In my time writing about tech, I've spent untold hours using expensive smartphones. You know, the really nice ones that can sometimes cost upwards of a grand these days. For your money, you'll get metal and glass components that feel and look great, eye-popping cameras, brilliant screens…the works.
But, after spending a weekend in Nashville with the $250 Motorola Moto G6, I began to wonder why anyone would pay more than that for a phone. That's not to say that I haven’t felt the effects of Motorola’s penny pinching—I have. But are those momentary bouts of frustration balanced out by the low, low price? That’s a good question and, well, it depends.
A Blast of Glass
I don’t remember an edict coming out that all phones must come covered in fragile glass, but since the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy phones began coating themselves in the latest Gorilla Glass, every phone maker has followed them into the shimmer of Shatter City. And so the Moto G6 has a similar polished metal frame and glass back (curved up on the sides) that's currently en vogue.[1][2][3]
The G6 is comfortable to hold and doesn’t slip out of your hand (or slide off the table) too badly, but all the negative qualities of glass are here. Motorola is using Gorilla Glass 3, which is a few years older than version 5 that you'll find on high-end phones, which means it’s not as durable if it takes a tumble. It does a decent job repelling fingerprints, but if you're like me, you'll notice them anyway. Bottom line, you’ll want to invest in a good case[4] for this phone.
On the front is another 2018...