Moto E is an amazing phone. It provides a basic hassle-free smartphone for those who are tight on budget but do not want to lose out on performance. And all that comes at a price tag of just 7k ?? Yes it is absolutely Rs6999/- only and is available exclusively at flipkart.
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I had booked the phone on the release date itself but the phone was out of stock in just 17 hours of launch. But still I received it today 19th May (i.e. in a week’s time). The phone is still out of stock on Flipkart.
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Build and Design
Moto E measures 12.3mm, which makes it chubby compared to lean and sleek Moto X and stocky Moto G. It also weighs 142 grams, which is on the heavier side for a phone with 4.3-inch screen. But see all of it in the context. For its price, Moto E is mighty nice. It has a plastic rounded and curved back cover, which can be removed to access dualsim and microSD card slots. The cover has matte finish and feels soft to touch. This makes Moto E a better device compared to phones that use cheap glossy plastic. Battery is non-removable.
Overall build quality is top notch for a sub-10k phone and it also includes Gorilla Glass 3 which is rare for a sub-10k phone.The phone fits perfectly in the palm and is easy to handle.Brightness was also good.
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Display
The Moto E includes a qHD 4.3 inch screen with a resolution of 960×540 pixels. It is not that sharp as in a full HD or 720p screen but the text and images are clear enough. It also has good viewing angles and also displays rich colours Movies on the device are enjoyable because the image doesn’t get distorted much if you tilt or move your head while watching them.
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Hardware
The Moto E is powered by a dual-core Cortex A7 processor running at 1.2GHz. It has 1GB RAM, Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 chipset, 4GB internal storage (2.2GB user accessible) and support for up to 32GB microSD card. The phone’s UI is fluidic, and you will not experience any kind of lag. This phone offers performance which far more superior to other phones 10-15k price tag. It can run 720p and 1080p videos too (Using a 3rd party app) .I ran Subway Surfers and was impressed by the performance. The phone doesn’t lack any feature which high end phones have.
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Moto E also features a splash-resistant coating inside as well as outside the body, so that it can withstand a little water. This means that you don’t have water damage as soon as few drops of water(in case of rain) hit the smartphone.
Though the user available internal memory is a bit low you can pop in a microSD card upto 32GB to store your precious data
Moto E has a mono speaker under the screen which is very loud and is enough to fill a small room with sound even though the quality of sound is not particularly rich. Sound quality during music playback and calls is satisfactory and good.
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Battery life is also good. The device has a 1,980mAh battery. We used it for around 10-15 hours on stock battery(not charged upon receiving the phone).
Though you can play most of the latest games on it but you need to run them on low settings as it is not possible to include very high end hardware into this budget and Motorola has tried its best to get the best under the hood. You can experience a little lag while playing games such as Asphalt 8.
Software
The phone is powered by the latest Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system which is very well optimised. Motorola is also promising to update it to the next major version of Android for sure. Motorola uses a stock and unmodified version of Android in its devices. This makes a Moto device like Moto E similar to a Nexus phone. The launcher and lock screens are very similar . Google Now, the virtual assistant built into Android, works without a hitch and recognises the Indian accent extremely fast. And so do the Android keyboard and Voice search. The on-screen buttons – Home, Back and Multitasking work like they do on the Nexus devices. It is very responsive while browsing and flipping through various apps.
Here are some screenies and AnTuTu benchmark screenshots :-
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Motorola offers a few unique apps. There is an Alert app, which can “alert” your contacts in case of emergency. Then there is the Assist app, which can monitor your schedule and put the phone in silent mode when you are sleeping or when you are in a meeting.
Camera
The phone’s 5MP camera is a little disappointing. It has no flash and no auto focus. It also doesn’t have a front facing camera which has actually angered selfie lovers. The images captured have noise and low light photography will have lot more noise. Also we can’t expect much from a phone which is priced this low. The default camera app on the Moto E is the same as the one on the Moto G. It is very basic with very few available settings. There is also an HDR mode and a panorama mode. Motorola allows for selective exposure but no autofocus.
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Full Specifications :-
Display : 4.30-inch
Processor : 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor
SIM : Dual GSM+GSM microSIM (3G)
Resolution : 960×540 pixels 256ppi
OS : Android 4.4.2 KitKat OS
Storage : 4GB(2.2 Gb user available expandable upto 32GB by microSD cards)
Camera : 5-megapixel (No Front Camera) No Flash
Battery capacity : 1980mAh
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Verdict
Moto E is full top notch performance beast in the sub-10k price range. Only phone with the same type of specifications and offers same type of performance is the Nokia Lumia 525 , but it is 3k more pricier, has Windows Phone 8 and offers a completely different experience than Android Phones. Motorola has done the best to shake up the budget smartphone segment by offering this beast at a catchy price. It is also a good gift for parents, teenagers and first time smartphone owners which don’t want to spend a fortune on a good phone.