In a value-conscious market like India, consumers on a budget care for only one aspect more than anything else – battery life. Most modern offerings in the affordable price range offer a stellar combo of great display, decent cameras, feature-rich software, and good battery life. For Indians, though, the obsession to keep their phone batteries topped up never ends. A good battery stamina trumps most other aspects, especially for elderly users. Motorola, therefore, identified the opportunity and came up with the Moto G86 Power.
As the name suggests, the Moto G86 Power celebrates the idea of a gigantic battery – a 6720mAh capacity cell to be precise. Fitting such a huge battery in a budget-centric phone translates to only one thing – you dare exhaust your phone within a day!
Hence, for Rs 17,999, the Motorola Moto G86 Power ends up seeming like a package that’s too good to resist. Is it worth buying? Let’s find out.
Design and Build
Unlike its predecessor, the Moto G86 Power’s design makes a notable compromise to accommodate that mammoth of a battery. Replacing the curved edges, the flat box-shaped design may not draw eyeballs, but Motorola’s vibrant colour palette may certainly do. My unit’s Pantone Golden Cypress (basically bright lime green), along with the vegan leather finish on the back made it an attention magnet. The build feels solid in hand, and the curved edges make for a comfortable grip. It’s not a premium device by any means, but it feels well-constructed and durable. The IP68/IP69 certification for water and dust resistance, along with MIL-STD-810H compliance, add to the peace of mind.
Display
Motorola offers some of the nicest displays on a budget phone and the Moto G86 Power continues to prove the same. The display is a 6.67-inch Full HD+ pOLED screen with support for 1B colours, up to 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ colour certification and 4500 nits of peak brightness. As much as these specs sound great on paper, they translate into a pleasant real-world experience too. The Moto G86 Power renders visuals in bright and vibrant colours, thereby making it pleasant to catch up on movies, web shows, YouTube videos and social media feeds.
Performance
Since the focus has been on battery power, the Moto G86 Power has to make do with a lower-end MediaTek Dimensity 7400 chipset, which is paired with 8GB RAM. The Dimensity 7400, along with Motorola’s Hello UI based Android experience, tries to keep things smooth but lacks consistency in delivering the intended experience. When subjected to stress, the Moto G86 Power shows signs of struggle. It’s not deal-breaking, but it is something to note. The phone can handle casual indie games with ease but struggles to manage graphically intensive titles with ease.
The Hello UI interface, which is based on Android 15, offers an aesthetically pleasing experience to browse and scroll through. There are a couple of pre-loaded apps and Moto’s adware widget but unlike Redmi and Realme phones, they don’t intrude in the generic user experience.
During our time, I did not face any notable issues with network reception and call quality, especially on the Jio network.
Battery
You buy the Moto G86 Power for the battery and thankfully, there are no disappointments to be had. With a massive 6,720mAh capacity cell, the Moto G86 Power can easily last for up to two full days on a single charge with moderate to heavy usage. I was unable to kill this phone in a single day, regardless of whatever I tasked it to do. The idle drain is well contained and the system-level tweaks ensure that this phone sips power in capacities that allow it to last forever.
As far as the charging is concerned, the 33W charging adapter in the box takes its sweet time to fill up the battery. Expect over 1.5 hours for the battery to go from zero to 100 per cent.
Camera
For the price, the Moto G86 Power offers a decent set of cameras to play with. The 50MP main sensor with OIS is tuned better, offering pleasant results during still photography in daylight. At night, the details go softer and so does colour accuracy, but you still get social media-worthy photos. The ultrawide 8MP sensor is sub-par in any lighting condition and is best left for use in well-lit situations. The 32MP selfie camera also does a decent job with selfies and video calls.
Moto G86 Power review: Verdict
The Moto G86 Power is a phone with a clear purpose: to provide exceptional battery life. For a phone that costs Rs 17,999, it delivers on this promise. If you have battery anxiety issues, the Moto G86 Power scores highly on that front, thereby making a compelling choice. Although it falls short in some areas like outright processing performance and photography, it makes up for these with a good display, a well-tuned Android experience and a durable build.
Hence, if you have a budget of under Rs 20,000 to spare and battery life is a key criterion, the Moto G86 Power makes for a compelling consideration.
