The Moto E4 is the latest offering from the Motorola stables, and has just been launched in the market. The phone is targeting the budget range shoppers, and at less than ten thousand rupees, is significantly less pricey than its siblings in the Moto E series. The phone has a lot of expectations to fulfill, what with the other phones in the E series being acclaimed by critics and users alike. Now that the phone has reached both the market and the pockets of a considerable chunk of Motorola users, let us see how it stands up to the test.
The design
Let’s face it; this is the first thing that attracts our attention: what a phone looks like.
The good ?
Overall, the phone looks quite classy. It is a mix of metal and plastic, and the rounded edges, coupled with the slight curvature of the back give it a very timeless look. It is certainly good enough the Motorola can carry the design on to the next few generations in the series. The camera unit it rounded too, and the silver ring around the front façade of the phone adds some bling to the otherwise somber design. The phone is also easy to grip, thanks to the curved back and edges.
The bad ?
The phone is lighter than the Moto E4 Plus, but is still quite heavy. Besides, it is not exactly petite; it’s large and bulky, which might put off some users. Besides, some areas need more polish; the silver ring has been carried on to the rear camera, which is a little too much silver, and the antenna at the top feels slightly jagged.
The display
The display takes up 95% of the face of the smartphone, and is an important factor in deciding whether to date or ditch the phone.
The good ?
The Moto E4 comes with the Moto Display. The Moto Display was so far available only for the premium- read high-priced- phones, so this would mean a lot for the user who opts for budget smartphones but would like some more features. With the Moto display, the user can now get and interact with notifications on the home screen even when he display if turned off. The 5 inch screen with a 720 pixel display makes for some good viewing of videos, with the colors being quite bold and the viewing angles moderately good. The brightness level is very adjustable as well.
The bad ?
It is indeed a drawback that the phone is not full HD; 720p means that the colors are not as realistic as the seasoned smartphone user would like them to be, and the video-watching experience is not sufficiently immersive either. Besides, the lack of a full HD display also means that the E4 is falling behind the competition in the market, most of which offers a full HD experience at this price range.
The performance
Whether you buy a phone or not ultimately boils down to its performance.
The good ?
The Moto E4 comes with 2 GB RAM and 16 GB internal storage, extendable up to 64 GB. The 1.3GHz MediaTek MT6737 processor is good for the usual daily use of taking photos, browsing the internet, and online shopping, for instance. The Stock Android OS also helps in running the phone smoothly most of the time. The 2,800mAh battery works fine as well, especially thanks to the powerful charging system.
The bad ?
The 2 GB RAM falls pretty short when it comes to running the phone smoothly, especially in comparison to the other phones in the market at this price range. While the daily activities are quite smoothly handled by the processor, the slowdown and lag times are significantly large if multiple functions are running at the same time. This also means that the phone is not exactly great news for gamers.
The camera and audio
It’s a smartphone, after all, so photos and videos matter.
The good ?
The Moto E4 is clearly being marketed as a selfie camera, as testified by the 5 MP front camera with a aperture of 2.2 frames per second, which also comes with an LED flash. The rear 8 MP camera, with an aperture of 2.2 frames per second as well, is also pretty good. The colors are stocky, and there is a fair smattering of options.
The bad ?
The low resolution does not make the photos as realistic as one would hope, but that is only in comparison with other phones. The audio is also not that great; while the sound if more or less clear, the metallic undercurrent does not really bring the concert to your ears.
Conclusion:
The Moto E4 is certainly a pretty solid offering from Motorola. It is pocket-friendly, packs in a bunch of features, and is quite snappy thanks to the stock android OS. There are some downsides to the phone, but then you would be hard put to find a phone that is just perfect. All in all, the phone is quite the dream come true for those consumers who would like a feature-heavy, smoothly functioning smartphone without having shell out a premium range price.
