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Common Motorola Moto G6, G6 Plus, and G6 Play problems and how to fix them

Moto G6 Plus Review
Simon Hill/Digital Trends

The Moto G6 is a fantastic smartphone if you need something capable on a budget. But no phone is perfect, and whether you’re using the Moto G6, the G6 Plus, or the G6 Play, you might still run into some issues.

If you’re experiencing a technical hitch on your beloved Moto G6, check out this list of the most common Moto G6 problems and issues, and see whether there’s an easy fix to get your phone running smoothly again.

Issue: Wi-Fi disconnection issues

Some Moto G6 Plus owners are reporting the Wi-Fi connections on their phones are extremely unreliable. Connections are lost to local Wi-Fi networks every five minutes or so, disrupting streaming services and generally being a nuisance. While it’s claimed that the connection reconnects almost immediately, it’s still enough to cause issues during day-to-day use.

Unfortunately for Moto G6 owners, this seems to be something of a problem within the Moto G’s lineage, as the Moto G5  range also had its fair share of this same issue last year . It’s an issue which, as of this writing, have not yet been fully resolved.

Possible solutions:

  • While an official line on the problem doesn’t seem to have materialized yet, some random dude on the internet may have struck upon a possible solution. While not endorsed by the official forum moderators due to the user’s phone being the wrong model, this was the method that worked for them.
    • Boot your device into Recovery Mode by shutting off your phone, then hold down the volume up and power button until Fastboot Mode appears on your display. Use your volume keys and power button to select Recovery mode.
    • Then select the option to Wipe cache partition. Be careful not to hit the factory reset option just above it.
    • Reboot your phone.
    • Once restarted, you need to reset your network settings. To do this, navigate to your Settings menu, then hit System > Reset > Network Settings Reset > Reset Settings. At this point, you may be asked to enter your security password or PIN. Then tap Reset Settings again to confirm.
    • Finally, open your Wi-Fi settings, by heading to Settings > Network & internet > Wi-Fi > Wi-Fi preferences > Advanced > Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep > Always.
  • For the Moto G5’s problem, some people suggested turning off Wi-Fi Scanning. Go to Settings > Location > Options (three vertical dots icon) > Scanning > Turn off Wi-Fi Scanning.

Solution:

  • If the above solutions don’t work for your device, then there’s nothing else for it — it’s time to contact your vendor and get the phone replaced.

Issue: Slow Wi-Fi

While having spotty internet can be bad, having consistently slow internet can be even worse. One Reddit user has reported shoddy speeds of 1Mbps on their Moto G6 Plus. Thankfully, that same user reported a simple fix that should resolve issues you’re encountering.

Solution:

  •  Just hop over to your Settings app, then hit Wi-Fi > Wi-Fi Preferences > Advanced, then change Network Rating Provider from Google to None. No-one’s yet been able to say why this fix works, but it’s certainly worth a shot if your speed is struggling.

Issue: Battery not charging

Regardless of the model of the Moto G6 you pick, you should be getting at least a day’s worth of usage out of it without too much trouble. If you’re finding your Moto G6’s battery just isn’t holding up anywhere near as well, or is refusing to hold charge even while recharging, then your battery might need recalibrating. There’s an easy way to calibrate the Moto G6’s battery.

Solution:

  • Battery calibration is easy, but it can take some time. Motorola recommends doing this just before you go to bed at night, to make sure it has enough time to fully run through the process.
    • Turn off your Moto G6 by holding down the power key for around 7-10 seconds.
    • After letting go of the power key, the phone should automatically reboot.
    • Plug in the original charger that came with your phone and let it charge fully overnight.
  • If the above process doesn’t work, it could simply be that you’ve ended up with a damaged battery somehow. Don’t panic; contact your vendor or Motorola, and you should be able to swap it for a functional phone.

Issue: Speaker issues/speakers not working

While seemingly not a common issue, there have been reports of Moto G6 speakers cutting out during use, and refusing to turn back on until headphones are inserted or a Bluetooth speaker is connected. This issue seems unrelated to current usage of the speaker, and users have reported the issue happening during YouTube videos, music streaming, and phone calls.

Solution:

  • User Jourdansway seems to have figured out a way to fix the issue by forcing the phone to combine stereo channels into a single, mono channel.
    • Access your Settings app, then Accessibility > Audio & On-screen Text > Mono Audio. From here, simply turn on the option for Combine channels when playing audio, and your phone’s sound should be completely restored.

Issue: Colors not showing properly

This one’s more difficult to spot, and if you don’t have reason to compare your Moto G6’s screen with another, then you might not even notice it at all. However, in some cases it’s more than obvious there’s something afoot — such as red colors on a Moto G6 showing as orange or brown.

Thankfully, this one’s simply a rogue color correction gone wrong — and it’s easy to fix.

Solution:

  • Color correction is a vital part of accessibility options for users who can’t see certain colors, but when accidentally activated, it can look like there’s a bizarre fault with the display in action. Turning it off is easy.
    • Access your Settings app once again. Then tap Accessibility and make sure Toggle Off Color Correction is set correctly.
Mark Jansen
Mark Jansen is an avid follower of everything that beeps, bloops, or makes pretty lights. He has a degree in Ancient &…
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