Moto E6s review: What does Motorola’s new budget phone offer?

Moto E6s review: The Moto E6s is the latest offering from the Motorola and this entry-level smartphone targets the under Rs 10,000 segment. Unlike the Motorola One-series smartphones, which try to offer unique propositions, the Moto E6s features a balanced specification sheet.

The Lenovo-owned brand says that they have designed the new E-series device while keeping in mind the needs of the Indian consumer and as part of India-centric features, Motorola has brought back the removable back cover and removable battery in the Moto E6s. The highlights of Moto E6s include a 13MP+2MP dual-rear camera setup, 6.1-inch HD+ display, and MediaTek Helio P22 processor. Here is our review of the Moto E6s.

Moto E6s price: Rs 7,999

Moto E6s specifications: 6.1-inch HD+ display | MediaTek helio P22 processor | 4GB RAM | 64GB ROM | 3,000mAh battery | 10W charging | 13MP+2MP dual rear camera | 8MP front camera | rear-mounted fingerprint sensor

Moto E6s review: Design and display

The Moto E6s follows the design scheme of Motorola’s other 2019 smartphones. But this one’s build gives the impression of a budget device right off the bat. I had the Polished Graphite variant, which despite being clean and simple did not turn out to be my liking. It’s so reflective that it can be called a plastic mirror. The Rich Cranberry variant looks more refined, but that one is also a fingerprint magnet.

The weight of the phone is very light and it’s a good thing that the back is removable. Motorola promised commercial units of the back case as well as batteries. However, the back case has a seamless build and doesn’t look like it’s a removable one.

Despite having a big 6.1-inch screen, the size of the device is quite small and fits comfortably into hands. Since a lot of phone at this price point carry the waterdrop-style notch, the presence of a similar dot-notch on Moto E6s and 80 per cent screen-to-body ratio is good but not something unique.

Moto E6s sports an IPS LCD panel with HD+ resolution (1560×720) and 19.5:9 aspect ratio but it doesn’t impress. The brightness levels are too low and I could not use the device outdoors properly on a sunny day. The viewing angles aren’t good either and the colour reproduction of the screen is also not impressive.

Moto E6s review: Processor and UI

The Moto E6s is powered by the MediaTek Helio P22 processor paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. The performance of the device is not bad and it handles the flood of app notifications and multi-tasking without lags.

It keeps light apps opened in the background, however, the app-loading time is a bit long. It still performs better than the Realme C2 (powered by the same processor), but the device gets sluggish when it comes to switching between apps and opening too many Chrome tabs.

Being a budget device, I did not expect Moto E6s to run graphics-heavy games, but Motorola insisted that the device can run PUBG Mobile. So I installed the game, played for half-an-hour and I would like to disagree. PUBG Mobile is set at low graphics by default and you can set it to medium but the phone cannot handle it. Even at low settings, the gameplay is not smooth and you cannot handle the aim or the recoil of even the SMGs. It’s better to install the PUBG Lite on the device or play some casual games like Warrior Legends or Subway Surfer.

The phone runs stock Android and there are no bloatware or unnecessary notifications to install a third-party app. You have the option to keep the navigation pill or bring back the old soft keys. The rear-mounted fingerprint sensor on the device works really well and never misses the mark. The face-unlock feature also performs quite fast.

Moto E6s review: Camera

The Moto E6s features a dual-rear camera setup carrying a primary 13MP lens paired with a secondary 2MP depth sensor. The pictures clicked on the phone are decent, but a bit on the dull side. The phone doesn’t take vibrant or social media-ready pictures, but retains good amount of details in a shot. I  did notice that when the subject is close enough, the colour reproduction of the camera improves.

The bokeh lens gives the option to adjust the blur levels before you take a shot but the phone takes around 2-3 seconds to process such an image.

The dynamic range and exposure levels are okay. The camera performance of Moto E6s in low light situations is not on par with daylight performance. The 8MP front camera takes decent pictures. In low light situations, the quality deteriorates. The integration of Google Lens in the camera app is a nice addition.

Moto E6s review: Battery and charging speed

The Moto E6s gives a good battery backup of one-and-half a day with moderate usage. On heavy usage, the battery lasts a full day. Motorola is packing a 10W charger in the box with the phone but even with that charger, the battery takes three hours to reach 87 per cent from zero. To get to full charge, you will need to plug it for another 40-45 minutes.

Motorola has opted for a removable battery for the Moto E6s. In my view, for a budget device, that’s a nice step. It gives the freedom to swap batteries when the original one is discharged or goes out of commission for good. And since Moto E6s is taking more than three hours to charge the battery, it is better to have a backup battery.

Moto E6s review: Verdict

The Moto E6s is a lightweight smartphone that offers a good battery backup and an okay camera, but it it could have done better on other parameters. Still, the performance of the phone is better than other devices powered by the same chipset. Since the Moto E6s comes with a price tag of Rs 7,999, the phone is matched with the likes of Realme 3i and Redmi 7 and that is not a good competition for the new Motorola device. At the maximum, the phone can be considered for its ease of use and removable battery.