Moto G86 Power 5G review: Weekend-long battery life

Greatest Costs As we speak: Moto G86 Energy 5G

The Moto G86 Energy 5G is Motorola’s newest try and dominate the battery-first funds cellphone class, and the larger brother of the common Moto G86. 

In some ways, it’s essentially the most bold of the corporate’s G-series but, designed to push longevity and sturdiness to the entrance of the dialog. 

It is a machine that boasts the corporate’s largest-ever battery, a show able to hitting an eye-watering 4500 nits, and a three-lens digital camera system. 

Motorola payments it because the cellphone that may sustain with lengthy weekends away, festivals, or days out within the wilderness, however there are some quirks that make it fall in need of greatness.

Design & Construct

• Plastic again
• PI68 and IP69 ranking
• USB-C

From the beginning, the G86 Energy 5G fails to challenge sophistication. Its so-called ‘Smooth Luxe Texture’ again might sound luxurious, however in actuality it feels lower than premium to carry, whether or not you select Pantone Spellbound (navy), Cosmic Sky (gray), Golden Cypress (gold), or Chrysanthemum (crimson).

Motorola features a colour-matched case within the field, however this solely provides one other layer of plastic, giving the entire bundle the impression of a laminated kitchen counter.

Rivals at this value will not be cast from premium metals, however they typically look sharper and extra cohesive than this handset.

What the G86 Energy lacks in seems to be, nonetheless, it makes up for in ruggedness. The cellphone is IP68- and IP69-rated, defending it from mud and heavy rain.

Corning’s Gorilla Glass 7i protects the show, and at 198g, it feels reassuringly stable within the hand with out being overly heavy. Safety is dealt with by an under-screen fingerprint scanner that works swiftly and, whereas face unlock is accessible, it stays a handy function fairly than a safe one.

On the backside you’ll discover the USB-C charging port, however – regrettably, if unsurprisingly – the three.5mm headphone jack is gone.

Adam Smith / Foundry

Display screen & Audio system 

• Tremendous HD decision
• 120Hz refresh price
• 4500 nits brightness

Motorola has invested closely within the G86 Energy’s show, and it reveals. The 6.67-inch Tremendous HD pOLED panel is sharper than many rivals due to its 1220p decision, and its assist for HDR10+ offers it a wealthy color palette. 

Watching the newest season of Physician Who, the G86 Energy did justice to the textures of the Physician’s blue swimsuit, whereas the cartoonish villain Lux popped brightly towards the extra grounded units. 

Colors are punchy and, whereas the panel tends to push lighter pores and skin tones a contact too far into brightness, it delivers a viewing expertise that comfortably challenges some flagship telephones. 

The 120Hz refresh price retains scrolling and gaming fluid, making on a regular basis navigation really feel clean and responsive.

The corporate additionally claims a peak brightness of 4500 nits, which interprets effectively to real-world use. This cellphone could be learn effortlessly within the final remnants of the British summer season solar – the place funds gadgets typically wrestle.

The stereo audio system are Dolby Atmos-certified and get lots loud, projecting dialogue clearly and dealing with midrange frequencies with ease. Vocals and podcasts sound sturdy, although the inevitable limitations of small drivers turn out to be apparent at increased volumes. 

Sibilant sounds in music can reduce harshly, and bass is current however not convincing. It’s tremendous for informal video or streaming, however headphones stay the higher choice for any severe listening.

Specs & Efficiency

• 8GB RAM
• 512GB of storage
• “RAM Increase” mode

Powering the G86 Energy is MediaTek’s Dimensity 7300 processor, paired on this mannequin with 8GB of RAM and an enormous 512GB of storage. 

That mixture makes it really feel snappy for on a regular basis use, and gaming is smoother than anticipated. In testing, Genshin Impression ran comfortably, dealing with fight and exploration with out noticeable lag, and Pokémon Unite performed out with out stuttering.

There’s additionally the flexibility to make use of a part of the cellphone’s storage to spice up its processing energy via Moto’s “RAM enhance” mode. By making a small pool of “digital RAM” out of your cellphone’s inner storage, the G86 Energy will transfer much less vital background processes into this digital area, liberating up precise RAM for the apps you’re actively utilizing. 

In concept this could enhance multitasking capabilities, though I didn’t discover any vital enchancment with the enhance enabled. Alternatively, shifting information forwards and backwards can drain the battery quicker and put wear-and-tear on the storage chip. 

Adam Smith / Foundry

Moto G86 Energy 5G benchmarks

Cameras

• 50Mp principal sensor
• 8Mp ultrawide
• Macro Imaginative and prescient mode

The G86 Energy 5G’s digital camera system is headlined by a 50Mp Sony LYTIA 600 sensor and an 8Mp ultrawide lens, which delivers stable efficiency that hits the candy spot for its value bracket. 

In good lighting circumstances, the digital camera produces sharp, well-exposed photos with pure colors – sustaining element in each highlights and shadows with out the aggressive processing that usually plagues funds telephones. 

For daylight pictures and social media sharing, this digital camera system gives persistently usable outcomes.

Low-light efficiency reveals the {hardware} limitations typical of funds gadgets, however continues to be vivid sufficient to be sharable and, though this cellphone gained’t go the gap with its middling zoom, there can be no complaints from anybody taking fast snaps.

However the Macro Imaginative and prescient mode, for close-up pictures, is surprisingly efficient. The digital camera captures interaction between the pale sections of a leaf and the deeper inexperienced veining with spectacular distinction and element, in addition to the white fuzz that peppers its define. 

You will have a gentle hand as different areas can turn out to be blurry with a small shake, however it is going to nonetheless faithfully reproduce the pure tones.

Battery Life & Charging

The Moto G86 Energy 5G’s 6720mAh battery actually is the headline act right here: the cellphone shrugs off heavy workloads and might realistically see you thru a full weekend without having to hit the charger. 

Nevertheless, whereas the corporate claims customers can stand up to 23 hours of battery life in half-hour of cost, that doesn’t come out of the field.

As a substitute, clients might want to shell out for a separate cable and plug, as with the bundled one the cellphone climbed to only 10% in quarter-hour and 19% in half-hour mixed with a 12V Philips journey plug.

Software program & Apps

• Android 15
• Moto Unplugged app
• Copious quantities of bloatware

Out of the field, the G86 Energy 5G runs Android 15, layered with Motorola’s personal suite of extras excessive. 

A few of these additions are genuinely useful. Notification customisation presents a number of layouts, together with a tidy ‘chip’ mode and a centralised bubble view, the latter of which feels particularly intuitive. 

The Moto Unplugged function can also be effectively thought out, letting you strip away distracting apps totally for a set time. Not like conventional Do Not Disturb modes, which merely mute alerts, Unplugged actively hides the apps themselves, making a centered surroundings. It’s unlucky that this can’t be set on a schedule, in the course of the workday or at night time, however it’s nonetheless a pleasant contact.

Sadly, Whats up UX additionally arrives with a glut of bloatware. The Perplexity AI browser, Reserving.com, TikTok, LinkedIn, Amazon Music, Solitaire, and Sweet Crush all seem earlier than you’ve even had an opportunity to open the Play Retailer, setting a bitter first impression.

Motorola has promised two main Android OS upgrades and 4 years of safety updates from preliminary launch till June 2029, which is respectable however doesn’t fairly match as much as rivals similar to Nothing’s CMF Telephone 2 Professional, which has three OS upgrades and 6 years of safety fixes supported.

Adam Smith / Foundry

Value & Availability

The Moto G86 Energy 5G sells for £299.99 within the UK, obtainable from Motorola’s web site, placing it on the higher finish of the funds market. Nevertheless, you possibly can at the moment purchase it from AO.com for £229, which might make it considerably extra enticing.

It’s not obtainable within the US. Anybody searching for a cellphone at an identical value level ought to see our round-up of the most effective funds telephones for our high suggestions.

Must you purchase the Moto G86 Energy 5G?

The Moto G86 Energy 5G is a cellphone constructed for longevity within the day-to-day. Its 6720mAh battery may be very spectacular, its display is vivid and sharp sufficient to carry its personal towards costlier rivals, and its rugged design means you don’t have to child it.

Whereas it won’t be essentially the most refined machine aesthetically, and its £300 price ticket places it on the increased finish of the funds machine market, it is a potent handset that shouldn’t wrestle with something you give it.

Specs

• Android 15
• 6.67in, 2712 × 1220 (Tremendous HD) 120Hz
• MediaTek Dimensity 7300
• 8GB RAM
• 512GB storage
• Entrance Digital camera: 32Mp, f/2.2
• Rear Cameras: 50Mp Sony LYTIA 600, 8Mp ultrawide + macro
• On-screen fingerprint reader, Face Unlock
• 5G (sub-6, n1/n3/n5/n7/n8/n20/n26/n28/n38/n40/n41/n71/n77/n78)
• 4G LTE, 3G WCDMA, 2G GSM
• Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax, 2.4 & 5GHz)
• Bluetooth
• USB-C
• 6720mAh,
• 161.21 × 74.74 × 8.65mm
• W198g
• Launch Colors: Pantone Spellbound, Cosmic Sky, Golden Cypress, Chrysanthemum