Verdict
Despite a good price and a style factor consistent with the Motorola brand, sluggish performance makes this a hard sell, even for those on a tight budget.
Loud speakers
Good battery life
Cheap access to Google Gemini assistant features
Slow overall performance with persistent stutters
Display struggles in bright conditions
Key Features
Review Price: £109
Large 120Hz display
The ultra-wide IPS display on the Moto G06 reaches up to 120Hz for smooth scrolling at 600nits peak brightness to alleviate outdoor viewing concerns.
50MP camera
The 50MP camera system seen in the more expensive Moto G86 trickles down to offer decent photography chops in the right conditions.
5,200mAh battery
A good sized battery paired with a power efficient chip and 720p screen helps the Moto G06 go on and on.
Introduction
The Motorola G06 continues another trend of acceptably budget handsets from the old mobile king of the castle. And having tested almost all of them in the past two years, even I’m beginning to lose track of the naming scheme.
Making matters worse — when they’re usually quite positive — performance seems to be getting slower as the years go by, going against the initial idea that trickle-down tech would make cheaper phones with increasing price-to-performance value.
Sadly, the Moto G06 is a step in the wrong direction, with the corner-cutting finally catching up with a brand that has gone from the cutting edge to the best of the bargain bin.
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Design
- Grippy textured vegan leather finish with Pantone colours
- Thicker bezels and droplet-style selfie camera cutout
- Comes with a plastic cover in the box
The Moto G06 brings back the vegan leather rear in a handful of vibrant Pantone colours. Fresh out of the box, it’s a wonderfully grippy surface that won’t dare slide out of your palm. It’s good to have a little texture to touch.
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Outside of that, it’s largely the same phone we’ve fiddled around with before. A tall display with a thin chin brings back memories of the Google Pixel 2, with a droplet-style selfie camera causing less of a punch hole in the screen and more of a dip.
In the green colourway (sorry, PANTONE Tendril), the plastic surround carries a metallic sheen to create an almost golden frame, with a matching volume rocker and power button being the only thing other than the SIM slot to interrupt the presentation.
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Underneath is a USB-C 2.0 port and a three-piece speaker grill, with surprisingly loud stereo sound supported by the earpiece. On the top is a 3.5mm headphone jack. Motorola isn’t letting that one go on its budget line.
That means there’s little in the way of waterproofing. It can withstand a splash for sure, but don’t drop it into the bath.
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In the box is, well, barely anything. It’s easily recycled, but there are few freebies besides a clear rubber case and a charging cable. With only 10W charging, any brick you have around the house will satisfy this one’s limited charging needs.
Screen
- 720p 120Hz IPS panel
- Droplet-style selfie camera cuts into the display
- Off-axis reduces brightness
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At 720 x 1640, this is what we consider a sub-HD panel in a rather large form factor. And even though there’s a noticeable lack of sharpness to on-screen graphics and app icons, text is perfectly legible without obvious pixelation.
The lower resolution also takes some of the strain off the processor by having fewer pixels to render, which should be a lifesaver for this handset’s performance. More on that shortly.
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Perhaps surprising to some is this screen’s ability to climb to 120Hz. It’s a feature that has only just been introduced to Apple’s iPhone 17, so seeing the cheapest devices match that will always be a win. Just don’t expect to put it to much use with a processor that can barely keep up.
Being an IPS panel, colours appear accurate and only brightness takes a hit when viewed at an angle. Other than that, it’s bright enough for use in almost any situation, but glaring summer sun might be too much to ask.
In movies, especially documentaries, it struggles to have the lifelike glow you get from more high-end devices. At least the large screen makes for easy viewing. In all, it’s a screen that, while good enough for a limited use case, is evidently the bare minimum you can expect in 2025.
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Camera
- 50MP rear shooter
- 16MP selfie camera
- 2x zoom
Rocking the same 50MP AI camera setup we’ve seen in other Moto handsets like the recent Moto G86, it’s one we consider serviceable for the price.
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Wonky general performance means you won’t be taking shots in quick succession, especially in dimly-lit scenes, and moving objects are largely out of the question, but there’s enough resolution to capture landscapes, objects, and documents, with a little 2X zoom there to make it useful as a magnifying glass.
Under artificial lighting, the results aren’t terrible. An assortment of knick-knacks retain most of their character, but not necessarily their texture, leading to some looking unusually smooth.
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In trying to snap a shot of an animal that can’t sit still for half a second, sluggish speeds lead to blurring. Not enough to render it entirely unusable, but hardly printable and more reminiscent of a disposable camera at a wedding reception.
The 16MP selfie camera punches perhaps a smidge above its weight. Stray hairs can compromise edge detection. The default settings smooth you in the same way as the rear shooters, too. However, the results are good enough for silly Snapchat posts and video calls.
Performance
- Sluggish all-round performance
- Barely suited to even simple 3D games
- Inconsistent stuttering in everyday use
Sadly, the Moto G06 just isn’t up to most tasks. Once it gets going, it just about gets there. But even basic operation is like wading through water. Startup takes a while, there’s a delay in launching and minimising apps, and scrolling anything has a penchant to stutter.
In the GFXBench tests used for well over a decade now, the Moto G06 could only manage 12fps on the pair. In Wildlife (not Extreme, that wouldn’t launch) the Moto G06 scored just 663. That translates to an average of 3.79 frames per second. A slideshow.
In Geekbench, a test that puts the processor through various everyday tasks, 409 was the single-core score, while multi-core came back at 1368. It also took upward of 10 minutes to complete, which is never a good sign for real-world performance.
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That means the 120Hz panel on this is unlikely to see much use. Aside from reading ebooks, where there’s virtually nothing more for the processor to do outside of rendering text, there’s little chance of enjoying the smooth scrolling of the 120Hz panel. While partaking in the reading of digital parchment, though, you’ll notice the fluidity of turning the page or sliding through a chapter.
In a suitable full-screen app, performance is fine. Not outstanding, but not egregious. And by suitable apps, we mean those that come pre-installed. Whether you like it or not, they’re likely cherry-picked to not cause immediate problems. They’re simple enough to dabble in and won’t highlight the handset’s shortcomings too quickly.
Under a moderate gaming scenario, load times were ok, but overall performance took a while to settle in. Frequent skips were observed throughout. It’s decent enough to handle simple Roblox games to keep smaller kids entertained in a pinch, but anything else is too much for this one to handle. It’s Mahjong or nothing.
Closing the app also didn’t cut off the audio for a good 10 seconds, so there’s a chance of embarrassing yourself in public if you don’t keep this on silent and accidentally tap the wrong app.
Software
- Android 15
- Some bloatware pre-installed
- Few first-party features
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Running Android 15, there isn’t much to speak of when it comes to the general software experience with the Moto G06. You’ll spot the usual plethora of pre-installed games that can’t put a dent in the surprisingly generous 256GB storage space. They’re also easily removed with a hold and tap.
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Other than that, it’s a fairly inoffensive Android build with some of the niceties like Circle to Search. Open the app drawer and you’ll find a few first-party apps, but nothing that pops up to bug you with notifications and permission demands. It’s somewhat clean and as simple as Android can be. It’s just a little heavy for the chipset.
Thankfully, if set up by an experienced user beforehand, it’s more than good enough to rely on Google Gemini. We had it read out letters and explain the purpose of nearby objects with the camera, with a clear back-and-forth conversation highlighting how the Moto G06 can be a very inexpensive and invaluable tool to someone who just needs a little help around the house.
Battery
- 5200mAh battery
- 10W charging
- Impressive runtime
Despite flashing some fast-charging moniker while juicing up on a powerful plug, there’s no getting around the Moto G06’s sluggish 10W peak power draw. While nowhere near a dealbreaker, you’ll average 1% of life per minute hooked up to the average wall wart. We reached the 50% mark after 55 minutes, with a full trickle charge taking just over two hours.
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In use, battery life is actually solid. A low-performance screen paired with a suitable chip means this underpowered device can’t really tax the battery.
In practice, the Moto G06 sips power and can be trusted to survive around a week left around the house. It’s a good emergency device. In use, the aforementioned light 3D gaming tossed back just 4% battery, while an hour of Netflix on suitable indoor brightness slurped 7%. That’s just a smidge less than the average handset.
Should you buy it?
You want one of the cheapest smartphones available
A loud speaker, big, bright screen, and access to Google Gemini makes this sometimes sub-£100 smartphone capable of everything most smartphone uses will ever really expect of their device.
You want to keep a kid happy on a budget
Sluggish everyday performance and a middling camera means this isn’t a bargain blower to toss to kid who is beginning to venture out on their own.
Final Thoughts
There just isn’t enough oomph in the Moto G06 to recommend this device to anyone but those least likely to use it. For the price, the battery makes it a half-decent device for a vulnerable person to keep close for emergencies. However, without default configurations for accompanying accessibility features, it’s still a tough sell compared to the myriad other options on the market, especially in the second-hand/refurbished space.
It’s the raw performance that limits its appeal, rendering an already iffy camera too sluggish for practical use, and general usability is annoyingly inconsistent. Just when you think it’s settled into its routine, it takes a little too long to launch an app, seconds to save a shot, and moments to think about the simplest of taps.
At the promo price of £89.99, it’s a good enough device for the most basic smartphone needs. At the recommended price of £109, there are better deals to be had on the used market, and you’d have to double your money to grab something from our list of the best cheap phones. That’s saying something.
How We Test
We test every mobile phone we review thoroughly. We use industry-standard tests to compare features properly and we use the phone as our main device over the review period. We’ll always tell you what we find and we never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
- Used as a main phone for over a week
- Thorough camera testing in a variety of conditions
- Tested and benchmarked using respected industry tests and real-world data
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FAQs
Does the Moto G06 come with a charger?
It comes with a USB-C cable, but no charging brick. But with only 10W charging, any brick you have lying around will likely do the job.
Test Data
Motorola Moto G06
Geekbench 6 single core
409
Geekbench 6 multi core
1368
Max brightness
600 nits
1 hour video playback (Netflix, HDR)
7 %
30 minute gaming (intensive)
3 %
Time from 0-100% charge
133 min
Time from 0-50% charge
55 Min
30-min recharge (no charger included)
29 %
15-min recharge (no charger included)
15 %
GFXBench – Aztec Ruins
12 fps
GFXBench – Car Chase
12 fps
Full Specs
Motorola Moto G06 Review
UK RRP
£109
Manufacturer
Motorola
Screen Size
6.88 inches
Storage Capacity
256GB
Rear Camera
50MP
Front Camera
8MP
Video Recording
Yes
IP rating
Not Disclosed
Battery
5200 mAh
Size (Dimensions)
171.4 x 77.5 x 8.31 MM
Weight
194 G
Operating System
Android 15
Release Date
2025
First Reviewed Date
05/11/2025
Model Number
Moto G06
Resolution
1640 x 720
Refresh Rate
120 Hz
Ports
USB-C 2.0, 3.5mm headphone jack
Chipset
MediaTek Helio G81 Extreme
RAM
4GB
Colours
PANTONE Arabesque, PANTONE Tapestry, PANTONE Tendril
Stated Power
10 W
