Motorola Moto G86 5G review: The awkward second sibling

Best Prices Today: Moto G86 5G

Many smartphones come out in a pair – a Pro versus an Air, or a Fold versus a Flip – but very few have quite so much in common with their sibling than the Moto G86 and its bigger brother, the Moto G86 Power. 

With the same MediaTek Dimensity 7300 chipset, the same 6.67-inch Super HD pOLED display with 4500-nit peak brightness, and the same 50Mp Sony LYTIA 600 camera system, the only thing separating the two is the battery: 5200mAh on the standard G86 and 6720mAh on the G86 Power (and the slight difference in weight because of it).

Ultimately, as they’re so similar, those attracted to the £280 Moto G86 will almost certainly want to spend £299 and get the Moto G86 Power for the extra battery life – and that small price difference makes the regular G86 a tougher sell.

Design & Build

• Practical build
• Stylish colours
• No headphone jack

The Moto G86 feels like a phone built for utility rather than to impress. The plastic back gives it decent grip and a touch of warmth that glass can’t offer, but makes no attempt to disguise its budget origins.

The colour options, drawn from Motorola’s partnership with Pantone, add a bit of flair without tipping into gimmickry.

What it lacks in design drama, it makes up for in durability. At 185 grams, it’s well balanced, never feeling fragile or hollow, and sits comfortably in the hand. It’s waterproof to an IP68/IP69 rating (which means it’s protected against high-pressure and high-temperature water, as well as submersible for 30 minutes to an hour) and has a Gorilla Glass 7i screen for drops and knocks.

A phone built for utility rather than to impress

Down below, the single USB-C port serves its charging duties, with the familiar 3.5mm headphone jack now gone for good.

Screen & Speakers

• 6.67-inch Super HD pOLED panel
• 120Hz refresh rate
• Stereo speakers

The G86 display touts a 6.67-inch Super HD pOLED panel, which is compellingly sharp and punchy compared to its rivals, with a 1220p resolution and HDR10+ colour range. 

Watching Wild Isles on BBC iPlayer, the G86 does well conveying the shimmering scales of freshwater fish, shadows moving over them as they swim. When they push headfirst into rapids, water bubbles shoot past with decent verve.

The G86’s audio setup is best described as functional

But there remains a lack of richness, especially when the drone shots move over large fields and countryside; greens are a little too muted and washed out to be as dramatic as one would ideally want. Nevertheless, for casual viewing on public transport or in bed, there’s very little to complain about.

Somewhat surprisingly on a budget device, the G86 also has an 120Hz refresh rate which keeps scrolling and gaming fluid. While other budget devices lag when trying to keep up with quick app switching or a lot of movement, the G86 takes it well.

It has Dolby stereo speakers and there’s a touch of sharpness at higher volumes, but distortion is minimal. It’s more than adequate for casual use – streaming YouTube, catching up on calls, or the occasional music session while cooking or commuting.

Still, the G86’s audio setup is best described as functional rather than immersive. There’s little low-end presence, so bass-heavy tracks or cinematic soundscapes feel flat. Anyone who actually cares about audio fidelity should invest in a decent pair of headphones or earbuds.

Specs & Performance

• Solid budget performance
• Smooth everyday responsiveness
• Limited gaming capability

The G86 has some decent hardware chops: 8GB of RAM with the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 processor, matched with 256 GB of storage that can be expanded to 1TB using a microSD card.

On the whole, this is quite responsive. There is still a delay for apps to load compared to flagship smartphones, but during everyday use the difference is negligible.

The G86 comes with a “RAM boost” mode

While this phone won’t be anyone’s first choice for high-end gaming, Pokemon Unite and Genshin Impact runs relatively well

As with other Motorola phones, the G86 comes with a “RAM boost” mode which creates “virtual RAM” from your phone’s internal storage.

This means that less critical background processes get moved into the virtual space, leaving the actual RAM for current use.

While this is an interesting feature and one that should improve multitasking, moving data back and forth can drain the battery faster and depreciate the efficiency of the device’s chips. For a phone that gets few software and security updates anyway, I would be loath to shorten its lifespan any more than normal use already does.

Moto G86 5G benchmarks

Camera

• 50Mp Sony LYTIA 600 sensor
• 8Mp ultrawide
• Macro Vision mode

The Moto G86 5G’s comes with a 50Mp Sony LYTIA 600 sensor combined with a 8Mp ultrawide lens, which delivers decently when it comes to quick snaps.

Colours are balanced quite nicely, especially compared to other budget Android smartphones that usually over-egg in favour of high contrast and saturation to try and match up with the flagships. Walking around the Horniman Museum in south London, the greens and reds of the late-autumn foliage are captured naturally.

Much like other budget phones, the zoom on this device is hardly worth a mention

These Moto devices also have a Macro Vision mode that pops up as an option when you get closer to flowers or small animals. For close-up photography it’s surprisingly effective, but challenging to use consistently – as a minuscule shake will leave your subject out of focus.

Much like other budget phones, the zoom on this device is hardly worth a mention except to say: don’t rely on it. There is very little detail in a shot of the capital’s skyline, leaving the results blurry and impressionistic rather than sharp and accurate.

The low-light performance is typical of other budget devices – bright enough to be sharable but not particularly impressive – and the selfie camera is sharp and accurate enough for photos and video calls.

Motorola does pack the camera with optional smoothing modes to make the holder’s eyes bigger or their chin smaller, but we would recommend disabling them in the name of fidelity.

Battery Life & Charging

• 5200mAh battery
• 30W charging
• All-day performance

At 5200mAh with 30W charging, the Moto G86 offers a small but tangible capacity bump over the sub-£300 norm of 5000mAh. This gives it a decent all‑day performance that can bleed into a second day if you go easy on it.

On the other hand, some competitors like the CMF Phone 2 Pro have slightly faster 33W charging, making for an even playing field. In any case, customers will have to spend a little more money in order to unlock that capability, as inside the box is a simple USB-C to USB-A charging cable, which reaches 11% in 15 minutes and 21% in 30 minutes combined with a 12V Philips travel plug.

Software & Apps

• Clean software
• Useful focus features
• Bloated with preinstalls

Motorola’s Moto G86 ships with Android 15 and Motorola’s light Hello UI layer, keeping the look close to stock while sprinkling in a few useful touches and a handful of questionable extras.

Classic Moto gestures are still here: a double chop for the flashlight and a twist for the camera, which work effectively and are not unwelcome. 

Notification handling is flexible, with Motorola’s tweaks surfacing cleaner layouts and quick access to common actions without burying core Android behaviours, which preserves the snappy feel of stock. 

Having to delete a glut of software as a first step of owning a new device is not a great introduction

The Moto Unplugged mode lets you choose essential apps and contacts, set a time window, and temporarily hide distracting apps entirely to create a calmer workspace than a simple mute toggle can provide. 

But what Motorola gives with one hand, it takes away with the other. Or rather, it gives you more that you don’t want. The G86 installs third‑party “recommended” apps during setup, including the Perplexity AI browser, Booking.com, TikTok, LinkedIn, Amazon Music, Solitaire, and Candy Crush. While these brand deals likely help keep the costs low, having to delete a glut of software as a first step of owning a new device is not a great introduction.

Motorola commits the G86 to two major Android version upgrades and roughly four years of security patches, with updates expected until at least June 2029, which is solid for the price tier but doesn’t top the longest‑supported rivals. 

Biometric unlock includes face unlock and a welcome under‑display fingerprint reader, which is far more convenient than the hardware equivalent that often favours right-handed people and therefore cuts off the southpaws from easy access.

Price & Availability 

The Moto G86 5G has an RRP of £280 in the UK, and that’s what it costs if you buy from Motorola’s website, which leaves it near the top end of the budget market. However, other retailers have cut the price. At the time of writing, it’s available from Currys for £199, Argos for £199.99 and Amazon from £189.99, which could swing you towards a purchase if you’re considering it. But bear in mind that there are deals on the Moto G86 Power too.

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

Should you buy the Moto G86 5G?

In the crowded budget market, the Moto G86 makes a convincing impression. Its bright display and durable body give it an edge when it comes to build quality, and it performs well enough while toeing the line pretty close to stock Android.

That said, phones like the CMF Phone 2 Pro and Samsung’s Galaxy A15 5G deliver similar performance with faster charging or longer software support. Moreover, while the 5,200 mAh battery will comfortably last a day, it doesn’t match the longevity of its near-identical sibling, the Moto G86 Power, which only costs £20 more at RRP.

If you find the G86 for under £250, it’s a solid, dependable buy that does most things well without major compromise. But at its retail price of £280, it sits in a no-man’s-land: competent, yes, but not exceptional, and most customers will find it hard not to feel that the standard G86 has been overshadowed before it even gets going.

Specifications

• Android 15
• Display 6.67in, 2712 × 1220 (FHD+) P-OLED, 120Hz, HDR10+
• MediaTek Dimensity 7300
• RAM 8GB
• Storage 256GB, expandable up to 1TB microSD
• Front Camera 32Mp
• Rear Cameras 50Mp f/1.9 (OIS, PDAF, Quad Pixel, LED flash) + 8Mp f/2.2 (Ultra-wide
• ​Optical in-screen fingerprint reader, Face Unlock
• 5G NR (SA, NSA), 4G LTE-A, 3G WCDMA, 2G GSM
• Wi-Fi Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax (Wi-Fi 6, dual band)
• Bluetooth 5.4
• USB Type-C 2.0
• Battery 5200mAh, 30W wired charging, non-removable
• 161.2 × 74.7 × 7.8 mm
• 185g
• Water/Dust Resistance IP69, MIL-STD-810 certified
• Gorilla Glass 7i plastic frame, plastic back
• SIM Dual Nano SIM + eSIM
• Spellbound, Golden Cypress, Cosmic Sky, Chrysanthemum

Best Prices Today: Moto G86 5G