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Wiko at MWC: A little bit essential, a little bit great
by Dominik Bärlocher
Motorola G6: The new mid-range model
19.4.2018
Translation: machine translated
Motorola presented the Moto G6 series in Sao Paulo. Three phones are set to shake up the market. A first look shows that they could succeed, as Moto does a lot with software and hardware with a healthy price tag.
"Venha ver seu mundo de uma forma diferente - helloyou", reads the text on Motorola's invitation, which refers to the launch event in Sao Paulo. "Come and see the world in a different way". The launch comes as a surprise and out of the blue. The first official images of the device, which has been leaked in virtually its entirety - some of them by Motorola itself - landed on my desk in the digitec editorial team a few hours ago.
At the live event, however, I run into difficulties. My Portuguese is somewhere between non-existent and very rusty. I understand the essentials. If you've been watching and I've got something completely wrong in the translations, let me know in the comments. The presenter in the yellow ensemble welcomes the audience to the "most important phone launch of the year".
The midfield is the new premier class
The Lauch event shows one thing above all: the tough battle in the mobile phone industry is not being fought in the high price categories. Ever since smartphones passed the 1000 francs mark, flagships have moved away from the mass market. iPhones and Samsung Galaxies are no longer everyday devices. They are luxury goods. Mass appeal is to be found in the as yet unnamed lower mid-range. This is where users are looking for battery life and functionality and also want to save money.
This is the field that Motorola - currently owned by Lenovo - has chosen. The manufacturer is entering the ring with the Moto G6. "Maravilha," says the woman in yellow. Wonderful. She repeats the word often.
The motto of the three phones Motorola is presenting is "helloyou". The somewhat dubious spelling of the slogan is supposed to mean that the phone is designed with the user in mind. I suspect the live stream is only partially live. Otherwise, the woman in yellow is able to bilocate, so she can be in two places at the same time. I assume she is currently in a hall where the press are sitting.
After a few clips with the same old audio jingle, it's time to get down to business. The phones are presented.
Sergio Buniac, President of Motorola, takes to the stage. He switches between Portuguese and English. Lucky for him.
He talks about his company and how he is doing. In the United States, Moto phones are available at three times as many points of sale as they were a year ago. Economically, the company has nothing to complain about either.
The G6 in the standard version
Pounding bass sounds from the speakers, a countdown on the screen counts down from 3. Dancers in colourful costumes move to the rhythm, but not yet dancing, towards the stage. There they perform a dance that merges people and screen. This has nothing to do with a mid-range launch. Motorola is celebrating itself.
The Motorola G6 - just the G6 - has a 5.7-inch display with a screen resolution of 1080 x 2160 pixels. Motorola calls this "Full HD Max Vision". The resolution indicates a screen ratio of 2:1, but the official tech specs say 18:9. On the other side: glass. "3D glass", as Motorola calls it, and a prominent camera hump with a dual cam inside. The manufacturer has focussed on curves in the design. There is hardly a corner or sharp edge to be seen.
It quickly becomes clear that the dancers represent the battery life, among other things. The G6 packs 3000mAh behind the screen. Plus a dual cam setup with a 12-megapixel and a 5-megapixel camera with a ƒ/1.8 aperture. This puts the Moto G6 on a par with the flagships, at least in terms of tech specs. The camera has a certain amount of intelligence built in, can scan text, provides the bokeh effect, has a panorama mode and a manual mode. The camera software also offers the option of changing the background of an image. The phone apparently does the maths, finds out what is foreground and what is background and then crops with pixel precision.
The G6 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 system-on-a-chip. Although the SoC is not a top model, the 1.8 GHz in the octa-care setup provides enough power according to the manufacturer.
The Moto G6 Plus: slightly bigger, slightly faster
The G6's big brother is called the Moto G6 Plus. The display has a screen diagonal of almost six inches and a larger battery. Instead of 3000 mAh, Lenovo packs 3200 mAh behind the screen. The software is identical to that of the G6. Android 8.0, Moto Voice and intelligent camera.
The camera also has more behind the ears, even if the megapixel specifications are identical: The aperture goes up to ƒ/1.7, intelligently recognises landmarks and objects. Even shopping should be possible via the camera. On the video side, the G6 Plus records films in "4K Ultra HD" resolution. Plus slow motion and time-lapse.
Moto G6 Play: the revival
The Moto G6 Play is a revival of the manufacturer's Play label. Fans are probably delighted, experts a little confused. The phone is neither fish nor fowl, but also promises a lot.
The battery is slightly larger, has a capacity of 4000 mAh and should last all day. The screen is 5.7 inches like the G6, but the resolution is lower. With an aspect ratio of 18:9, it has a resolution of 720 x 1440 pixels.
The camera is also slimmed down, with only 13 megapixels and an F-stop of ƒ/2.0. The G6 Play records videos at up to 1080p at 30fps. It is clear that the phone is designed to last. The battery is the focus of the device, all other features have to take a back seat.
Intelligent everything
Like other manufacturers, Motorola has developed a standard that dramatically shortens the charging time of the G6 series. According to Sao Paulo, 50 per cent of the battery can be charged during a long coffee break. However, the manufacturer's website also holds back on exact charging times during the live stream.
But the phone's intelligence doesn't stop there. When you look at the G6 series, it looks back. As long as the front camera sees your eyes as they are directed at the display, the display will not switch off. Of course, this includes Face Unlock and a dedicated voice assistant. "The voice system is always on," says the man on stage. It is a conversational system, knows about context and is able to understand even complex commands. He gives the example of a hotel search. You can search for "four-star hotels in Beijing" and then open the website of the "third entry in the list".
There is also a beta programme. As a Moto user, you can actively participate in the development of the Moto. You will receive new features before everyday users and will be actively asked for your feedback. This makes Motorola very different from the normal beta programme for apps from the Play Store, where you only submit extended telemetry data but receive features that are about to be released.
After the stream: First thoughts
After the stream, I'm asked how I see the situation. Will Moto manage to shake up the market? The answer: Difficult to say. In terms of price/performance, it's certainly possible, because Lenovo-Motorola offers a lot for very little. So far, however, they have not really come close to the king of the segment, Wiko. However, it may well be that the G6 series knocks the French off their throne, as Moto has put development into its phones on the software side that Wiko cannot match. Not yet.
It will be the software that decides the battle. If the Moto features deliver what they promise, then it is certainly possible that Wiko will have to settle for second place.
Update 19/04/2018 // 5:10 pm: Products gone again
I have removed the products from the article again. Apparently, the pre-sale of the phones only starts one day after the official presentation of the G6 series. Sorry. The phones will be back tomorrow.
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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