Motorola Moto E - the £90 smartphone that doesn't scrimp on specifications

Home / News / Motorola Moto E – the £90 smartphone that doesn’t scrimp on specifications

If you’re on a tight budget or need a backup handset, we’ve just found your next phone.

The Moto E follows the Moto G’s sterling work in providing powerful innards and impressive design in an Android handset for the masses. If you don’t fancy shelling out £500 once a year for a flagship device but want Android’s latest bells and whistles, it might be your perfect device.

Design-wise, the 4.3in Moto E takes cues from its predecessor with a chunky but friendly build. Colourful interchangeable backs – Motorola Shells – mean more than 20 colour and texture combinations to keep the Moto E looking fresh.

It also matches the Moto G spec for spec in most cases: it runs Android KitKat out of the box, microSD expansion to 32GB and only a slightly smaller 1980mAh battery. Like the Moto G, it has a 5MP rear camera.

READ MORE: Hands on with the Moto E

The Moto E’s not without compromises, though. The big one is its reduced resolution 4.3in qHD (960×540) screen – though Motorola boasts it’s best in class with a 256ppi resolution (300ppi or better is generally regarded as providing indescernible pixels), the Moto G’s 4.5in 720p (1280×720) screen will offer crisper images. On the plus side, the Moto E still gets Gorilla Glass protection and a fingerprint-resistant coating.

There’s also a bit of a dip in power, with a 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor and 1GB of RAM running the show, compared with the Moto G’s quad-core Snapdragon 400. This shouldn’t be too much of a worry, though – with fewer pixels to push around, it’ll have much less work to do. Onboard storage is also a measly 4GB, so you’ll want to make a microSD card an early buy.

READ MORE: Motorola Moto G review

Which Moto?

On first impressions, paying the extra for a Moto G would seem to us the better bet long-term, as its ramped-up specifications will stave off obsolescence for a more extended period. And as of today, the Moto G is available with LTE and microSD storage too. On the other hand, the new Moto G costs a considerable £60 more than the Moto E, so if 4G isn’t essential, the £100 Moto G with 3G could better fill your niche.

Keep your eyes peeled for our hands-on impressions of the Moto E straight from Motorola’s London launch event. The Moto E will be available from this week in the UK – good news if you like the look of the Moto G’s smaller brother.

Correction: This article originally stated that the Moto E has 4G which is incorrect. Try the new Moto G on for size, instead.