Motorola's new Moto E aka the Moto E (2nd generation) would launch in
India in the coming days. The likely date is March 10. We will have
more to say about the device once it is here in India. But while that
will take some days, we checked out the device at the Mobile World
Congress in Barcelona and we can give you a rough idea of what you can
expect from the new Moto E.
In terms of looks and design, the new
Moto E is not all that different from the older model. But the build
quality seems slightly better. The finishing is better and the plastic
used to make the shell of the device has a better feel to it. The new
Moto E is slightly bigger - but has the same 12.3mm thick body. The
difference between the old and new Moto E is so marginal in terms of
dimensions that it is not going to be apparent to the users. The new one
fits in hands as effortlessly as the old one, largely because of the
well-rounded shape and subtly curved back.
The
changes between the new and old Moto E are in the hardware. The new one
comes with a bigger screen - 4.5-inch compared to the 4.3-inch - though
resolution remains the same 540p. This gives the new Moto E slightly
less dense pixel pitch if you go by numbers but in during actual use, it
is not noticeable. In fact, the new Moto E has a better screen. It
shows punchier colours and has better viewing angles. This is almost in
class of the Moto G screen, although we feel the brightness is still
less than optimal. But considering the price the new Moto E is going to
carry, we feel that it will be a compromise we can make.
The
performance is another aspect where the difference is very much
apparent. The new Moto E, at least for daily use, is going to be as fast
as any other Android phones. During the brief time we spent with it, we
didn't notice any lag, dropped frames, freezes, missed swipe etc on the
new Moto E. Apps open quickly, the scrolling is smooth, and switching
between tasks is effortless.
Obviously much of this is because of
the improved hardware in the phone. The Moto E that we tried was running
Qualcomm's Snapdragon 410 processor, though in India, the company is
likely to launch the one with the Snapdragon 400 processor (3G version)
to replace the old Moto E. But much of it is also because of the Android
Lollipop.
Motorola
is using an almost unmodified version of Android Lollipop aka pure
Android on the Moto E. This means almost all Lollipop features,
including app drawer with white background is available on the new Moto
E. This is also a surprise because the old Moto G, which has hardware
very similar to the new Moto E, did not get these Lollipop user
interface features.
There is much more to Moto E than design and
performance. For example, we know nothing about its actual battery life,
camera performance and network performance etc. We will explore these
details in our review of the phone when the device is available in
India. But for now we can say that the new Moto E looks like a worthy
upgrade to the India's most popular budget phone of 2014. For more, stay
tuned.
Post a Comment