A smartphone for everyone

It's a difficult life we lead. A phone needs getting used to, but us reviewers don't have that luxury. I was tired of changing phones every week while planning to buy a new one. When Motorola launched the Moto E, I ordered it 20 minutes after it went on sale.
 
Look and feel

Moto E comes in two colours - I ordered the black one. The phone feels solid, if a tad heavy. It has a rubberised back, which is easy to grip but might pick up smudges over extended use. The power button and volume rocker are placed on the right edge, while the headphones jack is on top. The back cover comes off to reveal a fixed battery, two microSIM slots and a microSD card slot, which supports memory cards up to 32GB.

The 4.3-inch screen has Corning Gorilla Glass protection, possibly a first in this price band, and is splash resistant.
 
Interface matters

Switch on the phone and you're met with the stock Android KitKat interface. The phone boots up fast and after spending a few minutes syncing with my Gmail account, I was good to go.

I noticed no lag in the interface, despite the low-powered processor. But the lack of animation in some apps made me think that software had stopped working, when, in fact, it was working in the background. This phone doesn't support 4G but both SIM cards support 3G. The colours on the screen are vibrant. Outdoors, visibility takes a hit.

Playing Angry Birds on my Moto E was fun, but I don't plan to push the hardware with graphics-intensive games.

Besides the stock interface, Motorola bundles in a few unique apps: Motorola Migrate to switch from/to another phone; Motorola Alert, which supports an emergency number and alert; and Moto Assist, which mutes your phone during meetings and while you're sleeping. The first-time smartphone user (a segment this device is targeting) would like to use the phone for email, social media, browsing and multimedia, besides the obvious functions of calling and texting.
 
Camera and multimedia

The Moto E sports a 5MP main camera but it's not an autofocus one. The camera app is Motorola's fuss-free interface which supports panorama and HDR modes. But the phone lacks a flash or front camera. The Moto E bundles in an FM radio.

Verdict

I've been using smartphones for more than a decade but I'm as impressed as will be a first-time smartphone user with what Moto E has to offer. As a colleague said - they could have increased the price by Rs 1,000 and bundled in a front camera and a flash.

MOTOROLA MOTO E
Price: Rs 6,999
Screen: 4.3-inch, 540x960 pixels qHD or 256 ppi
Weight: 142g
OS: Android 4.4 ( KitKat)
RAM: 1GB
Processor: 1.2GHz dual core
Memory: 4GB, expandable
Camera (rear): 5MP

Battery: 1,980mAh