Motorola Moto E (2020)

The Motorola Moto E looks as stylish as they come but looks can be deceiving. On the outside it, resembles a high-end phone. However, when you look inside, its budget roots might surprise you.

Design

Made of fairly sturdy feeling plastic, the phone’s rounded edges and a streamlined design make it attractive with a shine that mimics glass. However, reviewers are torn on the lightweight plastic. On one side, it’s light enough to hold with one hand. But reviewers also thought it felt cheap. While the plastic is shiny, reviewers didn’t complain about it being slippery.

The Verge notes, “The all-plastic design feels lighter in your hand than it should.”

Display

The 6.2-inch display is almost too big for the phone’s capabilities. It has good color accuracy but whether that’s going to shine at 720p is subjective. The glass on the front is strengthened a-Si glass, but again made reviewers wonder why Motorola put all that effort into a lackluster display. You also have to make sure to keep a head-on view of the screen as reviews found its viewing angles limited.

Tom’s Guide sums up opinions well, saying, “The Moto E’s 6.2-inch HD+ display is a bit of a disappointment, and not because it’s an LCD panel. That’s the trade-off you make with cheaper phones.”

Performance

So long as you’re doing everyday tasks — such as scrolling through social media or casual gaming — the phone performs fine. However, as more apps are opened its lack of RAM slows things down to a crawl.

Software & Storage

The phone comes equipped with Android 10 and offers 32GB of internal storage. Fortunately, it includes the option for a microSD card should you need more space.

Cameras

Picture quality is decent when it comes to natural or well-lit captures. But reviewers argued that the triple camera with its 2MP depth lens doesn’t really seem to add anything extra. Some reviewers also felt some of the detail in the pictures was lost. When moving indoors or into low light situations, reviewers found performance dismal at best with muddy and murky photos that lacked detail or focus.

PC Magazine notes, “Low-light performance with the rear lens is poor, with noise and muted colors in most of our test shots. There’s also some unnatural blurring around eyeglasses and other objects in the foreground, and lens flare in all photos.”

Battery Life

When reviewers tested the battery life by streaming HD video over Wi-Fi until the phone died it didn’t do too poorly. But the Moto E also didn’t astonish either. The phone also doesn’t offer a quick charge option, so you’ll be stuck waiting for the full charge cycle. You’ll want to charge overnight when possible.

Audio

Audio was one of the handful of ways the Moto G E impressed reviewers. While not offering stereo sound, the single speaker located on the lower end of the phone managed to produce pretty good sound quality. Reviewers noted it was powerful enough to fill a room and offer audible changes in bass and treble.

Specs at a Glance

• Sturdy plastic with a glass-like shine
• 6.2-inch LCD with strengthened a-Si glass
• Snapdragon 632 processor
• 2GB of RAM
• Android 10
• 32GB of internal storage with microSD slot
• 13MP/2MP rear-facing camera
• 5MP front-facing selfie camera
• 3,550mAh battery

Bottom Line

There’s nothing wrong with the phone except that it fails to stand out. Reviewers noted many similarly priced phones offer some stand out feature — be that a camera, performance, or design traits — which might make them a better option depending on your needs.  Speaking from a budget perspective and depending on how you use your smartphone this could be the best phone you’ve ever had. But if you’re used to bells and whistles, you might want to pause before this purchase.

CNN says, “As far as [low-priced] smartphones are concerned, we think the Moto E offers the best bang for your buck. It’s a big display that offers quality good enough for most tasks, and its handling of tasks [is] quite fast for a mid-range device.”

PC Magazine notes, “With an attractive design, long battery life, and solid performance for the price, the [inexpensive] Motorola Moto E is one of the best affordable phones you can buy.”