The New Moto E- Budget Android Smartphone

Motorola’s new second-gen Moto E is not a high-end device nor is it a mid-range device. It’s an entry-level, budget smart phone running Google’s latest Android 5.0.2 Lollipop operating system and dirt cheap: $119 for a 3G model and $149 for a 4G LTE model. Almost everything about the new Moto E is better than the first-generation model. The screen is ever-so-slightly bigger, the processor’s faster and the camera’s improved. Android 5.0.2 Lollipop is pretty speedy — not super fast, but fast enough — on the upgraded 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor paired with 1GB of RAM (you get a slightly slower 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 200 processor on the 3G model). The Moto E handles all of the usual light web browsing, texting, updating Face book and Twitter, playing music and checking emails with aplomb. You can play games like Subway Surfers and Temple Run 2 fine, but games that need more heavy-lifting from the graphics chip don’t load very well. For a budget phone, the new Moto E has really great battery. Assuming you fit the Moto E’s target audience — a person who doesn’t use their smart phone too much — you can stretch the 2,390 milliamp-hours (mAh) battery to a day and a half before having to recharge it. There’s more internal storage in the new Moto E as well: Motorola bumped it up from 4GB to 8GB. If you need more, the microSD card slot can take memory cards up to 32GB. And those are also dirt cheap these days. The 5-megapixel rear camera remains the same, but it now does autofocus. Pictures and 720p resolution HD videos are O.K. — not great by any means. There’s still no LED flash, which sucks. The camera’s quick to fire up and shoot. It’s even quicker if you use the Quick Capture gesture which lets you twist it twice to launch the camera app For cost-cutting reasons, Motorola omitted a front-facing camera on the original Moto E. The new Moto has a VGA camera — because even budget-conscious people want to take selfies. Selfies are pretty low-resolution (640 x 480) and grainy, but like I said before, having a crappy front-camera is better than not having one at all.

Murky screen

The new Moto E’s got a bigger screen: 4.5-inch versus the 4.3-inch on the first-gen model. The resolution is still barebones at 960 x 540 (qHD) and the pixel density actually got worse, but you can’t really expect much from a cheap phone.

New day, new look

There are six colored bands that come in two set packs for $19.99: blue, red and yellow and turquoise, purple and raspberry. The bands are stylish and their textured edges give the phone more grip. The grip shells come in five colors and are basically a band plus a translucent case. I’m less fond of the grip shells as they add more heft to the phone.

Upgrade away!

For $119, you get a 4.5-inch smart phone with 3G and a pure version Android 5.0.2 Lollipop without any bloat ware. For an extra $30, you get all of that plus 4G LTE and a slightly faster processor. And if you can fork over $179, you can skip the Moto E altogether and move up to the second-generation Moto G, which has 5-inch 720p screen, front-facing stereo speakers, and a better selfie camera. Whether you buy a new Moto E or new Moto G, Motorola’s entry-level smartphones have you covered. There is no reason not to dump your feature phone anymore. Source: http://mashable.com/2015/03/02/moto-e-2015-review/