Motorola Moto E Review

There are so many smartphones on the market now. The market is full of different types and sizes, with prices that range from less than fifty bucks up to hundreds of dollars. If you don’t need the latest and greatest smartphone, or are looking for just a “basic” smartphone, the Motorola Moto E may be the right phone for you.

The Motorola Moto E is an entry level smartphone. It’s aimed at those who don’t want or can’t afford a top-of-the-line phone, but want more than just a basic device. At approximately 125 x 65 x 12mm, it’s not an overly large phone, and fits well in your palm or your pocket.

The Moto E has a 4.3 inch screen, and a resolution of 540x960ppi. That doesn’t sound like much compared to larger, more expensive phones, but with a pixel density of 256ppi, it makes it one of the sharpest displays for those in its price range. The glass is Gorilla Glass, so it’s break and scratch resistant.

While it doesn’t have the raw power of its higher priced cousins, the Motorola Moto E comes with a dual core Snapdragon 200 processor running at 1.2 GHz. RAM is 1GB, with 4GB of internal storage. The pre-loaded programs take up a large amount of that.

Storage is expandable to 32GB using a micro SD card, which is almost a requirement if you are going to be saving pictures, videos, or loading games.

The Moto E operating software is Android KitKat version 4.4, which is surprising for a lower budget phone. The battery capacity is 1980mAh, which gives it a respectable 60 hours standby time, over 16 hours talk time, and just under 9 hours to surf the internet. On the downside, however, the battery is not user removable, so replacing it is not an option.

What else does this phone offer? The rear camera is 5 MP with 4x digital zoom, and is fixed focus only. The phone does not have any flash capacity, so that restricts your picture taking to daylight and bright indoor lighting. Video rates are 30 (fps) with a resolution of 854x480, which is good for the money. There is no front facing camera, so video conferencing is not an option.

The Moto E has no hardware controls on the front of the case, so all operations are with the touch screen buttons. Controls on the side are minimal, with the power and lock button and volume rocker on the right hand side. There are no controls on the left side. The top has the 3.5mm headphone jack and a secondary microphone that acts as a noise canceling microphone.  The bottom of the case has a microUSB slot. The Moto E has single band WiFi b/g/n, and support for Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS.

Overall, the Motorola Moto E is a good entry level phone. While the camera and video isn’t up to the highest standards, basic phone functions are up to par, and it does have enough expandable memory to handle most downloaded apps and games. The Motorola Moto E is a good basic smartphone for someone just starting with smartphones.