By Jayanta Ghosh
After the huge success of Moto G and Moto X, Motorola introduced its youngest economy sibling of the series, Moto E. Moto E promises to offer the full Android experience for less than 8k. This feature phone killer is Motorola’s lowest-end and to be the last Google-owned phone as Lenovo already acquired Motorola few weeks back. Company already sild more than 25 lakh Moto E in India via its online retail partner Flipkart. Lets see why this is a best smartphone in this category and will it really affects the feature phone market?
Build and Design:
The Moto E has a similar curved design as the Moto G.It feels solidly built but a bit bulky at 142g, but its small size and curved back ensure it fits comfortably in the hand. Moto E is plastic but not look cheap though. Under the cover you’ll find the micro SIM slot and a microSD card slot for cards of up to 32GB. There isn’t much in the way of buttons or sensors to be found on the Moto E. The right edge is home to the power button and volume rocker, with a metallic look . The top edge has the headphone jack, while the bottom has a micro USB charging port. On the front you’ll find a speaker below the 4.3-inch IPS screen.You might have noticed that I haven’t mentioned a front-facing camera and that’s because there isn’t one. The 5MP snapper on the back is all you get. Overall Moto E is a decent looking device with its solid build, scratch resistant screen, replaceable covers and has the added bonus of being water resistant, is prove pretty durable.
Features:
The reason this device is selling like hot cakes is because this smartphone gives you quality with affordability. Moto E is indeed a feature rich phone that offers best specs and performance compared to other smartphones in this range. It has a 4.3-inch (960 x 540 pixels) IPS display at 256 ppi pixel density with scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection and a water-resistant splash guard. Moto E is powered with Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 with 1.2GHz dual-core A7 CPU Adreno 302 400MHz single-core GPU and 1GB RAM. It has a decent 4GB internal memory which supports MicroSD slot up to 32GB expandable memory. Moto E runs Android 4.4, KitKat, the latest version of mobile platform with a guaranteed upgrade. This smartphone is packed with a long-lasting 1980 mAh battery and an interchangeable back covers. All in all they put all possible best features in this smartphone
Performance:
The Moto G’s display was one of the best in the range, and the Moto E doesn’t disappoint either in its price range. It has good viewing angles and the sunlight legibility good too. Blacks are deeper on-par to the Moto G’s display. Considering the price tag, this is definitely a pretty good display on a smartphone compared to other smartphones in this range since most other OEMs offer low-resolution display with low pixel density. As with the Moto G, you’ll be able to remove the rear of the phone and swap it for a range of colourful snap-on shell cases. We are very impressed with the way how smoothly it runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat. And iIt’s very unusual to see KitKat on such a cheap handset, as most budget phones are often comes with older versions of Android that don’t require much memory. The Moto E, on the other hand, has 1GB of RAM. That’s not a lot, but is enough to make the Moto E responsive when swiping through home screens. Web browsing was a very smooth experience thanks to the Moto E’s 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor. There was a very small delay when scrolling through image-heavy web pages ,zooming and panning proved much less frustrating than that of other budget phones. The Camera is capable of taking decent pictures in adequate lighting conditions, it lacks in low light as no flash available with this device. And also you won’t get any front camera, so these are the only drawback for this device. Other then that it really performs well our daily usage test. The battery of Moto E gives you adequate back up for daily talk time, web browsing, music etc.
Moto E come with a few exclusive apps that help the phone seem smarter in everyday use. Like Moto Alert, which has three ways the app can alert others. The first is Emergency, which can send a text alert to certain contacts during an emergency, sound an alarm automatically or auto-dial your chosen emergency contact number. It works surprisingly well, and worked happily with both landline and mobile numbers. Moto Alert can also keep track of when you leave and arrive at places you visit regularly, such as school or work, and automatically alert your chosen contacts when you do so.
Another cool App is Follow Me, which sends your current location to select contacts at specified intervals so that concerned family members know where you are. It’s also handy for helping your friends track you in busy, crowded areas. Meet Me, meanwhile, can send a text to your contacts telling them where to meet you.
Moto Assist is another key app which can affect your phone’s behaviour at specific times of the day. It can automatically set your phone to be silent at night but still ring if a specified contact calls, or if someone calls twice within five minutes. It can also access your calendar and make your phone silent during meetings as well as send callers a text message saying you’re busy. It’ll also read text messages and let you know who’s calling while you’re driving.
Pros: Price, Compact, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, doesn’t look or feel cheap
Cons: No front camera and flash.
Spec: 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200, 4.3in 540 x 960 qHD display, 1GB of RAM, 4GB storage, Android 4.4 “KitKat”, GHz, 5-megapixel camera, 142g weight,
Price: Rs.6999. Available in Flipkart