those are the motorola razr back in 2019, and the motorola razr 5G in 2020.

motorola (or Lenovo) then skipped the year 2021 and brought us the motorola razr 2022 — only to be sold exclusively to China.

Fast track to 2023, motorola is coming back with a whole new flip phone for the international markets! Say hello to the 2023 motorola razr family