After the huge success of Moto G which ultimately became the highest selling Motorola phone, Motorola announced their entry level phone, the Moto E. Moto E comes with a 4.3 inch qHD display with a resolution of 960 X 540. The device runs on 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 dual core processor with 1GB RAM. There is also 4GB of internal storage which can be expanded to 32GB via memory card.
The device also comes with a 5MP fixed focus camera without a flash. There is also no front facing camera on the phone. The most important aspect of the phone is the software which is Android 4.4.2 KitKat and we don’t see too many phones in the INR 7000 price range running Android KitKat. So here is a detailed review of Moto E with respect to design, build, display, performance, gaming, camera and battery life.
Related Reading: Moto E Unboxing and Initial Impressions
Specifications of Moto E:
- 4.3-inch qHD (960X540) and 262ppi display with Gorilla Glass
- 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor
- 1GB of RAM, 4GB of storage,
- microSD support
- 5-megapixel camera
- 1980mAh battery
- Android 4.4 KitKat
- Dual SIM support
Here is the video review of Moto E, for text version read on.
Design, Build and Display:
The design of Moto E is very similar to its bigger brother Moto G and has a curved back cover and feels nice to hold in hands. The back cover has a matte finish while the top panel has a glossy finish. The device comes with volume keys and the power button on the right side. The microUSB slot is at the bottom and the 3.5mm audio jack houses at the top. There is also speakers mounted just below the 4.3 inch display. The phone comes with set of normal sensors but misses out on front camera. Further the rear camera does not come with the flash unit.
The build quality of the device is really good and feels pretty premium and Motorola has not cut down on the quality when compared to Moto G. The display has a qHD resolution whcih is again good considering most of the other phones in this segment has WVGA displays. The display has pretty good and so is the viewing angles.
Software and Performance:
Moto E comes with Android 4.4.2 KitKat out of the box and this is one of the best features of the phone. The UI is mostly like stock Android and Motorola has done very little customizations. There are few handy tools like Moto Assist, Moto Migrate and Moto Alert which are useful when using the phone. Motorola has already mentioned that the device will get major updates in future which is again a good sign.
The phone runs on a dual core processor with 1GB RAM and the performance is pretty good all around although there is a hint of lag in some areas especially when you multi task. But for an average user the performance is really good. The gaming performance of the device is also really good since it comes with a Snapdragon processor instead of the MediaTek processor found on most low end Android phones.
Watch: Gaming Performance of Moto E
Since the phone comes with dual SIM, there is dedicated options for managing the SIM cards. One of the major issues with Moto E is that it comes with only 4GB of internal storage. Although you can expand it via microSD card, you cannot install apps directly on to the SD card like the newer Windows Phones. You can install games directly on the SD card, but not all apps. This is a big issue as only 2GB of storage is available to the user out of the 4GB. So if you plan to install too many apps, you might run out of storage.
The call quality of the device was pretty good and so is the speakers which are placed just below the display.
Camera:
The Moto E comes with a 5MP camera with fixed focus and there is no flash included. We are not sure why Motorola opted for a fixed focus on this phone and the shots are really bad. Even photos taken during bright sunlight looked washed out and the colors weren’t any good. Since there is no auto focus, taking macro shots are not possible.
The camera can take videos at 480p, we would have expected a 720p recording in this price point as most of the competitors have HD video recording. The video quality is also not great. Overall, we would say the camera is really the worst you can pick on a smartphone in this price point.
Here are some of the samples from the camera.
Here is a video sample shot in 480p.
Battery Life:
The phone comes with 1980 mAh non removable battery which is slightly lower than what is found on Moto G. The battery life on Moto E pretty decent and it would almost give a day of usage with normal usage. With heavy usage like playing games, the battery performance is certain to come down. You will need to charge the phone everyday with average usage.
Verdict:
Priced at Rs 6999, the Moto E is a really great phone to buy for its build, display, Android KitKat and also good performance. But where Moto E fails is the limited storage for installing apps and also the camera unit with fixed focus. It is good to see that finally low end Android phones are also getting KitKat and Motorola has also mentioned that Moto E will get the next update. If you are ready to spend a little more and fine with Windows Phone, then the Lumia 525/520 with Windows Phone 8.1 update does make better sense in this price point.
Dis you take any photograph with Moto E in dim light ? How was the quality.
Dont even think of doing that, the camera is horrible in dim light, below average shots with lights on, lot of noise included in the photos.
How about the service center for Motorola ?
Motorola has set up dedicated service centers across India, should be present in most of the cities, they might be expanding based on the sales I guess.