THE
GOOD The new Motorola Moto E is proof that a cheap phone can be good, too; you're getting reasonable performance, a sharp display and
LTE connectivity for $
150, unlocked.
THE
BAD Like its predecessor, camera quality disappoints. The processor also occasionally struggles to keep up with more hardware-intensive tasks, like gaming.
THE BOTTOM
LINE The
Moto E delivers in enough of the right areas to make it a fantastic option for a tight budget.
Last year's Moto E was a promising, inexpensive device, but it suffered from meager battery life and packed a disappointing camera.
This time around,
Motorola has also tucked in
4G LTE connectivity, a beefier battery and a near-stock version of
Android 5.0 Lollipop -- the camera remains a sore
point, serving up pictures plagued by image noise and washed-out colors. At $150 for an LTE model (about £
100, or AU$194) and $
120 for 3G (roughly £81, or AU$155), it's cheap, unlocked and delivers in enough of the right areas to make it a good option for a tight budget. We also testing a variant of the Moto E running on
Boost Mobile: it'll set you back $99 (about £67 , or AU$92).
Design
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Josh Miller/
CNET
The Moto E's chunky, plastic chassis is a far cry from metal-and-glass stunners like the
Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge or iPhone 6
Plus . But that's OK: in addition to being an order of magnitude cheaper than those devices, this chubby little phone is charming in its own way.
Colors help; the phone is available in white or black, but the phone's border is a removable plastic band, available in an array of colors. These add a little bit of pep to the device.
I've generally stuck with yellow, but occasionally swap over to purple when the mood strikes me. You can pick up extra colors from Motorola for $20.
Sure, it's not quite the customization experience you'll find with the
Moto X , but I rather like the ability to change things up on a whim.
The 4.5-inch display has a 960x540-pixel resolution, which is likely going to be a turn-off for specs mavens. That's seems a bit disappointing, especially given all of the 1080p (and higher) phones we see every day. But the relatively compact resolution works here: the phone offers a pixel density of 245 pixels per inch (
PPI) and everything onscreen, from app icons to text, looks pleasantly crisp. Photos look pretty good, too, colors are accurate and remain true -- without shifting -- when I hold the device at awkward angles.
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The swappable bands make on-the-fly customization easy
.
Josh Miller/CNET
Pop off the decorative plastic band and you'll run into the
SIM card and microSD slots -- the 2,390mAh battery isn't removable. The microSD slot supports up to 32GB cards, and you'll want to pick one up to complement the meager 8GB of storage space.
Software and features
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Near-stock
Android Lollipop on an inexpensive device is definitely appreciated.
Josh Miller/CNET
The Moto E is running
Android 5.0.2
Lollipop -- a nice touch, as phones at this price point are generally behind the curve. Of course
Android 5.1 has already started rolling out, but the OS remains a nice touch.
Better still, Motorola hasn't bogged down the phone with lots of extra apps or a custom skin, it's quite nearly pure
Android. There are a few scattered Motorola apps, like a tool to help you share your location with family and friends, and a migration tool to ease the process of transferring your stuff from an old phone to a new one.
While the version we tested on
AT&T; remained relatively bloat free, the slightly cheaper version available on Boost Mobile is bundled with extraneous apps. They're largely innocuous
Boost Mobile-themed wares that are designed to let you manage your account or make payments. There are also a few shortcuts to install miscellaneous games and apps -- all readily removed.
The security app
Gadget Guardian from
Lookout is also present, and can't be uninstalled.
Motorola has also baked in some of its own special touches. You might remember Moto Display from the Moto X -- notifications will appear on your device's screen discretely, allowing you to keep tabs on what's going on, even if your phone is sleeping.
My favorite Motorola feature is probably the readily accessible camera; twist your wrist twice and, no matter what you're doing, the phone will open up the 5-megapixel camera and be ready to start shooting.
It's a pretty deliberate action, so you won't have to worry too much about triggering it accidentally. It isn't exactly instantaneous, especially if you're playing a game or the like, but still a nice way to grab some spontaneous shots. The camera's aren't all that great, though -- more on that in a bit.
Performance
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It's no barn-burner, but video streaming and casual gaming work fine.
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- published: 20 Apr 2016
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