Motorola Announces its Cheapest Phone Yet, the Moto E and a new Moto G

Motorola has been announcing several interesting devices in recent times but in the last six months, it outdid everyone. First, it showcased the Moto G, which still remains the best budget smartphone in the world and now, taking another big step Motorola has announced the Moto E which is even cheaper.

Still, The Moto E comes with respectable specs.

At the front, you have a 4.3″ display with 540 x 960 qHD resolution, leading to 256 pixels per inch. Moto E is also Gorilla Glass 3-protected. Design-wise, the phone is very similar to the Moto G and the Moto X, and comes with removable back-covers. (Back-covers are available in four colours: Black, White, Lemon and Turquoise.)

Under the hood of Moto E, you get a 1.2Ghz dual-core Snapdragon 200 processor, which sits a step below the Snapdragon 400 on the Moto G. That is accompanied with 1 GB worth RAM and 4 GB internal storage, which is also expandable. Adreno 302 handles the graphics.

At the back of Moto E sits a 5 megapixel camera. It shoots 854 x 480 videos (no HD) and there isn’t an LED Flash or a front-facer.

For connectivity, you get 3G, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, Wi-Fi, FM Radio and GPS with Motorola’s Moto E. The OS running is Android 4.4.2 KitKat, which is covered by a thin skin custom made by Motorola.

The OS is said to get regular updates in the future. The phone is powered by a 1,980 mAh battery.

Motorola has even made a website titled “Goodbye Dumbphone” to mark the phone’s launch. That is sure to send a clear message to competitors and customers alike.

The price of the phone is set at $120 or Rs. 12,000 to Rs. 13,000 in Pakistan. That’s Nokia X series territory but the Moto E should beat those phones without much hassle.

With the Moto E, Motorola is giving people a clear message that its possible to get a quality phone at a down-to-earth price tag. And that’s tough to say no to.

Here are specs of Moto E again:

• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 200
• CPU: Dual-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7
• GPU: Adreno 302
• OS: Android OS, v4.4.2 (KitKat)
• NetworK:
  • GSM: 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 – all versions
  • 3G / HSDPA: 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
  • 3G HSDPA: 850 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100
• Optional Dual SIM (Micro-SIM, dual stand-by)
• Design:
  • Size: 124.8 x 64.8 x 12.3 mm (4.91 x 2.55 x 0.48 in)
  • Weight: 142 g (5.01 oz)
• Display:
  • Capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
  • 540 x 960 pixels, 4.3 inches (~256 ppi pixel density)
  • Corning Gorilla Glass 3
• Memory:
  • Card slot: microSD, up to 32 GB
  • Internal: 4 GB, 1 GB RAM
• Connectivity: GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA 21 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot, Bluetooth v4.0, microUSB v2.0
• Camera: 5 MP, 2592 х 1944 pixels (No front Camera)
• Battery: Non-removable Li-Ion 1980 mAh battery
• Price: US 120 Dollars

Moto G with LTE and microSD

Along with the Moto E, Motorola also took time out to announce an special version of its Moto G smartphone. Unlike its previous versions, this particular model comes with 4G LTE and a microSD card slot onboard. Both of those were sorely missed.

The rest of the specs are same, namely the 4.5″ HD display, Snapdragon 400 processor, 1 GB RAM and 5 megapixel camera which also shoots HD videos.

The price of this version is set at $219.