Motorola launches its first-ever Android TVs in India (plus, the Moto E6S)

Motorola has launched the Moto E6S and its first-ever range of LED Android TVs in India. The new gadgets in Moto’s lineup target the affordable smartphone and television categories in the country.

The Moto E6S is essentially a rebranded version of the Moto E6 Plus launched a few weeks back at the IFA trade show in Berlin. The entry-level Moto E6S upgrades the chipset, display, cameras, and pretty much everything else compared to the Moto E6 which was announced back in July.

Moto’s Android TV, on the other hand, is a completely new product. It marks Motorola’s debut in the smart TV segment anywhere in the world. Although the TV bears Moto branding, it is licensed by ecommerce platform Flipkart in India.

Here’s a breakdown of the two new devices from Lenovo-owned Moto.

Moto E6S: Specs and price

Another entrant to India’s already crowded sub Rs. 10,000 smartphone category, the Moto E6S comes with a price tag and specs that are comparable to the Xiaomi Redmi 7, realme C2, and the vivo Y91.

Motorola says the rebrand from Moto E6 Plus internationally to Moto E6S in India was done solely on the basis of the storage variant launched in the country.

The phone offers a 6.1-inch HD+ (720 x 1560 pixels) display with 19.5:9 aspect ratio. It features a circular notch on top. Moto brands the display as “Max Vision” given its 80% screen-to-body ratio.

An octa-core MediaTek Helio P22 chipset paired with a PowerVR GE8320 GPU rests at the heart of the device.

While the Helio P22 is a decent entry-mid range CPU with all eight Cortex A-53 cores, the Redmi 7’s Snapdragon 632 adds in juice from Cortex A-73 cores as well, giving it an edge over the P22.

Meanwhile, the Moto E6S gets 4GB of RAM, one of the highest in this category. It comes with 64GB of expandable storage (up to 512GB with a dedicated slot) and a removable 3,000mAh battery.

The plastic back of the Moto E6S is also removable and sports a fingerprint reader fused with the Moto logo.

There is a dual camera setup at the back of the Moto E6S, up from its predecessor’s single-cam configuration. The phone gets a 13MP primary sensor at f/2 and a 2MP secondary sensor to capture depth information.

The setup will assist with bokeh and portrait shots. The Moto E6S camera also uses a beautification mode to smoothen skin tones.

There is an 8MP selfie shooter housed in the front notch which assists with facial recognition.

For connectivity, the Moto E6S gets Bluetooth 4.2 and Wi-Fi, but no NFC. There’s an FM radio present on the device, a popular inclusion for budget smartphones in India. There’s a headphone jack at the top edge and the phone carries the outgoing micro USB port.

On the software front, the Moto E6S comes with Android 9 Pie out of the box. The experience is fully stock Android without any bloatware. There is no clarity on the Android 10 update though.

The Moto E6S is priced in India at Rs. 7,999 (~$111) and will be available in Polished Graphite and Rich Cranberry. Moto says a Cosmic Blue variant would also be made available by October end.

Sales of the phone start September 23 on Flipkart.

Motorola TVs: Specifications and prices

Moto’s new television range consists of six made-in-India TV sets. The product category is Moto’s first and will remain India-exclusive for the time being.

To be honest, there’s nothing Motorola about these televisions, except for probably the fact that they run stock Android just like Moto phones. The company has partnered with Flipkart, which will handle the licensing and marketing bit. They are manufactured and assembled at SKYWORTH’s facility in Hyderabad, India.

For now, Moto’s entry into the TV category seems like an attempt to compete with Xiaomi, which currently dominates the Indian television space with a 39% market share.

The Motorola LED TV range starts from a basic 32-inch HD-ready TV and goes all the way up to a 65-inch 4K unit. In between, there’s a 43-inch FHD model, a 43-inch UHD variant, a 50-inch UHD version, and a 55-inch UHD option.

All televisions run the stock Android TV interface. Moto claims they all come with Dolby Vision certification for HDR 10 content. There’s a soundbar attached to the bottom of the display with 20W-30W front-firing speakers (depending on the variant).

Moto says the display enables comfortable 178-degree viewing angles. However, given their pricing, none of the TVs support local dimming to improve blacks.

On the hardware front, the Motorola TVs pair a quad-core MediaTek chipset with a Mali GPU, up to 2.25GB RAM, and up to 16GB storage. All of them run Android 9 out-of-the-box, with support for Google Play Store. Users will be able to access Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar and other popular streaming services as well.

Additionally, the Motorola TVs feature built-in Chromecast support and voice controls with Google Assistant. Dedicated Assistant, Play Store, YouTube, and Netflix buttons can be found on the plastic remote.

One of Moto’s selling point for the new TVs is that they ship with a Bluetooth-enabled double joystick gamepad. This is for people who enjoy playing Android games on their TVs.

Prices for the Motorola TV range are as follows:

• 43-inch HDR TV: Rs 13,999
• 43-inch FHD TV: Rs 24,999
• 43-inch UHD (4K) TV: Rs 29,999
• 50-inch UHD (4K) TV: Rs 33,999
• 55-inch UHD (4K) TV: Rs 39,999
• 65-inch UHD (4K) TV: Rs 64,999

All TVs will be available in India on Flipkart starting September 29.