Motorola Moto E review

The Moto G took the budget market by storm last year. Within five months of being on sale it became Motorola's best-selling handset ever.

There was clearly a pretty easy meeting at Moto HQ: do that, but cheaper. That's come in the form of the Motorola Moto E - the firm's latest offering to the low-cost mobile arena. It's not replacing the G, rather sliding in below as Motorola's new entry-level device.

If you're in the UK you'll be able to get your hands on the Moto E right now for just £89 (that's around $150, AU$160) SIM-free. With that price tag the Moto E finds itself rubbing shoulders with the Samsung Galaxy Fame, Nokia Lumia 520, Nokia Lumia 630 and Vodafone Smart 4 Mini.
For that you get a 4.3-inch display, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, 5MP rear camera and a 1980mAh battery.

The screen comes with a pleasingly sharp 540 x 960 resolution, giving it a 256ppi density, thus making it the sharpest display 'in its category'.
It's pleasing to use and I found that text and images rendered crisply, making for a comfortable viewing experience. It's obviously not in the same leagues as the flagship phones, which pack in nearly twice as many pixels per inch... but then again, you could buy five Moto Es for the price of one Galaxy S5 and still have change.

The screen has been covered with Gorilla Glass 3, providing a tough layer of protection on the front of the phone, while a plastic removable cover features on the rear.

There's also anti-smudge coating on the glass, although during my time with the Moto E it managed to pick up its fair share of fingerprints, so I'm not convinced by the coating's effect.
In terms of design the Moto E is very similar to the Moto G, with a solid build quality making this plastic phone feel well made and tough enough to take a few knocks.
As I've mentioned that rear cover can peel off and Motorola is offering nine different coloured shells which you can swap on the Moto E.

Additionally Motorola has also developed grip shells for the Moto E - available in five different colours - providing an integrated rubberised bumper which hugs the side of the phone as well as protecting the rear.
Couple the grip shell with the Moto E's water resistant nano-coating and it will be able to tackle the more adventurous of activities.

The rear of the E is curved, allowing the handset to fit comfortably into the palm and I could easily wrap my hand around the 142g device.
It is a little on the chunky side, as at its deepest it measures 12.3mm, compared to 11.6mm on the Moto G and 9.9mm on the Lumia 520.
Motorola has managed to keep the bezels slender either side of the 4.3-inch display, although there is a sizeable amount above and below the screen.

It's not enough to cause a problem, and with the internal speaker having been shifted from the back of the G to the front of the Moto E it helps disguise the additional space.
The 124.8 x 64.8mm frame allows some clever reorganisation of the buttons, with the power/lock and volume rocker keys on the right of the handset easy to hit during one handed operation, while the headphone jack can be found at the top of the handset and the microUSB port at the opposite end.
The 1.2GHz dual-core processor may not sound particularly impressive, but it is a Snapdragon 200 offering with 1GB of RAM backing it up and it does a good job of running Android 4.4.2 KitKat.

That's the latest version of Google's mobile platform, and Motorola has committed itself to providing the Moto E with an upgrade to the next major version of Android, as well as any incremental updates between now and then.
Navigation through homescreens, the app drawer and the multi-tasking menu was smooth and I didn't experience any signs of slow down or lag.
It will be interesting to see if the Moto E can keep the same fluidity when you've filled up the storage with apps, movies and photos - but early indications are positive.

I was able to play Angry Birds Star Wars without any problems - hardly ground breaking, but a good test.
While load times may not have been as quick as the flagship phones on the market the power inside the Moto E and the Adreno 302 GPU ensured I wasn't left waiting for long.
There's no 4G connectivity available on the Moto E, but you do get 3G, GPS, Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi b/g/n - and web browsing on the latter proved to be smooth.

Motorola's suite of apps which appeared on the Moto G make the jump to the Moto E, with Migrate and Assist joined by newcomer Alert.
Motorola Alert allows the Moto E to automatically notify friends and family of your location, be it when you get to work, leave the house, or successfully arrive at a friend's party.

You can also send friends your location after a concert so they can meet up with you, and emergency mode allows you to quickly sound an alarm and auto-dial a pre-determined number.

With a decent display you can consider using the Moto E to watch movies and TV shows on, plus the addition of a microSD slot (for cards up to 32GB in size) makes it easier for you to carry round your favourite videos.
That expandable storage option is certainly needed as the Motorola Moto E only comes with 4GB of internal storage, of which just 2.21GB is actually available to use.
Without a microSD card in the phone you're likely to see that filling up pretty fast, especially if you take lots of photos or love to download even a smattering of applications.

MicroSD cards are relatively inexpensive these days, but it's something you'll have to purchase if you want to get the most out of the Moto E.
For those of you who prefer a more traditional form of entertainment the Moto E also comes equipped with a FM radio.
You'll need to plug the set of bundled headphones in to act as an antenna, but once that's done you can use the intuitive FM radio app to surf to the station of your choosing.
As I've already mentioned the speaker has been relocated to the front of the Moto E, just below the screen and during my test I found it could kick out quite a racket.

With high volume comes audio distortion - there's certainly no BoomSound level of playback on show here. Turn it down a bit though and the Moto E can provide a pleasant listening experience.
It does look a little bit like a slender home key, and the enlongated grill does protrude slightly from the case, giving it the feel of a button under the thumb. It isn't though, so don't try pressing it. You'll be wasting your time and your friends will laugh at you. Mercilessly.
Turning attentions to the rear of the Moto E and you'll find there's a 5MP camera sitting on the back - the same as you'll find on the Moto G, Galaxy Fame and Lumia 520.

There is, however, no flash to accompany it so you'll have to avoid low light situations when snapping with the Moto E, as it simply won't be able to cope.
From my brief hands on time with the handset I found the Moto E is capable of producing some decent images, and Motorola's no frills camera app makes snapping easy.
The whole screen becomes the shutter key when you launch the app, allowing you to tap anywhere on the display - apart from the video button and the navigation keys - to take a picture.

It's a bit of a Marmite feature which I'm personally not a huge fan of as it can't be switched to a button, but considering you don't get a front facing camera on the Moto E it certainly makes it easier to take selfies. If you're into that sort of thing.
Slide a finger from the left side of the display into the centre while you're in the camera app to get to the basic settings menu. Here you'll find toggles for HDR, Panorama and 16:9 modes, but not a lot else.
If you want a smartphone that gives you a plethora of camera features the Moto E isn't the one for you, but at this price it was never going to be fully laden.

The shutter wasn't too sluggish, but there's a noticeable pause between tapping the screen and the Moto E capturing and saving the shot. It's not a huge issue, and you can take a burst of photos by simply holding your finger down on the screen.
While the rear of the Moto E may well be removable, the 1980mAh battery inside the device certainly isn't.
That may put some of you off, but Motorola assures us that it's good for 24 hours on a single charge - although that's something we'll have to put to the test during our in depth Moto E review.

Early verdict

It appears that Motorola has done it again. It's created a desirable smartphone with an impressively low price tag and a decent set of specs.

There are a few more concessions to be had on the Moto E over the Moto G, with no front camera, no rear flash and a shockingly low amount of internal storage - but a decent screen and microSD slot go some way to make up for those shortcomings.

You won't find a better offering at this price point, and even with a few limitations the Moto E could be the perfect first-time or festival smartphone.

That said, spend a bit of extra cash (£70 in the UK) and you can nab yourself the new Moto G 4G, which comes with superfast connectivity, microSD slot, 8GB of internal storage and a front facing snapper.