The Moto E is Motorola's newest budget smartphone with a fantastic price tag and still ships with the latest KitKat. It has what it takes to ruin the concept of feature phones, as it comes with a microSD slot to expand the 4GB of internal storage up to 32GB. This is just the tip of the iceberg, which is why we covered the Motorola smartphone in a deeper review.
Rating
pros
- Standard Android user interface (no viruses); easy to use
- A few but useful features
- Large long-life battery
- Rugged design
- Easy to operate with one hand
Cons
- No replaceable battery
- 4 GB of internal memory (expandable with a micro SD card)
- Lackluster display with low resolution and brightness (not suitable for outdoor use)
- No front camera
Motorola Moto E design and build quality
Despite the fact that the Moto G has a large bezel and rather thick (12,3 mm) due to its small size, the design is still attractive. The case is made of plastic, but Motorola has given you great freedom to personalize the device with a choice of 9 cases of various textures and colors.
The Motorola phone comes with a 4,3-inch display and is pretty rugged and also provides reliable grip. Despite the fact that it is an inexpensive smartphone, it has a nice finish and does not look fragile.
You will find the headphone jack at the top of the device, and the volume and power buttons on the right side. The speakers are located on the front of the machine at the bottom of the screen, and the device can be easily controlled with one hand. Although Moto E It is unlikely to survive immersion in water, it provides spill resistance since Motorola decided to cover the Corning Gorilla Glass display.
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Display Motorola Moto E
The Moto E has a 4,3-inch screen with a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels (256 ppi). In comparison, the Galaxy S5 and Moto G have a resolution density of 432 ppi and 329 ppi, respectively.
Moto E engineers had to drop some items to ensure that production was on budget, one of which we noticed was a weaker screen brightness. The maximum brightness is 389 nits with a contrast ratio of 1: 1270, so the Moto E is not suitable for outdoor use on sunny days. Although the protection of Corning Gorilla Glass from dust and splashing water is welcome.
Motorola Moto E Software
Having a clean Android user interface in a low-range phone is very positive, especially if this is your first smartphone. Unlike some other devices that provide customizable features of Android, which actually complicates the functionality due to the large number of unnecessary functions, Moto E provides a simpler and more intuitive operation when the phone is not overloaded.
Among the features that Motorola has included, and all of them are very useful, one of them is called Alert. It allows you to share your location with contacts and send alerts to a predefined contact if you find yourself in a risky situation. This built-in app is probably most useful for older people or people with special needs. By clicking on the phone, the user will be able to send a notification of help.
A feature that has also been released globally is the SIM management feature for the dual SIM version of the phone. Moto E can automatically select the best chip to connect based on two factors: the first is usage behavior, that is, if you use a SIM card to call a certain number, it will automatically select the same chip for future connections. The second factor is the operator. Moto E identifies the service provider for the person you are calling and, if one of its two SIM cards is from the same provider, it automatically selects the appropriate SIM card. This is for better use of loans and often reduces costs. This function and other parameters can be manually adjusted.
Introducing Motorola Moto E
The internal memory of Moto E is only 4 GB (of which 2,2 GB is available to the user), which always happens with most basic models, but you can expand this storage to 32 GB using an SD card. I hope that Motorola will continue to offer it on its devices, because this is what many users require.
The Moto E's limitation is the GPU (Adreno 302), which, while sufficient for many applications to run smoothly, is basic and can get blocked while playing better games. However, it is still capable of handling the Android 3 KitKat factory 4.4.2D effect. Moto E has support for FM (no RDS), GPS, GLONASS and Bluetooth 4.0 LE radio.
As mentioned at the Moto E launch event, compared to the Samsung Galaxy S4, the Moto E opens up a phone app to make calls 1,1 seconds faster, 0,9 seconds faster to open a browser and 1,7 seconds faster to open camera.
Motorola Moto E Camera
One of the disadvantages of the device is the lack of a front-facing camera. So taking selfies with the Moto G is pretty tricky and requires a lot of guesswork. I believe that with a low quality front camera, even if it was VGA, it would make the device more attractive. That being said, the rear camera has 5MP and is good enough, taking photos with a resolution of 2592 × 1944 pixels. Upon activation, the camera quickly opened and was able to take good quality photos in a specific sequence.
The Moto E can record 480x854p videos, although it doesn't come with advanced features like image stabilization, so don't expect high quality videos. The camera does not have a flash, but it does support HDR and the format is good. Due to the lack of a flash, the device does not perform well in low light, but on the other hand, it has a feature called geo-tagging.
Motorola Moto E Battery
The lithium battery in the Moto E has a capacity of 1980 mAh, which is actually more than the iPhone 5S (1560 mAh), and is designed for the whole day. This is at least what Motorola has promised users. When I tested the phone, the battery lasted even longer with average use of Wi-Fi, 3G, applications, and more. The negative point here is that the battery is not removable.
Technical specifications Motorola Moto E
| Dimensions: | X 124,8 64,8 12,3 mm x |
|---|---|
| The weight: | 140 g |
| Battery size: | 1980 mAh |
| Screen size: | 4,3 in |
| Screen: | 960 × 540 pixels (256 ppi) |
| Rear camera: | 5 megapixel |
| Torch: | Not available |
| Android version: | 4.4.2 - KitKat |
| User interface: | Android stock |
| RAM: | 1024 MB |
| Internal storage: | 4 GB |
| Removable storage: | microSD |
| Chipset: | Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 |
| Number of Cores: | 2 |
| Max. clock frequency: | 1,2 GHz |
| Communication: | HSPA, Bluetooth 4.0 |
The final verdict
I had a great experience with the Moto E. I like the fact that Motorola does not change the user interface between its devices much, which greatly simplifies its use for beginners. And it’s easy to customize by adding many applications from the Play Store, you can improve some of its missing features. In fact, manufacturers really do not need to pre-install applications on their device, given that there are often applications that can work better. Not only that, the more functions the device has, the more it drains the already small amount of internal memory and battery life.
The disadvantage of the Motorola phone is that it does not have the most modern design and does not have a front camera. In addition, the battery is not removable. Disadvantages of Moto E worked smoothly and did not show any delays in basic navigation or when launching applications requiring a significant amount of computing power. Of course, it does not go to the top of smartphones, but that was not Motorola's goal. What they represent is a good phone with regular Android updates, one of the guarantees provided by the manufacturer!
The Moto E can be purchased for $ 129,99, with an additional $ 14,99 for each additional shell (or the claw shell option for $ 19,99).
What do you think of the Moto E?
