Moto G6 and Moto E5 on sale from June 7 starting at $229

Motorola is known for making some of the best affordable Android smartphones around, and its latest devices will be available locally very soon. The Moto G6 Play, Moto G6, Moto G6 Plus, and Moto E5 will all go on sale through Australia retailers from June 7. Pricing for the phones is as  follows:

• Moto G6 Play: $329
• Moto G6: $399
• Moto G6 Plus: $499
• Moto E5: $229

The standard range of retailers will have these on offer - JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, Officeworks, and The Good Guys - but Motorola has yet to confirm exactly what models will be available in each store. Motorola will offer the entire range through its local online store, with pre-orders starting on June 1. 

Despite their lower-end price-points, Motorola's latest devices boast a few flagship design elements. The models coming to Australia all have 18:9 displays, and the entire G6 range has some form of glass back. P2i water-repellent nano-coating is also present across the family; while the the phones aren't water-resistant or water-proof (don't submerge them), the coating helps protect against "moderate exposure" such as spills, splashes, or light rain. As is the norm for Motorola, the new devices run mostly unmodified version of Android Oreo. 

One notable aesthetic change is that Motorola has returned to using the company name in full, rather than just "Moto" on the devices. Danny Adamopoulos, Motorola's Product Manager for Australia and New Zealand, told us that the Motorola brand always resonates better with consumers. 

"Even with our Facebook page, when we changed from Motorola to Moto, everyone was like 'what happened to the Motorola Facebook page?'," said Adamopolous. 

"The traffic dropped on Facebook, and that's when people started realising the power of the brand. We changed it back to Motorola and the traffic went back up." 

Adamopolous believes that this is partly driven by nostalgia, and has brought back the classic  "Hello Moto" ring tone for the new phones. 

"It's amazing, I was on the train on the way here this morning and the phone rang," said Adamopolous. "A girl goes 'where did you download that from?' and I say 'its in the phone'. She goes 'oh wow, I remember that from my [RAZR] V3'."

If you're not after the latest and greatest Motorola phones and get in quick and, you should be able to get a previous generation Moto G5S or Moto G5S Plus at a discount while manufacturers sell off the remaining stock. 

Moto G6

The Moto G6 trio all feature glass front and backs and 18:9 screens, although material and display resolution vary. The G6 and G6 Plus both have scratch resistant Gorilla Glass on their back, while the G6 Play is built with polymer glass. The G6 and G6 Plus both have two-rear facing cameras that can be used in tandem for portrait mode. Hardware for the phones is as follows:

Moto E5

While the Moto E5 series has three phones, only the standard Moto E5 will make it to Australia. Despite the cheaper price-point, it still has an extra-tall 18:9 display, and will ship with a heft 4,000mAh battery. 

Here's how it compares to the other phones in the series. 

Alex Choros

Managing Editor + Group Telco Editor | X | Instagram | Threads | LinkedIn

Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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