By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
Motorola launched an updated and redesigned version of its most affordable Moto E smartphone by bringing Android 5.0.2 Lollipop and LTE to the entry-level. It is expected to be available for about $150 contract-free next month at Koodo, TELUS and Videotron. It will also be available at chatr wireless, MTS and WIND this spring. Its US price is $119.
Squeaking in right before the mad-rush of announcements from Mobile World Congress, Motorola sent reporters a 'Press Event in a Box' which cleverly contained a paper copy of their Chicago headquarters as well as a paper cutout of president and CEO Rick Osterloh as well as a review unit of the all new Moto E. The most notable new feature is the availability of 4G-LTE on the Moto E and also a new quad core processor as well as features taken from the Moto X.
You can now twist the Moto E to bring up the camera function, the Moto Display function, which pulses notifications and turns on when nudged has also made its way to the most affordable device in Motorola's line.
the new Moto E is still expected to be an affordable model yet it ships with an almost Pure Android user experience and the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop OS which has been quite slow to reach existing flagship devices. As with previous models, Motorola listened to users when designing the new Moto E and as a result the device has a 5 megapixel rear camera and a front facing camera as well.
The new 1.2GHz quad core processor and advanced graphics, an all-day 2390 mAh battery and a 4.5-inch qHD, display, a built-in FM radio round out the product specs.
Customization has changed a bit with the 2nd generation Moto E, you now have the option to change the colour of bands that surround the corner of the phone or place a grip shell.
The first product release since Lenovo took over Motorola's reins, it is good to see that Motorola's penchant for good design as well as playful product introductions has not been suppressed.
Quick impressions of the new Moto e, it feels like a solid little phone and it's great to see Lollipop appear right from the get-go without any anxiety over updates. The display does look a bit washed out if you're used to high-res smartphone displays and the 8GB memory (only around 5GB is usable) will fill up real fast if you're transitioning from a phone with larger capacity.
The convenience of being able to pop in a microSD card can't be understated, specially since now you only need to remove the band and not the entire backplate. Stay tuned for a full-review of the Moto E right here. You can also read my review of the original Moto E here.