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

Best Prices Today: Moto G86 Power 5G

The Moto G86 Power 5G is Motorola’s latest attempt to dominate the battery-first budget phone category, and the bigger brother of the regular Moto G86. 

In many ways, it’s the most ambitious of the company’s G-series yet, designed to push longevity and durability to the front of the conversation. 

This is a device that boasts the company’s largest-ever battery, a display capable of hitting an eye-watering 4500 nits, and a three-lens camera system. 

Motorola bills it as the phone that can keep up with long weekends away, festivals, or days out in the wilderness, but there are some quirks that make it fall short of greatness.

Design & Build

• Plastic back
• PI68 and IP69 rating
• USB-C

From the start, the G86 Power 5G fails to project sophistication. Its so-called ‘Soft Luxe Texture’ back may sound luxurious, but in reality it feels less than premium to hold, whether you choose Pantone Spellbound (navy), Cosmic Sky (grey), Golden Cypress (gold), or Chrysanthemum (red).

Motorola includes a colour-matched case in the box, but this only adds another layer of plastic, giving the whole package the impression of a laminated kitchen counter.

What the G86 Power lacks in looks… it makes up for in ruggedness

Rivals at this price may not be forged from premium metals, but they often look sharper and more cohesive than this handset.

What the G86 Power lacks in looks, however, it makes up for in ruggedness. The phone is IP68- and IP69-rated, protecting it from dust and heavy rain.

Corning’s Gorilla Glass 7i protects the display, and at 198g, it feels reassuringly solid in the hand without being overly heavy. Security is handled by an under-screen fingerprint scanner that works swiftly and, while face unlock is available, it remains a convenient feature rather than a secure one.

At the bottom you’ll find the USB-C charging port, but – regrettably, if unsurprisingly – the 3.5mm headphone jack is gone.

Screen & Speakers 

• Super HD resolution
• 120Hz refresh rate
• 4500 nits brightness

Motorola has invested heavily in the G86 Power’s display, and it shows. The 6.67-inch Super HD pOLED panel is sharper than many rivals thanks to its 1220p resolution, and its support for HDR10+ gives it a rich colour palette. 

Watching the latest season of Doctor Who, the G86 Power did justice to the textures of the Doctor’s blue suit, while the cartoonish villain Lux popped brightly against the more grounded sets. 

Colours are punchy and, while the panel tends to push lighter skin tones a touch too far into brightness, it delivers a viewing experience that comfortably challenges some flagship phones. 

The 120Hz refresh rate keeps scrolling and gaming fluid, making everyday navigation feel smooth and responsive.

It delivers a viewing experience that comfortably challenges some flagship phones

The company also claims a peak brightness of 4500 nits, which translates well to real-world use. This phone can be read effortlessly in the last remnants of the British summer sun – where budget devices often struggle.

The stereo speakers are Dolby Atmos-certified and get plenty loud, projecting dialogue clearly and handling midrange frequencies with ease. Vocals and podcasts sound strong, though the inevitable limitations of small drivers become obvious at higher volumes. 

Sibilant sounds in music can cut harshly, and bass is present but not convincing. It’s fine for casual video or streaming, but headphones remain the better option for any serious listening.

Specs & Performance

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

Powering the G86 Power is MediaTek’s Dimensity 7300 processor, paired in this model with 8GB of RAM and a huge 512GB of storage. 

I didn’t notice any significant improvement with the boost enabled

That combination makes it feel snappy for everyday use, and gaming is smoother than expected. In testing, Genshin Impact ran comfortably, handling combat and exploration without noticeable lag, and Pokémon Unite played out without stuttering.

There’s also the ability to use part of the phone’s storage to boost its processing power through Moto’s “RAM boost” mode. By creating a small pool of “virtual RAM” from your phone’s internal storage, the G86 Power will move less critical background processes into this virtual space, freeing up actual RAM for the apps you’re actively using. 

In theory this should improve multitasking capabilities, although I didn’t notice any significant improvement with the boost enabled. On the other hand, moving data back and forth can drain the battery faster and put wear-and-tear on the storage chip. 

Moto G86 Power 5G benchmarks

Cameras

• 50Mp main sensor
• 8Mp ultrawide
• Macro Vision mode

The G86 Power 5G’s camera system is headlined by a 50Mp Sony LYTIA 600 sensor and an 8Mp ultrawide lens, which delivers solid performance that hits the sweet spot for its price bracket. 

In good lighting conditions, the camera produces sharp, well-exposed images with natural colours – maintaining detail in both highlights and shadows without the aggressive processing that often plagues budget phones. 

There will be no complaints from anyone taking quick snaps

For daylight photography and social media sharing, this camera system provides consistently usable results.

Low-light performance reveals the hardware limitations typical of budget devices, but is still bright enough to be sharable and, although this phone won’t go the distance with its middling zoom, there will be no complaints from anyone taking quick snaps.

But the Macro Vision mode, for close-up photography, is surprisingly effective. The camera captures interplay between the pale sections of a leaf and the deeper green veining with impressive contrast and detail, as well as the white fuzz that peppers its outline. 

You will need a steady hand as other areas can become blurry with a small shake, but it will still faithfully reproduce the natural tones.

Battery Life & Charging

The Moto G86 Power 5G’s 6720mAh battery really is the headline act here: the phone shrugs off heavy workloads and can realistically see you through a full weekend without needing to hit the charger. 

However, while the company claims users can get up to 23 hours of battery life in 30 minutes of charge, that doesn’t come out of the box.

Instead, customers will need to shell out for a separate cable and plug, as with the bundled one the phone climbed to just 10% in 15 minutes and 19% in 30 minutes combined with a 12V Philips travel plug.

Software & Apps

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

Out of the box, the G86 Power 5G runs Android 15, layered with Motorola’s own suite of extras over the top. 

Some of these additions are genuinely helpful. Notification customisation offers several layouts, including a tidy ‘chip’ mode and a centralised bubble view, the latter of which feels especially intuitive. 

Unplugged actively hides the apps themselves, creating a focused environment

The Moto Unplugged feature is also well thought out, letting you strip away distracting apps entirely for a set time. Unlike traditional Do Not Disturb modes, which merely mute alerts, Unplugged actively hides the apps themselves, creating a focused environment. It’s unfortunate that this cannot be set on a schedule, during the workday or at night, but it’s still a nice touch.

Unfortunately, Hello UX also arrives with a glut of bloatware. The Perplexity AI browser, Booking.com, TikTok, LinkedIn, Amazon Music, Solitaire, and Candy Crush all appear before you’ve even had a chance to open the Play Store, setting a sour first impression.

Motorola has promised two major Android OS upgrades and four years of security updates from initial launch until June 2029, which is decent but does not quite match up to competitors such as Nothing’s CMF Phone 2 Pro, which has three OS upgrades and six years of security fixes supported.

Price & Availability

The Moto G86 Power 5G sells for £299.99 in the UK, available from Motorola’s website, putting it at the upper end of the budget market. However, you can currently buy it from AO.com for £229, which could make it significantly more attractive.

It’s not available in the US. Anyone looking for a phone at a similar price point should see our round-up of the best budget phones for our top recommendations.

Should you buy the Moto G86 Power 5G?

The Moto G86 Power 5G is a phone built for longevity in the day-to-day. Its 6720mAh battery is very impressive, its screen is bright and sharp enough to hold its own against more expensive rivals, and its rugged design means you don’t need to baby it.

While it might not be the most refined device aesthetically, and its £300 price tag puts it at the higher end of the budget device market, this is a potent handset that shouldn’t struggle with anything you give it.

Specifications

• Android 15
• 6.67in, 2712 × 1220 (Super HD) 120Hz
• MediaTek Dimensity 7300
• 8GB RAM
• 512GB storage
• Front 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 Colours: Pantone Spellbound, Cosmic Sky, Golden Cypress, Chrysanthemum
  

Best Prices Today: Moto G86 Power 5G