Motorola stunned the world with its affordable Moto G smartphone, designed for developing countries – offering most users a chance to get a new phone rather than buying a used, outdated one or having to use a hand-me-down. However, Motorola didn’t stop there – this past May, they introduced to the world, the Motorola Moto E…an even cheaper, under $200 device. Sure, there is no 4G available, but at $179, that is what you can expect. Big Box retailer Staples in Canada just released the unlocked Moto E for $179.62 and it is ready to go out the door, now. The crowd that is moving from a dumb phone to their first smartphone or someone that would rather buy a new device with up-to-date software is the Moto E’s target audience.
The Moto E is equipped with a 4.3-inch display with a resolution of 960 x 540, and powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 dual-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz and features an Adreno 302 GPU. There is 1GB of RAM and only 4GB of internal storage, however, there is a microSD card slot to add an additional 32GB for heavier users. The device does come with a 5MP main camera, but there is no front-facing camera (FFC) for video chatting or selfies – they had to cut corners somewhere! The Moto E comes with a 1,980mAh battery that Motorola claims will last all day and importantly, it will be running Android 4.4 out of the box and Motorola has been very good about quick updates as it is running almost pure Android.
The Moto E supports UMTS 850/900/1900/2100, AWS 850/1700/1900 (2100) + QGSM 850/900/1800/1900, GSM 850/900/1800/1900 and CDMA 800/850/1900, but no 4G. It does come with a microUSB slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS with GLONASS and even an FM Radio to listen to some music. For those that keep count of these things – it measures 124.38 x 64.8 x 12.3mm and weighs in at 142 grams. Please hit us up on our Google+ Page and lets us know if the Moto E is a device that you might be interested in purchasing, even though there is no 4G available. It could make a great device for a young child getting their first smartphone, as a backup, or as may be for Mom and Dad…as always we would love to hear from you.