Moto E (2nd gen) Hands-on, First Impressions

Motorola’s famous budget Android smartphone just arrived at our HQ and we immediate took it for a quick spin. Here’s our first impression of the Moto E.

Since its launch, Moto E has been praised by numerous reviewers abroad. Lauded for its feature set despite the affordable price tag. Truth be told, it does stand out as a great device. Upon unboxing and holding it for the first time, we immediately appreciate its build quality. It feels good on the hand even there’s a bit of heft. It has a matte body finish with grip marks on the side that can be swapped with other colors that are sold separately.

The front boasts a 4.5” qHD display with Corning Gorilla Glass for extra protection against scratches. Together with it is the earpice, which also doubles as a front-mounted loudspeaker, accompanied by multiple sensors and the VGA front-facing camera. The 3.5mm jack is placed at the top of the device while the micro-USB port is at the bottom.

On the right side are the power/lock button and the volume rocker, in contrast, the left side is clean. The back showcases the 5-megapixel camera, two microphone pinholes, and the iconic dimple with the Motorola logo.

It runs Android 5.0.2 “Lollipop” out of the box in its Vanilla form. Setup is very easy and you’ll make the most of your device in few steps. There’s also a set of useful Motorola apps pre-installed. Initial performance is impressive with no signs of lag.

Due to its 4.5″ qHD (540 x 960 pixels) display, icons and texts doesn’t look as pleasing as those with HD screens in the market, nevertheless its 245ppi pixel density is already good for everyday use. Also, we can’t help but notice the uneven top and bottom bezel.

Moto E has been in the international market and local gray market for months now but it’s just last July that Motorola officially sells the smartphone in the Philippines for Php 6,999USD 119INR 10,111EUR 114CNY 869. Stay tune for our review to see how it stacks against the competition.

Motorola Moto E specifications:
4.5-inch IPS LCD display @ 540 x 960 pixels
1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor
Adreno 306 GPU
1GB RAM
8GB internal storage, up to 32GB via microSD
5-megapixel rear camera, 720p @ 30fps
VGA front-facing camera
Dual-SIM, Dual-standby
4G LTE
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
GPS, A-GPS
Android Lollipop
2,390mAh Li-Ion battery
129.9 x 66.8 x 12.3 mm
145g