Moto E (2nd gen) Review: Budget Friendly Android Lollipop Smartphone

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Motorola has a nag for creating wonderful budget friendly smartphones. Right from the beginning of the smartphone era, Motorola has been providing premium quality, stylish and remarkably effective product to users who have been using their product for ages now.

 

We have all seen that Moto E (1ST gen) has been a grans success in India, as the smartphone comprises of everything you can dream of. Plus it is very much affordable.

 

Rating:
3.5/5

Moto E (2nd gen) Review: Budget Friendly Android Lollipop Smartphone

With a faster processor and the very welcome arrival of 4G support, it looks like Motorola's Moto E (2ND gen) might just be onto another budget winner in 2015. Motorola has changed a few things in its new Moto E 3G version. A new front camera, a larger 2390 mAh battery and an all new rear shell which is truly unique to the new Moto E.

As we Indians are concerned with the price, Motorola has kept a price tag of Rs. 6,999 for the 3G version. It also comes with some goodies like Android Lollipop 5.0 along with some Motorola apps. Here is the review for the New Moto E (2ND gen). Do take a look and share your comments in the comment box below.

Moto E (2ND gen) Review: Design

Moto E (2nd gen) Review: Budget Friendly Android Lollipop Smartphone

Both the Moto E versions look almost the same but the new Moto E features an ergonomic curved back complete with a Motorola "M" finger dimple just below the camera. Soft-touch plastics stretch across the removable casing, and the 12.3mm-thick, 145g shell oozes a solidity that makes the Moto E feel like it's built to last. Factor in the Gorilla Glass 3-coated screen and water-resistant coating and you have a handset that's destined to survive any rough treatment.

Moto E (2nd gen) Review: Budget Friendly Android Lollipop Smartphone

The smartphone is available in two colour schemes-Black or White (including the band) and buyers will have to shell out Rs 999 for a pack of three colour bands. On the design front, the side band is the major differentiator and hides the SIM card slots and a microSD card slot. Overall the Moto E has a great build quality, good looks and is very much compact.

Moto E (2ND gen) Review: Display

Moto E (2nd gen) Review: Budget Friendly Android Lollipop Smartphone

The new Moto E flaunts a 4.7-inch display which is a slight growth of 0.2 inch from its predecessor and has retained a pixeld density of 540X960. Disappointingly the new Moto E's display was not as crisp as I had expected it to be. The icons appeared blurred and even the wallpaper feels a bit pixelated.

Moto E (2nd gen) Review: Budget Friendly Android Lollipop Smartphone

The viewing angles are not so great but fine for daily use, but outdoor visibility is poor, especially under direct sunlight. The display appeared dull to me even when the screen was kept at full brightness. The display is protected with Corning Gorilla 3 and has oleophobic coating to prevent smudges and fingerprints. Overall, Motorola could have provided some better build quality for the new Moto E.

Moto E (2ND gen) Review: Hardware

Moto E (2nd gen) Review: Budget Friendly Android Lollipop Smartphone

When hardware is the concern, we are always checking how fast is our phone when compaired to others. Motorola has packed some amazing and interesting specs into the new Moto E (2ND gen). The new Moto E sports a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 which is clocked at 1.2 GHz whereas as its predecessor flaunts a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200, which is again clocked at 1.2 Ghz.

Moto E (2nd gen) Review: Budget Friendly Android Lollipop Smartphone

It's a capable combination for a budget handset, and from our time with the Moto E it does a grand job of keeping Android Lollipop feeling slick and responsive. However, as soon as you start to run more than three or four apps simultaneously, things do slow down rather noticeably - this is a budget phone, after all.

Moto E (2nd gen) Review: Budget Friendly Android Lollipop Smartphone

The new Moto E completed the Antutu benchmark in a reasonable score of 17372. AnywaysTo prove the point, for Rs. 7,000 the Moto E can hold its head up high. It's now more powerful than the Honor Holly or the Moto G (2ND gen).

Moto E (2ND gen) Review: Camera

Moto E (2nd gen) Review: Budget Friendly Android Lollipop Smartphone

This is where Mototrola failed to please its user, the VGA selfie camera. The new Moto E offers a very basic primary camera with 5MP auto-focus. The Moto E comes with a Motorola's Quick Capture feature which activates the rear camera instantly on twisting the wrist twice. The same can be done to swap between the front and rear cameras.

Moto E (2nd gen) Review: Budget Friendly Android Lollipop Smartphone

Video recording has now improved to 720p at 30fps and no longer exhibits clunky brightness shifts when auto adjusting exposure, but photo white balance and exposure in low-light conditions remain poor.

Moto E (2nd gen) Review: Budget Friendly Android Lollipop Smartphone

The image quality is good under daylight and the camera is also capable of taking some decent images under artificial lighting as well. Low light shots are not good of course. There is no Flash. Overall, if you click a lot of pictures on your smartphone then the new Moto E is definitely not for you.

Moto E (2ND gen) Review: Storage

The device is sold with 8GB of internal memory but, users gets only 4.5GB of internal storage which can be expanded up to 32GB. This is a dual SIM 3G smartphone and supports 3G connectivity on both SIM card slots. There is no USB OTG support.

Moto E (2nd gen) Review: Budget Friendly Android Lollipop Smartphone

Network signals are strong and phone calls are crisp based on both sim cards. The audio on both sides of the call is nice and loud, so you won't find yourself complaining. Moto has bundled in a good SIM management right in the settings panel to allow for better organization and usability of both SIM cards.

Moto E (2ND gen) Review: Battery

Moto E (2nd gen) Review: Budget Friendly Android Lollipop Smartphone

The device is powered by a 2,390 mAh battery. Battery is a big improvement, you will find yourself running into two days without charge if you are a moderate user. The non-removable nature of the battery is slightly disappointing, but Motorola has a good record with battery longevity.
The battery life is at par with most other devices in this price range. In the audio tests we conducted, Moto E (2ND gen) battery depleted at a rate of 7.1% per hour, jumping to 8.2% per hour in our 720p video test with the phone running in airplane mode. These results were quite shocking but, it's upto the mark when compaired to other smartphones in this price range.

Moto E (2ND gen) Review: Apps

Moto E (2nd gen) Review: Budget Friendly Android Lollipop Smartphone

Motorola has added a bunch of cool tricks in this cool budget phone. The new Moto app, allows for you to set a gesture, twist your wrist to launch the camera, and click a picture. The Assist feature will go into Sleep Mode as well as Meeting Mode as per your settings, which is a neat productivity trick.

Moto Display shows off the notifications when the phone's display is off, you can also customize which apps will show and which will not and set vibration modes for the notifications and interactions.

Moto E (2nd gen) Review: Budget Friendly Android Lollipop Smartphone

Moto Alert is designed specifically keeping India and its lack of safety in mind. You can set a number of contacts that will get updates on where you are and where you are going in case of an emergency.

Moto E (2ND gen) Review: Price And Verdict

Moto E (2nd gen) Review: Budget Friendly Android Lollipop Smartphone

Motorola has been a favorite since rebirth and all their devices including the Moto X, the Moto G and the Moto E have done exceedingly well, especially in markets like India. However, Xiaomi has really hurt their sales at the lower end of the spectrum and OnePlus is taking a stab on the upper end.

However, overall, the Moto E can be good smartphone for first time smartphone users and those who wish to have a budget Android Lollipop smartphone.

Moto E (2nd gen) Review: Budget Friendly Android Lollipop Smartphone

The device is suitable for people whose operations are limited to checking emails, social media, a bit of Internet browsing, light gaming and music. If you click a lot of pictures and is into a lot of gaming, videos and selfies then avoid the new Moto E.

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