Motorola Moto G06 review – a budget Android with a gaming problem

There are a lot of budget cell phones around that can offer great gaming experiences at a fraction of what the flagships go for, and while I wish I could say the same for the Motorola Moto G06, that’s not the case. Looking past the lovely large display for a device at this price range and some decent value for money, it’s not the budget option that I’d personally recommend.

Motorola’s latest addition, which is looking to find a place among the best budget gaming phones, is just not enough to provide a long-term solution to an often expensive problem: playing the best mobile games without breaking the bank. It’s good enough for doomscrolling, it’s decent enough for browsing, but past very basic experiences, you’re better off looking elsewhere.

Specs

A replacement of last year’s G05 model, the Motorola Moto G06 is surprisingly familiar to the 2024 predecessor. It has the same chipset and the same Android 15 operating system, but it boasts a larger display. That may sound like an upgrade, but the same screen resolution means that it’s got a lower pixel per inch (or PPI) ratio. We’re talking just single digits, but it’s a small downgrade worth mentioning.

Even before getting into my opinions on performance, the Mediatek Helio G81 Extreme is working overtime to do – well, the bare minimum, in all honesty. With a measly 4GB of RAM (8GB with the RAM boost option), the specs are fairly weak across the board, save for a hefty 5,200 mAh battery capacity.

Price and availability

The Motorola Moto G06 starts from just £69, which is a surprisingly low figure, one that showcases why the internal (and external) hardware is fairly minimal. There’s a range of models, with 64GB being the smallest in terms of storage and 256GB being the highest, which will set you back just £109.99. Right now, it doesn’t look like there are any versions of the cell phone available in the US.

For that cheap price, you get a range of colors to choose from, including PANTONE Laurel Oak, PANTONE Arabesque, PANTONE Tapestry (the color of the device in this review), and finally, PANTONE Tendril. It’s a solid lineup of choices, considering how cheap the phone launches at.

Performance and gaming

Upon launching the phone for the first time, I was surprised at how stuttery it was straight away. Even after a few hours of allowing the phone to go through the necessary initial setup, it was still laggy, with a noticeable delay whenever I swiped to another page of the home screen or booted up an app. A worrying sign, to say the least.

While it’s more occasional now, stuttering still occurs, and though the low price of the phone grants it some leniency, even for a device in 2025, that feels like a tall order to forget in a review. Fortunately, it did do a decent job as I read through my various Google Play books in the evenings, and I was surprised at how well it handled Pokémon Go.

Speaking of Pokémon Go, that’s one of the best Android games that the Moto G06 can run, alongside the likes of Candy Crush or Monopoly Go. Even Marvel Snap seems to run fine, allowing me to enjoy my favorite mobile card game without issue. However, past these simple and occasionally older titles, the Moto G06 lags behind.

Not only is the device running Android 15, last year’s major update to the operating system, but it’s not getting any more, and it’s also only receiving two years of security upgrades. That’s a disappointing factor, though it’s not quite as disheartening as the fact that it won’t run some of the best gacha games (like Destiny Rising or Zenless Zone Zero) at all. Yes, it kicks you off if you try to boot up Destiny, a full hard lock, capital letters N-O.

I get that it’s a budget phone, below £100 for that fact, but the fact that it will become a security risk in a couple of years (alongside the lackluster performance in general) puts a sour taste in my mouth. It’s a great, simple solution if your current device is on its way out and you want to keep in contact with others, but don’t expect to be powering through ZZZ with ease.

Camera-wise, it doesn’t fare much better. Even the on-screen display of what your lens sees is smudgy, washed out, and fairly dull. There’s no vibrance or life to the images captured, and it takes a few moments for the capture to process. I’m not expecting photography-level hardware here, but the 50MP camera is clearly overselling the poor sensors.

Design and battery

I’m happy that the Motorola G06 comes with a microSD slot for expandable storage, offering up to 1TB of extra content to store on your phone. A soft leather-style finish surrounds the back of the device, giving it a nice feel and a unique little feature for the budget-friendly phone, and the IP64 rating makes it a sturdier smartphone than most competitors at this price range.

Taking away the disappointment with the internal hardware, it’s a great and surprisingly lightweight phone considering the display’s size. However, for the first time, I’d actually recommend using it out of the included case, as the case I received with the Moto G06 had a few sharpish edges at the bottom, which felt uncomfortable to hold and rest my fingers along.

Fortunately, the battery is absolutely great. The whopping 5200 mAh is made lengthier with the weaker hardware and display, so it’s a long-lasting phone that – without intense work – can last upwards of 40 hours. That does mean it’s a great emergency-only phone, so long as you can still charge it up fairly frequently and if you’re (for some reason) not charging your existing handset enough.

Display

The Moto G06’s display, on paper, is nothing short of brilliant. It is an IPS LCD, but it’s also 6.88 inches of splendor to enjoy, and one that offers up to 120Hz to boot – to play Candy Crush with high refresh rates, of course. While it’s slightly blurry to look at, that’s me coming from the point of view of someone who uses an AMOLED display most of the time, so it’s going to look a little worse than my usual viewing habits.

However, there’s a rather large bezel surrounding the display that makes it look even cheaper, made worse with a raindrop front camera notch as opposed to a punch-hole design. With just a maximum brightness of 600 nits, it’s a fairly dull display that doesn’t get a chance to shine, considering how big the display really is.

Should you buy the Motorola Moto G06?

Coming from a mobile games perspective, the answer is probably not. It’s a handy little Android that works well for scrolling social media or reading books, but it’s not beating out other budget-friendly phones when it comes to performance, design, or much else, really. It’s a somewhat solid handset that does most jobs either mediocrely or poorly, and with no major OS updates, that’s a tough pill to swallow.

If you’re looking for a simple, cheap handset to get you through a few months, or you’re simply wanting an extra little device running Android (maybe you have good Google Play points but run the best iPhones, like me), then it’s fine. It’s not breaking any records, but it’s not breaking the bank either.

Alternatives

Samsung Galaxy A16

While it’s not as cheap as the Motorola Moto G06, the Samsung Galaxy A16 offers more security updates with six years of patches, as well as 5G connectivity and a triple camera array. Best of all, it runs Destiny Rising – low visuals, but at least it actually works.

Samsung Galaxy S22 (renewed)

If you don’t mind paying a bit more for a refurbished phone, the flagship Samsung Galaxy S22 is still a great little handset despite being a few years old. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is still a great chipset that runs Destiny Rising really well, and allows you to access various Android games without breaking the bank.